Music and dance at the University of Southern California will be in partnership for years to come. An anonymous donor has gifted $1 million to the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. And that gift will underwrite the continued relationship between USC Kaufman and USC Thornton, the university’s school of music.
“Music and dance are naturally complementary,” said Robert Cutietta, dean of both schools. “It is when they are created and performed together that they can greatly enhance the educational impact of both.”
Formally, the anonymous donation will establish an endowment fund overseen by USC Kaufman, from which projects and programs involving both schools will draw. It’s a big boost for USC Kaufman, which was founded in 2015, and further ties the school with its musical counterpart; USC Thornton was founded in 1884 and can call itself “the oldest continually operating cultural institution in Los Angeles.”
Upcoming collaborations between the two schools include two performances of Paul Taylor’s Esplanade on Feb. 26 and the schools’ annual “Choreographers and Composers” concerts, which feature original work by sophomore dance and composition majors, March 11 and 12.
