(BRANCHBURG, NJ) -- Loretta Di Bianca Fois, Raritan Valley Community College Professor of Dance, is among 96 artists selected for a 2023 Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Professor Fois was chosen from 635 eligible applicants in seven artistic disciplines.

It is the third time she is being recognized by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Professor Fois also received Choreography Fellowship Awards in 2017 and 2011.

The Fellowships are competitive awards to New Jersey artists and are determined by an independent peer panel assessment of work samples. The process is anonymous and focuses solely on artistic quality. The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is a division of the NJ Department of State and a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

A performing artist, choreographer, and teacher who works with movement, music and language, Professor Fois is Director of Dance at Raritan Valley Community College. She served on the Dance NJ board for over 20 years and was an artist-in-residence for the New Jersey Department of Education. She served on the Writing Team for the revision of the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards in Dance, and sat on the NJ Arts Education SEL Task Force, which was the first in the nation to provide educators with a Social and Emotional Framework tied to Arts Education. In addition to her artistic work, Professor Fois leads Creative Arts Memory Cafes for the Alzheimer's Association and sings with the Umoja Imani Songsters and Caritas Chamber Chorale.

Her work has been performed at Joe’s Pub, DUMBO, Ailey Theatre, Dixon Place, YourMove, SMUSH, and the 2019 International Human Rights Festival. Professor Fois has been on faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts, City University of New York, Ohio State University, Union County College, Middlesex County’s School of Performing Arts, and New Jersey School of Ballet. She has presented at National Dance Education conferences; American College Dance Conferences; National Dalcroze Conferences; and the 2023, 2021, and 2019 International Conference for Dalcroze Studies.

Professor Fois received her M.F.A. in Dance from The Ohio State University, a CAGS in Expressive and Creative Arts from Salve Regina University, and a B.A. in Theatre/Chemistry from The College of the Holy Cross. She is currently working toward her Ph.D. in Humanities and Technology at Salve Regina University and plans to use the Artist Fellowship funds to find more connections between humanities, technology, and the performance arts.

Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, New Jersey.