Southern Methodist University

Saturday, 11/8
1:00-3:00pm
Silas Farley, Ballet

Saturday, 11/8
3:00-5:00pm
Parisa Khobdeh, Modern

Southern Methodist University
Meadows School of the Arts
Dallas, TX

The Division of Dance offers professional dance training within the context of a comprehensive liberal arts education. The B.F.A. in Dance Performance is designed to develop the disciplined, versatile dance artist through a balanced study of ballet, modern, and jazz techniques, complemented and reinforced by a broad range of theoretical studies and performance opportunities.

Silas Farley

Silas Farley is a ballet teacher and choreographer. He currently serves as Armstrong Artist in Residence in Ballet in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (SMU). He is a former dancer with New York City Ballet and former Dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA.

Farley began his training when he was seven years old in his hometown of Charlotte, NC with Sal and Barbara Messina at King David Christian Conservatory. He continued his training at Charlotte Ballet Academy with Hamburg Ballet alumni Kathryn Moriarty and Mark Diamond and New York City Ballet alumni Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. He completed his ballet training at the School of American Ballet.

He joined New York City Ballet in 2012 and danced with the Company until 2020. There he performed principal roles in the works of George Balanchine and Christopher Wheeldon and originated roles in ballets by Wheeldon, Lauren Lovette and Justin Peck.

Farley has taught nationally and internationally, including for the School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Houston Ballet, Slovak National Ballet, Colburn School, Peabody Conservatory, Hartt School, Chautauqua School of Dance, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and the Kennedy Center.

Parisa Khobdeh

Parisa Khobdeh, an internationally renowned dancer who starred with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 2003 to 2019, was born and raised in Dallas, TX. She created and performed in principal and supporting roles in more than 100 Taylor dances and worked with such notable choreographers as Kyle Abraham, Bryan Arias, Doug Elkins, Margie Gillis, David Grenke, Larry Keigwin, Pam Tanowitz, Doug Varone and Lila York. In 2006 she was featured in Dance Magazine as a performer “On the Rise.” She appeared on the cover of the magazine’s December 2012 issue, subtitled “Magical and Mercurial,” and penned the articles Why I Dance, What Paul Taylor has Taught Me and Why It’s Important to Come Back From Injury on Your Own Terms. Khobdeh was featured in Taylor in Paris for PBS’s “Great Performances” and in the award-winning documentary, Paul Taylor: Creative Domain. Her extensive body of work as a Taylor dancer earned her a nomination for the prestigious New York Performing Arts Award (“The Bessie”).

While dancing with the Taylor Company, Khobdeh established a vehicle for her own creative output, Parisa Khobdeh Dance. Her company has appeared at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT, HERE Arts Center in New York City, Teatro de las Artes in Mexico City, Judson Church, and the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, TX.

Acclaimed as a répétiteur, choreographer, teacher, and lecturer, Khobdeh received her B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University, dancing the ballets of Agnes de Mille, Robert Battle, Lester Horton, Judith Jamison, Donald McKayle and Martha Graham. After attending the American Dance Festival on a Tom Adams & Gayle Halperin scholarship, she debuted at ADF in 2003 with the Taylor Company.