Elizabeth Sherbon Award

This award recognizes outstanding academic and performance achievement in dance and honors the legacy of Elizabeth Sherbon.

Elizabeth Sherbon received her B.S. from KU in physical education in 1930, attended the Denishawn School of Dance in New York City in 1931, and earned a master’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1932. Sherbon studied with Martha Graham at the Bennington Dance Workshop in Vermont, becoming part of her company from 1937-1940. She was in Jane Erdman’s dance company from 1942-1954, and typed manuscripts for Erdman’s husband, philosopher Joseph Campbell. In 1954 she opened the Sherbon Dance Studio in Wichita, Kansas, where she and her sister organized the American Dance Symposium in 1968. In 1961 KU recruited Sherbon to develop the dance degree program. She reached full professor status in 1974 and retired in 1975, when she published On the Count of One, a widely used modern dance instruction text. 

Current sophomore and junior dance students are encouraged to complete an Award Application by March 1 for consideration. The award is presented by vote of the faculty and staff of the department.

Contributions to the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Fund may be made via KU Endowment.

Past Recipients