She may be one of Iowa State’s newest dance professors, but that hasn’t stopped Amy Martin from taking her skills as a dancer and choreographer to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland this August.

Martin, lecturer in health and human performance, will attend the annual festival, which is a 56-year-old tradition that draws hundreds of artists to perform dance, theater, mime and music, as well as to network with directors, producers and other artists. Martin will be featured in “The International Choreographers’ Showcase,” which includes five performances in Scotland’s “The Garage” Theater.

“I am excited to see all the performances that will be happening and to see people from all parts of the world dancing,” Martin says. “There are many contacts to be made and roads to be built, and I am looking forward to seeing how my work compares professionally to others.”

Martin will be traveling with colleague and friend Lowry Champion, who lives in Chicago. They will be performing a duet Martin is choreographing titled “Flow.”

Despite the distance separating the two performers, they have been rehearsing since January, meeting one weekend a month to rehearse between three to six hours a day.

Martin says the idea for “Flow” began as an extension of a piece she created for ISU dance group Orchesis I’s annual Barjche performance.

“The concept for my piece is a continuation of what I started working on in Barjche,” Martin says. “Thematically speaking, my piece is about movement and water, and the combination of the two.”

Martin says her main goal when developing “Flow” was the use of strong structure and movement invention, as well as an incorporation of her own dance strengths.

“My background is in traditional ballet, modern, jazz, salsa, African and Javanese,” she says. “I am trying to use concepts from each of these styles without repeating any of those styles’ movements.”

Dance accompanist Vernon Windsor, who is composing the music for “Flow,” says he has had to take all aspects of the dance into consideration when adding music to Martin’s moves.

“The most challenging part is to make sure that the music is not overpowering,” Windsor says. “Ideally, the music must support the dance and it is whatever feels and moves Amy and Lowry.

“Collaboration is key, and the hardest part is making all the pieces fit together.”

Martin’s students say they hope her performance in Scotland allows her to incorporate new ideas of choreography and technique, as well as possible guest artists, into her teaching at Iowa State.

“I think it is awesome that Amy is going, and it is a great opportunity for her,” says Ashley Miller, senior in performing arts. “She is highly qualified and really talented.

“I am really looking forward to learning about the choreographic and culturally diverse experiences she has there.”

Martin came to Iowa State shortly after finishing her master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2002.

During her first year at Iowa State, she not only taught numerous dance classes, but also became the adviser for three ISU dance clubs (Orchesis I, ISU Hip Hop Club and ISU Dance Dance Revolution Club), choreographed many theater and dance productions and performed with local dance group Co’ Motion Dance Theatre.

“What she brings to ISU is a fresh perspective and energy, and she transmits her love of dance in her classes,” Windsor says.

“She has gone above and beyond her position, both as an adviser and as a professor,” Miller adds. “Amy helped by setting me up with an internship with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York this summer.

“She has not only taught me about dancing, but about what kind of person I want to be. Iowa State is really lucky to have her,” Miller says.

Eventually, Martin says she wants to own, perform and tour with her own company, but she says she never wants to give up teaching.

“I enjoy teaching because it keeps me learning,” Martin says.