Heather Coker Hawkins

heathercokerhawkins@gmail.com

Film & Video Projects (selected)                       

From Me to You for Us, Director. Screendance. 2026.

Quest for Resolve, Director. Video installation. 2024.

Shadow Self, Director/Editor. Screendance. 2023.

Gravity Wins, Director/Editor/Performer. Screendance. 2022.

Pretty Little Dance, Co-director/DP/Editor. Collaboration with Victoria Marks. 2020.

Inflatable Trio, Videographer/Editor. Video documentation & promotional video for director/choreographer, Lionel Popkin. 2016-17.

Endless Real, Co-director/DP/Editor. Collaboration with Victoria Marks. 2013.

Kamakha Through Prayerful Eyes, Post-production Supervisor/Editor. Feature documentary film by Aparna Sharma. Berkeley Media 2013.         

Righthand, Performer/Editor. Dance film. 2011.

Pumercial, Director/Choreographer/Editor. Short film. 2007.

The Go-Getter, Choreographer. Sundance Film Festival 2007.

The One Who Wears Red, Director/Editor. Short film. 2004. Houston WorldFest Gold Remi Award winner.

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Live Performance Projects (selected)           

Electric Field Theory, Choreographer & Video creator. Performed by Circle Modern Dance in Shadows & Light. Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN. June 2025.

TechPlay, site-specific performance in collaboration with Maurice Moore, PhD at {Re}Happening 13 at Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. Asheville, NC

Care Full Empty, Choreographer. Live dance performance. Performed by Circle Modern Dance in Modern Dance Primitive Light. Laurel Theater, Knoxville, TN. December 2024.

From Me to You for Us, Choreographer. Live dance performance. Performed by Circle Modern Dance, Rossini Festival. Knoxville, TN. April 2024. Modern Dance Primitive Light. Laurel Theater, Knoxville, TN. December 2023.

Cover of a Cover, Co-choreographer/Dancer. High Voltage. Electric Lodge, Santa Monica, CA 2014.

Here Lies Frank, Choreographer/Video Design. Live performance with video projection. Performed at L.A. Movement Arts, Catalyst 2013.

In My Skin, Choreographer. MixMatch Dance Festival. The Miles Playhouse, Santa Monica, CA. 2014

Brother, Co-choreographer/Performer. Site-specific performance at Pieter PASD with Sarah Leddy. 2012.                       

Pretty Good for a Girl, Choreographer/Video Design. Live performance with integrated video projection performed at UCLA. 2012.

Say Uncle, Choreographer/Video Design. Live performance with video projection performed at UCLA. 2011.

Muse Artwalk, Dancer. Site-specific improv performance at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). 2011.

Unsquare Dance, Choreographer. Fosse-inspired solo. DanceSpot at StudioADance, LA. 2010. Live Arts LA Grand Opening. 2009.

Heavy.::.Free, Invited Choreographer. Spinster’s Ball at StudioADance, Los Angeles, CA. 2009.

An Evening of Pure Magic & Ubiquitous Transformations, Co-produced with Cristine Tatomer, choreographed & improvised dance. 2008.           

eyeSpace, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Live-feed Camera Operator & Camera Team Leader. Irvine, CA 2007.

Salvage, choreographer/dancer with CoLab Dance Collective, Spectrum Showcase. Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, CA. 2006.

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Website & Work Sample URL           

heathercokerhawkins.com

https://vimeo.com/373102632

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Screenings (selected)

Official Selection, Dance City Festival Detroit’s Dance On Screen, Shadow Self 2026

Official Selection, Columbus Film & Animation Festival, Quest for Resolve 2026

Invited, Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema Women’s History Screening, Shadow Self 2025

Official Selection Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Boulder, CO, Shadow Self 2024

Official Selection Artists for Hope International Film Festival, Houston, Shadow Self 2024

Official Selection Portland Film Festival, Portland, OR, Shadow Self 2024

Official Selection Raleigh Film & Art Festival, Raleigh, NC, Shadow Self 2024

Official Selection American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers, Gravity Wins 2024

