Rebecca Salzer
Director
Rebecca Salzer, Associate Professor of Dance, was appointed CARI Interim Director in August 2018 and Director in May 2019. Salzer is an intermedia dance artist and educator. Her work for the stage has been seen in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, where she directed Rebecca Salzer Dance Theater for a decade. A frequent collaborator herself, Salzer’s award-winning films and videos have been programmed in national and international venues and on public affiliate television stations KQED, KPBS, and WTTW. Salzer is a Jacob K. Javits Fellow. She holds a B.A. in Humanities from Yale University and an M.F.A. in Dance Theatre from the University of California, San Diego. Salzer also directs the NEH-funded Dancing Digital project (dancingdigital.org), a national effort to create more equitable, sustainable, and forward-thinking dance resources online.
Michelle Bordner
Assistant Director
Michelle Bordner, CARI’s Assistant Director, first came to the University of Alabama in 2012 as a part of the Creative Campus team. She is a member of Arts Administrators in Higher Education. Michelle served as the Director of Artist Relations with Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to her work with Carolina Performing Arts, Michelle taught dance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before relocating to Chapel Hill, Michelle danced in a Los Angeles-based modern dance company, taught dance at the Torrance Performing Arts Center as well as multiple dance studios in Southern California, and owned a dance studio in southwestern Virginia. Michelle is a graduate of Radford University with a degree in Dance (B.S.) and is pursuing a MA in Communication Studies with a specialization in Organizational Leadership.
Kristen Spencer
Graphic Design Assistant
Kristen Spencer joined CARI in February of 2020. She is a recent graduate of the University of Alabama , where she received her degree in Creative Advertising and Studio Art (B.A.). She has worked as an art director on the Higher Education Partnership client team of Capstone Agency, and was a part of Minerva, a competitive creative advertising portfolio program. Kristen is originally from Clinton, Pennsylvania.