Melanie Aceto is a modern dancer and choreographer whose work has been presented in festivals in Guatemala, Toronto, Germany, Kentucky, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and in numerous venues in both Upstate NY and New York City.

Melanie has worked with contemporary composers Marc Mellits, Ping Jin, Evan Johnson and extensively with Mark Olivieri on projects including the ImageMovementSound festival, the Heidelberg New Music Festival and the Vision of Sound Concert of Live Music and Dance, a series of collaborative concerts with the Society for New Music featuring original contemporary music and choreography. Selected by the Center for the Moving Image at the University at Buffalo to participate in a film/dance project funded by the Liberace Foundation, Melanie’s group work Swarm…Churn (music by Marc Mellits) is the subject of the documentary Time to Dance by filmmaker Yuichiro Yamada.

Melanie’s research interests include investigating models for teaching dance composition and modern technique. Her research has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Dance Education and has been presented at the National Dance Education Organization’s national conferences in New York City and Tempe, Arizona. Commissioned by Dance Masters of America, Inc. (DMA), Melanie and colleague Jonette Lancos have developed a three-level modern dance curriculum with both a written and practical certifying examination. This curriculum is taught every summer in DMA’s Teachers Training School.

Melanie earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has worked with New York based contemporary choreographers including Barry Blumenfeld, Ellis Wood, Monica Bill Barnes, Hilary Easton and Guta Hedewig. Melanie is a certified Pilates Instructor (www.pilatesmatworksbuffalo.com) and is an Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo teaching modern technique, choreography and improvisation.