Juried Screening, UFVA Conference, Cleveland, OH, Gravity Wins 2024

Semi-finalist Flatlands Dance Film Festival, Urbana, IL, Gravity Wins 2024

Winner Best Experimental Short Film, Raleigh Film & Art Festival, Gravity Wins 2024

Official Selection Artists for Hope International Film Festival, Shadow Self 2024

Semi-finalist Flatlands Dance Film Festival, Gravity Wins and Shadow Self 2024

Official Selection UNDER_the_RADAR Festival and Conference for Artistic Film, Animation and Experimental Sequential Media, Gravity Wins 2023

Official Selection San Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Gravity Wins 2023

Official Selection Greensboro Dance Film Festival, Gravity Wins 2023

Official Selection & Nominee LA Independent Women Film Awards, Gravity Wins 2022

Official Selection San Souci Festival of Dance Cinema Pretty Little Dance 2021

Official Selection Festival International de Vidéo Danse de Bourgogne, Rite of Spring 2013

Official Selection Show Me Film Festival, Pumercial 2008

Official Selection Big Bear Film Festival, Pumercial 2007

Houston WorldFest Gold Remi Award, The One Who Wears Red 2005

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Exhibitions

Form 2024. Quest for Resolve (video installation). CICA Museum, South Korea. October 2 – 20, 2024.  Program

University Film & Video Association Juried Conference New Media Exhibition, 2^nd Place. Quest for Resolve. Cleveland State University. Cleveland, Ohio. 30 July – 2 Aug 2024. Webpage/Twine Experience

SECAC (Southeastern College Art Conference), Juried Conference Exhibition, Quest for Resolve. Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. 6 September – 26 October 2024. Program

Embodied Cinema: Affect, Dance, and Speculative Wellness, co-presenter with Brittany Murray, One Health & Humanities Days. Video installation and screening of Gravity Wins and other works. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, Knoxville, TN. 27 Oct 2023.  Event Program

This is a Process, solo exhibition of collected works. Art & Architecture Building, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN. 21 March – 10 April 2022.  Accompanying Webpage. Spring 2022

The OsCene: Contemporary Art and Culture in OC, group exhibition. The One Who Wears Red, film installation. Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA. 07 November 2004 – 27 February 2005. Program

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Publications

Coker Hawkins, Heather and Dr. Maurice Moore. “Tech Play.” in Journal of Black Mountain College Studies: Vol. 17: Time Cycles, Edited by Thomas Edward Frank. Online. September 2026. https://www.blackmountaincollege.org/category/table-of-contents/  

Coker Hawkins, Heather. “Flâneuring in the De_Constructiv Garden.” Firoza, online review of exhibition, May 18, 2023. https://www.firoza.co.uk/flaneuring-in-the-de-constructiv-garden/.

Coker Hawkins, Heather. “Teaching the Change you want to See (On Set)”. Chapter 7. AMPS (Architecture Media Politics Society) Teaching Beyond the Curriculum: Focus on Pedagogy 2023 Virtual Conference, Glasgow School of Art (UK), Louisiana State University (US), Wenzhou-Kean University (CN). November 15-17, 2023. AMPS Proceedings Series 36. ISSN 2398-9467

Coker, Heather. “Wrestling the Beast…and not Getting Too Much Blood on Your Skirt: Integration of Live Performance and Video Projection.” In Dance’s Duet with the Camera: Motion Pictures, edited by Telory D. Arendell and Ruth Barnes, 141–158. Chapter 8. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59610-9_8 

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Presentations

“Joyful Rage: A paradoxical interplay of sensorial inversion” Performance/presentation by Coker Hawkins H and Moore M at PSi #30 Conference: XXX Cruzo, Cruising, Crossroads, Instituto de Cultura e Arte, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil, 11-15 December 2025.

“Learning to Love the Generative Void and Loosen My Death Grip on Perfectionism.” Paper presentation by Coker Hawkins H at SECAC: Flux/Flow in Cincinnati, OH, 22-25 October 2025.

“Getting Started with New Media.” Panel presentations by Coker Hawkins H, Ormond R, Zaylea J at 2025 University Film & Video Association Virtual Conference. 15 January 2025.

