Robert Mulvey grew up in a big, busy family. Alongside his four siblings, Robert played sports, took up the cello, and was introduced to ballet as a toddler. His parents were both trained in medicine and were artists at heart, and they wanted their children to experience sports, theater, dance, and music. āThey gave us the space to explore what was interesting to us, what was exciting to us,ā Robert said.
As a kid, Mulvey lived in Vermont, Idaho, Maine, and Washington, D.C., where his dance career began in earnest at the Washington School of Ballet. During middle and high school, his schedule was focused on dance: heād leave school at lunchtime and train all afternoon and evening, and then for a half day on Saturdays. āI was absolutely enamored,ā he says of his first summer at a program connected with the Houston Ballet.
At that point, āI wasnāt really interested in pursuing college. I had my eyes laser-focused on a professional dance career.ā Though he was eager to leave school altogetherāhe wanted to dance all day, every dayāhis mother was determined for him to focus on academics at least through his junior year of high school, and to take the SAT. āShe always knew dance was important but there was something more for me outside of it, and didnāt want me to limit myself in any sort of way.ā
Mulvey joined a training apprentice program with the San Francisco Ballet during his senior year of high school, and thus began a years-long career as a professional dancer. He performed across the country with numerous companies including Washington Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, and Cirque du Soleil. During his time performing, Robert was involved in outreach initiatives such as bringing dance to underserved populations through classes and performances.
After retiring from dance, Mulvey found himself back in Vermont and ready for a new challenge: returning to the classroom. At CCV-Bennington, he discovered a diverse community of learners and the support and flexibility to turn his attention to academics while also working full-time. Many of his courses were synchronous online, which provided a traditional classroom feeling from the comfort of home. āCCV made it easy for me to transition into this new life,ā he said.
Working closely with his advisor was key. āThey were so available, so present,ā he said. āThey would stay on the phone with me and talk me through my options, and I felt really really supported. It was really important for me to have done the time I did at CCV before attending a four-year university.ā
Mulvey transferred his CCV credits to the Columbia University School of General Studies, where he majored in philosophy with a concentration in dance, graduating magna cum laude with departmental honors.
This spring, he received the Fulbright-University of Roehampton Award in Dance, which will enable him to study at the University of Roehampton in the UK for ten months. As a participant, heāll join his scholarship and dance practice with an MA in Dance Practice and Performance. “By mining the repository of my dance career, I hope to understand more deeply how movementāeven in the smallest and most ordinary gestureācan convey meaning, and how that meaning can be communicated through scholarship to be exhibited in institutional settings like museums,” he wrote.
āIām looking at this year as a means to expand my network,ā Mulvey said. ā[And] per the Fulbright mission, extend a cultural arm from the U.S. to the UK, and bring that embodied and scholarly knowledge back to the United States.ā
Reflecting on his academic journey, Mulvey credits the support he received as a non-traditional student. āIām very fortunate to have had the support, both at Columbia and CCV, to achieve the kinds of things that I have at this point.ā
