Remembering Cathy's Legacy

Catherine "Cathy" Herbut Black was a Modern Dance Division Administrator and a professor in the Modern Dance Division of the Dance Department at Brigham Young University before her retirement in 2013.

Cathy completed her undergraduate work at the University of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. She then received an MFA from the University of Utah in 1972. Her thesis was on Liturgical Dance. Her other areas of interest include choreography of modern dance, musical theatre, tap dance, as well as dance history.

After completing her MFA degree, Cathy was hired at BYU by Dean Milton Hartvigsen as part of the Women's Physical Education faculty (a precursor to the Dance Department) in the College of Health and Human Performance in 1972. After her first year at BYU, Cathy joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was the first director of the group DancEnsemble after it changed it's name from Orchesis in 1980.

Her assignments at BYU have included presenting at one of the campus's weekly Devotionals, working with the Modern Dance Company, and teaching courses in technique, composition, and dance history. She loves her students and helping them learn in the classroom and life lessons. In recognition of her successful efforts as a professor, Cathy received the Alumni Professorship Award (2001) and the Karl G. Maeser Award (2003). The Maeser award is the most prestigious faculty award given by the university.

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