“Translating Embodied Practice into Embodied Experience.” Paper presented by Coker Hawkins H at SECAC: Wayfinding in Atlanta, GA, 22-26 October 2024.

“Power of the Performative Lecture” session, Conference session co-chair with Emily Bivens at SECAC: Wayfinding in Atlanta, GA, 22-26 October 2024.

“24 Hour Assemble Durational Performance”.Performance/presentation byCoker Hawkins H, Moore M, Ghenov R, Lüttringhaus KatPSi #29 Assemble, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University in London, England, 20 Jun – 23 Jun 2024. 20 Jun 2024.

“Teaching the Change you want to See (On Set)”. Paper presented at the AMPS (Architecture Media Politics Society) virtual conference Teaching Beyond the Curriculum: Focus on Pedagogy 2023 Virtual Conference, US, UK, and China. November 15-17, 2023.

“PERMA: An Introduction to our Well-Being Framework.” Co-presenter with Drs. Virginia Stormer, Mark Collins, and Robin Hardin for UT Thrive Summit, Office of the Provost & the Division of Student Success, Knoxville, TN. 15 November 2023.

“Moving Pictures” workshop co-facilitated with Katy Malone sponsored by Art Bridges, McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 17 Oct – 16 Nov 2023. Collaborative works exhibited 16 Nov – 7 Dec 2023. Community Video Project 

 “Live – Filmed – Live Behind Glass”. Research presented at the World Dance Alliance Americas Mini-conference, Corpus Christi, TX. 6 October 2022.

“Body & Architecture.” Invited guest lecture in Architectural Design I – Place (IARC 271), Prof. Felicia Dean. UT, Knoxville. 20 September 2019.

Fowler Museum: Fowler Out Loud Series. Choreo-cinema screening and artist Q&A. UCLA, Los Angeles. 25 February 2010.

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Grants & Fellowships

Digital Humanities Summer Institute Award. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, funded by Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts, June 2026

Riggsby Travel Award, Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts, Spring 2026

Donald F. Kurka Faculty Award, University of Tennessee, 2025-2026

Digital Humanities Faculty Fellowship, Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Spring 2026

Digital Humanities Summer Institute Award. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, funded by Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts, June 2025

SARIF Domestic Travel Award, ORIED, University of Tennessee, Performance {Re}Happening13 at Black Mountain College, NC, May 2025

Co-PI with Emily Bivens, Cultivating Excellence in Teaching grant, UT Office of Teaching & Learning Innovation, University of Tennessee Knoxville Innovation, 2024-25

Digital Project Cultivator Award, Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2024-25

SARIF Domestic Travel Award, ORIED, University of Tennessee, Screening, Exhibition, & Respondent at UFVA in Cleveland, OH, July 2024

Digital Humanities Summer Institute Award. Victoria, BC, Canada, funded by UT Humanities Center, June 2024

SARIF Domestic Travel Award, ORIED, University of Tennessee, Presentation at SECAC Conference & Juried Exhibition in Atlanta, GA, October 2024

SARIF Domestic Travel Award, ORIED, University of Tennessee, Screening, Exhibition, & Respondent at UFVA in Cleveland, OH, July 2024

Elise Boake Memorial Faculty Award, University of Tennessee, 2023-2024

Donald F. Kurka Faculty Award, University of Tennessee, 2023-2024

Co-PI with Brittany Murray and Cinema Studies affiliated faculty. Humanities Center and One Health Initiative. One Health & Humanities Days: Arts + Humanities Interventions. Summer – Fall 2023

Volunteer Experience Faculty Fellow, Office of the Provost & the Division of Student Success, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2023

Hothouse Residency, UCLA Dept. of World Arts & Cultures | Dance 2012

UCLA Graduate Division University Fellowship 2009 – 2012

Leo Freedman Fellowship, Chapman University 2004

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Honors

Excellence in Teaching Award, Office of the Provost, University of Tennessee, 2026

Heart and Soul Award recipient, Faculty Senate, University of Tennessee, 2024

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Education

M.F.A. Dance                        UCLA, Los Angeles, CA                               June 2012

