Belhaven University Welcomes Vanessa Van Wormer to Dance Department

JACKSON, Miss. (July 7, 2026) – Belhaven University is pleased to announce that Vanessa Van Wormer has joined its Dance Department as an Associate Professor, beginning this fall.

A Belhaven University graduate, Van Wormer earned her Bachelor of Arts in Dance before completing a Master of Fine Arts in Performance and Choreography at SUNY Brockport. She returns to her alma mater after serving as an Associate Professor of Dance at Santa Monica College, where she taught ballet, contemporary technique, and choreography. During her tenure, she developed and co-directed the college's Dance in New York City travel study program. She also previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at SUNY Brockport.

An accomplished choreographer and filmmaker, Van Wormer's award-winning ballet short film, The Dust of this Place, has been screened at film festivals in Toronto, New York, Berlin, Japan, Belgium, London, and Florence. Her choreography has been commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Pops Series and presented at distinguished festivals and venues across the country, including REVERBdance in New York City and Boston, the Eastman School of Music, Memorial Art Gallery, The Yards Collaborative, Take Root at Green Space in New York City, Core Project Chicago, and the Pasadena Dance Festival.

Outside the studio and classroom, Van Wormer enjoys gardening and traveling with her husband, a fellow Belhaven alumnus, and their two young daughters.