Patty Delaney joined the School of Music and Dance in fall 2024 as Visiting Professor and Interim Department Head of Dance

Delaney is a Professor Emerita from the Division of Dance at Southern Methodist University (SMU). In her 28 years at SMU, she taught Jazz, Composition, Laban Studies, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Dance History and American Musical Theater History. She also served as Associate Director of the MFA program and as chair of the Division (2012-2018). Patty is a specialist in Laban Studies and holds certifications in Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals, Directing from Labanotation Score and Motif Writing and was also awarded Professional Notator status by the Dance Notation Bureau. Her Labanotation scores include José Limón’s La Malinche, Leni Wylliams' Sweet in the Morning, and Pilobolus' Alraune. Her educational DVD on La Malinche won a Silver Award at the Houston International Film Festival and The University of Texas Press and Dance Chronicle have published her writing. She has restaged masterworks including Lester Horton’s The Beloved for renowned companies such as Philadanco and the National Dance Theater of Jamaica. Her choreographic credits include numerous musicals for producing organizations such as Dallas Summer Musicals and television commercials for companies such as Samsung as well as concert works for professional companies and educational institutions. In 1980, she co-founded Dancers Unlimited, a modern dance company that remained an active force in the cultural life of Dallas for 25 years by performing the works of renowned choreographers such as Judith Jamison, Moses Pendleton, and Bill Evans.

Her projects since retiring from SMU have included: Labanotating a section of Cleo Parker Robinson’s iconic work, Mary Don’t You Weep (the notation will be etched in stone on the wall adjacent to the main entrance of the new building that will house Cleo Parker Robinson Dance); editing her late father’s book, A Testament for a Human Time; participating in Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training under the tutelage of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.