M.F.A. Film Production      Chapman University, Orange, CA    June 2006

B.S. Mass Media, Video Production    Missouri State U., Springfield, MO May 2000

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Teaching  Experience                     

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University Service

Digital Humanities Steering Committee, Denbo Center for the Humanities & the Arts, 2025-2026

Photo Search Committee Advocate, School of Art, 2024-2025

Programming Committee, School of Art, 2023-2024

Co-facilitated Community Video Project with McClung Museum, Fall 2023

University of Tennessee Volunteer Experience Faculty Fellow, Spring 2022-2023

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Professional Organization Memberships

2024-current    PSi Performance Studies International (PSi)

2024-current    University Film and Video Association (UFVA)

2023-current    Southeast College Association Conference (SECAC)

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Related Film/TV & Dance Employment

2017     Videographer and editor, Choreographer Lionel Popkin, Inflatable Trio, LA CA

2016     Videographer, HomeLA, site-specific dance performance in Victoria Park, LA

2013     Post-production supervisor and editor, Documentary filmmaker Aparna Sharma, Kamakha Through Prayerful Eyes, Berkeley Media. Los Angeles, CA

2012     Producer, videographer and editor, UCLA, Department of World Arts | Cultures, Residency Project for Movement Fundraising Campaign, Los Angeles, CA

2010     Videographer, Oni Dance Company, Uncovered, Glorya Kaufman Hall UCLA

2009     Casting Associate, Casting Director Karen Rea, Meeting Spencer film, Santa Monica, CA

Casting Assistant, Casting Director Susan Bluestein, NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS, LA

Casting Director, Director Jeremy Rush, No Road to Follow film, LA

2008     Casting Associate, Casting Director Michael Testa, Overnight film, Burbank, CA

Casting Associate, Casting Director Michael Testa, The River Why film, Burbank, CA

Casting Assistant, Casting Director Nan Dutton, CSI: Miami, Paramount & CBS, LA

Researcher for Global Brainstorm Productions, Samsara film, Los Angeles, CA

Guest Soloist, Jennifer Vaughn Dance Company, 2008 Season, Los Angeles, CA

2007     Casting Assistant, Casting Director Nan Dutton, CSI: Miami, Paramount & CBS, Encino, CA

Casting Assistant, Casting Directors Dan Shaner and Michael Testa, Cold Case, WB & CBS, Burbank, CA

Casting Director, Director Alex O. Gaynor, Wid Winner & the Slipstream film, LA

Live-feed Camera Operator & Team Leader, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, eyeSpace, Irvine, CA

Company Member, Brockus Project Dance, 2007 Season, Los Angeles, CA

2006     Researcher, Moriah Films/Simon Wiesenthal Center, I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal film, Los Angeles, CA

Assistant Segment Producer, Termite Art Productions, John Ratzenberger’s Made In America, North Hollywood, CA

Choreographer, Director Fayeque Rahman, Playroom film, Orange, CA

2005     Researcher & Production Assistant, Lawrence Bender Productions, An Inconvenient Truth film, Los Angeles, CA

Casting Director, Director Jeremy Rush, John Doe & the Anti film, Los Angeles, CA

Choreographer, Director Martin Hynes, The Go-Getter film, Los Angeles, CA

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Professional Development

CRCI (Conference on Research for Choreographic Interfaces): Space Camp in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New  York. March 17-19, 2026

Imprint Film Collective, “Embodied Documentary Filmmaking”, workshops led by Erica Monde. July 7, 11, 18, 2023

PEN America Faculty Workshop “Creating Classrooms for All: Fostering Open and Respectful Exchange”, hosted by UT Office of the Provost, March 31, 2022

University of Northern Colorado—Universal Design & Learning Training, 2022 “Equity By Design”, led by Kelly Langley-Cook and Dr. Lyda McCartin, March 24 “Deconstructing Dominant Cultures” led by panel, March 10 “Equity Minded Syllabus workshop” led by Dr. Chelsie Romulo, February 17

UT Online Learning and Academic Programs – Friday Brown Bag Series: “Part 1: Distracted: How to Win the Battle for Students’ attention in class” led by Dr. Beth Cooper and “Part 2: Engagement and Accountability in an Asynchronous Course” led by Dr. Heidi Stolz, February 25, 2022

University of Tennessee Innovative Teaching & Learning Conference 2021 hosted by TLI, “Active Learning Techniques for Engagement”, by Dr. Claire Major (Keynote Speaker), March 30, 2021

“Disrupting Racism and Microaggressions in the Classroom” by Dr. Jioni Lewis, March 26. University of TN.

