Caitlin E. Mahon is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Colorado Mesa University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the State University of New York (SUNY) Brockport with her Bachelor of Science degree, and Honors College degree, in Dance, Environmental Science, and Political Science in 2014 and earned her Master of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance in 2017. She worked in the World Wildlife Fund’s Conservation Science Department in 2013 and did conservation science work on the coasts of New Zealand. Previously, Mahon taught at Nazareth University from 2020 to 2023.
Mahon has performed for various acclaimed choreographers and companies, including Telly Fowler (Le Verdad Dance Company— Hip Hop), Dr. Zelma Badu Younge (Azaguno—Contemporary African Fusion), James Hansen (James Hansen Dance/Assemblage— Modern), Tammy Carrasco (WILD BEAST DANCE—Contemporary), Maurice Fraga (Ekilibre Dance Company—Post-Modern), Rose Beauchamp (Influx Dance- Contemporary), Clyde Afanju Morgan (SANKOFA— West African), Michelle Pritchard Dance (Modern), Frazee Feet Dance (Contemporary Ballet), and the Bill Evans (Bill Evans Dance Company— Tap).
She was awarded the UW Milwaukee Faculty Development Award (2019) & the Distinguished Professor Research Award (2017) for her choreographic & theoretical research on re-defining modes of peaceful embodiment, through the lens of Krumping. This research was influenced by her appointment as co-artistic director – alongside Master Khalid Saleem — of the SANKOFA: African Dance & Drum Ensemble (2015). Caitlin has implemented and created Hip Hop (theory & embodiment) programs at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Syracuse University, and Nazareth University. Along with teaching, Caitlin is the Artistic Director of MAYHEM//dance which premiered at NYC’s Mark Morris Dance Center in 2017.
Courses taught by Mahon include Hip Hop (theory & embodiment), Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Dance and Culture, History and Philosophy of Dance, West African Dance Elements, Choreography I, and tap.
Mahon believes in facilitating the discovery of students’ bodies and lives in new manners. She aims to guide students in a safe and open environment where the art form of dance can be studied, investigated, and explored while simultaneously demonstrating how dance is interdisciplinary and intersects with our multifaceted world.
Mahon's awareness of not possessing all the answers is invaluable to her teaching. This transparency grants students permission in her classes to celebrate their manner of thinking even if it counters her own. Collaborative pedagogy and individual thought enrich students’ educational experiences and continue to enrich her own because her students continue to teach her so much.
She fosters an environment of mutual respect between students and the teacher. While valuing the individual in the classroom, she never desires for her students to become complacent; therefore, she places immense value on rigor: physical rigor in modern, West African, and hip hop classes, thoughtful rigor in dance history classes, as well as creative rigor in dance composition classes. She invites students to push themselves in their ways to become more realized versions of their beings.
Choreography influences theoretical research and theoretical research influences choreography. Her research as a choreographer is directly influenced by her interest in demonstrations and protests, from the past to the present, and how they are an extension of dance through their use of choreography. She aims to present how more traditional forms of dance choreography can be an extension of protest, abstract images, and powerful symbols.
Published Work, Creative Work, Service Work:
2023
- SMEARED… — Dances at MuCCC — Rochester, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
- Meerkats and Puffins — WNY Benefit for Domestic Violence (Gracious Dance) — Rochester, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
- Meerkats and Puffins — Vision of Sound NYS Tour— Syracuse, NY, Geneva, NY & Clinton, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
2022
- stay in yOUR lane— Key Bank Rochester Fringe Festival — Rochester, NY — Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
- Magnanimous Statues — Movement and Dance Festival— Rochester, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
- Magnanimous Statues — Somatic Dance Conference— Geneva, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
- Still Lives Here — HWS Faculty Dance Concert— Geneva, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon and Kelly Johnson
- Magnanimous Statues — Vision of Sound — Rochester, NY & Syracuse, NY— Choreographed by Caitlin E. Mahon, MAYHEM//dance Company
2020
- Collide//escape Kaleidoscope — Nazareth College — Rochester, NY
- Opaque Vantage Point— Women’s Work Festival— Detroit, MI
- OCCUPATION— Fall Dances UW-Milwaukee (Afro-Jazz)
- Opaque Vantage Point— Women’s Work Festival— Detroit, MI— MAYHEM//dance Company (Afro-Fusion/ Contemporary Jazz)
2019
- HIVE— BADA Showcase— Center for Performance Research New York, NY
- HIVE— WOVEN— Nazareth College Rochester, NY
2018
- ReSound— Rochester Fringe Festival— MuCCC Rochester, NY (Afro-Fusion)
- Aim, Juxtaposed. Over— Rochester Fringe Festival— MuCCC Rochester, NY in collaboration with Marissa Aucoin, MFA
- Conditions (Except) — Rochester Fringe Festival— MuCCC Rochester, NY (Afro-Fusion)
- Kinetic Tessellations— Rochester Fringe Festival— MuCCC Rochester, NY
- Conditions— HWS Faculty Concert— Gearan Center for the Performing Arts Center Geneva, NY (Afro-Fusion)
- Kinetic Tessellations— HWS Faculty Concert— Gearan Center for the Performing Arts Center Geneva, NY
- Kinetic Tessellations— Niagara County Community College Niagara, NY
2017
- (with)Stand/Stand(with) – Rochester Fringe Festival— MuCCC Rochester, NY
- I Pledge All(eg)iance (Excerpt)—REVISTED XI—Mark Morris Brooklyn, NY - MAYHEM//dance company
- Fire Escape— Graduation Dance Concert —solo commissioned by BFA Senior Lauren Gilmore
- I Pledge All(eg)iance
- Trudging
- Marching
- (with)Standing
- Rising
- (MFA Thesis Work)— Presented at Visual Studies Workshop Rochester, NY— navigating the spectrum of what peaceful embodiment can be