Eric Handman is a choreographer and an Associate Professor at the University of Utah’s School of Dance. He earned a BA in English from Skidmore College in 1991, then danced professionally first with New York Theatre Ballet and then with various New York–based contemporary dance companies such as Doug Varone and Dancers, Nicholas Leichter Dance and Joy Kellman and Company. Handman has worked with Wendy Perron, David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Stephen Koester, Koosilja Hwang and many others. He graduated with an MFA from the University of Utah in 2003. He is a winner of the New Visions Choreography Competition for Idaho Dance Theater and the Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition for the Northwest Dance Project. His work has been commissioned by various companies and universities across the United States and has been presented at the Kennedy Center. He teaches domestically and internationally specializing in technique, composition, improvisation, contact improvisation, contemporary partnering, criticism and theory. Handman has served on the board of directors for the Congress on Research in Dance and the American College Dance Association. He is a Fulbright Specialist, served on the Executive Committee of the Entrepreneurial Faculty Scholars at the University of Utah and a recipient of a Faculty Excellence Award for Research in 2017. Handman has received support for exploring choreographic thinking in virtual reality with game designers and autism researchers, and for collaborating with mechanical engineers on the creative and performance potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.  He is currently on the editorial board for the Alliance for the Arts in Research Institutions (a2ru) and the board of directors for SALT Contemporary Dance.