“Responsible Teaching in a Violent Culture” by Dr. Koritha Mitchell, April 5. University of UT

University of Tennessee, Knoxville 2020 Teaching Online Training, TLI (Teaching & Learning Innovation) Virtual Vol Bootcamp, July 2020

Isadora In Action with Dawn Stoppiello (Troika Ranch), Portland, Oregon. May 13 – 15, 2016

Dance for Camera: Dance Camera West Dance Media Conference, Dance Media: An Active Spectrum, UCLA, June 16 – 19, 2011   

University of Utah International Dance for Camera Festival & Workshop led by Douglas Rosenberg and Ellen Bromberg, September 26 – 29, 2002

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Citations

Batemen, Leslie. “Museum in Motion: Circle Modern Dance’s ‘Shadows & Light’ at KMA.” Inside of Knoxville, June 9, 2025. https://insideofknoxville.com/2025/06/museum-in-motion-circle-modern-dances-shadows-light-at-kma/. (artistic research)

“Alumni Spotlight: Fall 2024.” UCLA School of the Arts & Architecture, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles. September 10, 2024. https://arts.ucla.edu/single/alumni-spotlight-fall-2024/ (professional achievements)

Brown, Randall. “Human Connection through Digital Space.” College of Arts & Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. https://artsci.utk.edu/human-connections-through-digital-space/. (faculty research)

Frasson, Elisa. 2019. “Dance’s Duet With the Camera: Motion Pictures. Edited by Telory D. Arendell and Ruth Barnes. 2016. London: Palgrave MacMillan. 263 Pp. Hardcover $99.99. ISBN 978-1-137-59609-3”. The International Journal of Screendance 10 (May). https://doi.org/10.18061/ijsd.v10i0.6825. (review of scholarly research)

“Heather Coker Hawkins Film Screenings of Gravity Wins.” School of Art, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. April 19, 2023. https://art.utk.edu/heather-coker-hawkins-film-screenings-of-gravity-wins/ (artistic research)

Vail, Pamela. “Review: Dance and Film, Film and Dance: A Ripening Discourse. Dance’s Duet with the Camera: Motion Pictures by Telory D. Arendell and Ruth Barnes.” Dance Chronicle 40, no. 1 (2017): 126–29. Published by Taylor & Francis, Ltd. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26156892. (review of scholarly research)

Irons, Kingsley “Dance for Camera Tips from the Pros: Heather Coker”. Dances Made to Order podcast. 29 March 2013. https://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/projects/25132-dances-made-to-order-en-route-dance-film-festival

Segal, Lewis. “Some choreography to flip for at Spectrum showcase.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, August 22, 2006. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-22-et-spectrum22-story.html (artistic research as dancer with Brockus and CoLab Dance Collective)

“Faculty Spotlight: Heather Coker Hawkins.” Teaching and Learning Innovation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. https://teaching.utk.edu/faculty-spotlight-heather-coker-hawkins/ (teaching)

“School of Art Faculty Receive Heart & Soul Award.” School of Art, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, December 16, 2024. https://art.utk.edu/school-of-art-faculty-receive-heart-and-soul-awards/ (faculty award)

Cox, Catie. “Will Wilson-inspired art project sees collaboration among UT students, West Knoxville Senior Center.” The Daily Beacon, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. November 21, 2023. https://www.utdailybeacon.com/arts_and_culture/art/will-wilson-inspired-art-project-sees-collaboration-among-ut-students-west-knoxville-senior-center/article_6b59012e-8893-11ee-a711-4320951442ad.html (teaching)