STUDIO STORIES: REMINISCING ON TWIN CITIES DANCE HISTORY

Steve Paul received his BA in English from the University of Iowa in 1983, then immediately moved to Minneapolis. In 1984 he joined Red Eye Collaboration, where he was the resident “all things tech” until 1989. In 1989 he joined the Minnesota Dance Alliance, taking over the “Dance Production Clearinghouse”, building and running of the Studio 6A performance space until 1997. During those years he w...

Ray Terrill | Dance Group has been performing in and around the Twin Cities since Ray relocated in 1994. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he has extensive experience as performer, choreographer, teacher, presenter and arts program administrator. He started his professional modern dance career as a member of Martha Graham-based Repertory Dancers Northwest in Seattle Washington until relocatin...

Rebecca Frost, CMT, MSMT, MFA  (she / her) After her career as a modern dancer, she's moved into life as a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, somatic therapist, educator and activist. Rebecca earned a BA in Theater and an MFA in Writing and is certified in a number of modalities. As an adjunct faculty member, Rebecca taught Body-Mind Centering in the University of Minnesota Dance and Theater...

Erika Thorne has been a progressive activist, writer, facilitator and cultural worker since 1974. She focuses on cross-race coalition-building, anti-racism work with other whites, and diversity work. Erika has worked with environmental and media justice groups, undocumented immigrants, Hmong organizations, domestic violence activists, housing projects residents, the national education department o...

Melanie Lien Palm Currently: Body Wisdom LLC as owner, practitioner, instructor, presenter, perpetual student (I would LOVE to offer a 6 hour class of BodyTalk Access and/or a 1.5 hour class of EmotionalResolution for DANCERS! I’d be combining my love of dance with my love of energy medicine. BodyTalk is very helpful in operating at peak performance, preventing and recovering more quickly from inj...

jess pretty is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the current artistic director of AUNTS ; a punk/DIY performance series that hosts events/festivals/shows to highlight the works of experimental dance makers in NYC. she has shown her work at La Mama Experimental Theater Club (2017 La Mama Moves Festival), New York Live Arts (as a 2016/17 Fresh Tracks arti...

Tristan Koepke (he/him) is a dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Portland, ME. He holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently Assistant Professor at Bates College and Associate Director of the Young Dancers Intensive at the Bates Dance Festival. Benny Olk (he/him) is a performing artist based in Minneapolis with an interest in contemporizing and c...

Paula Mann has been creating dances for 44 years and is a graduate of New York University. She was full time faculty at the University of Minnesota Department of Theater and Dance from 1993-2013. She is co-artistic director of Time Track Productions. APRIL 25-27, 2024 CBDF Featured Artist Work: Nothing A trio: performed by myself, Leila Awadallah and Roxane Wallace. We question and  interrogate ou...

For over forty-five years I was a movement educator, dancer and choreographer devoted to the exploration of the expression of the mind through the body. I graduated from the Juilliard School in 1971 and my first professional job was working in dance pioneer Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Projects. I continued to dance and perform professionally until 1995. My creative work as a choreographer and dancer a...

Joe Chvala has created over 30 original works for the stage that have toured from New York to Paris and from Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival to Litle Falls, MN. He is the founder and artistic director of the highly acclaimed percussive dance company, Flying Foot Forum. Articles and reviews of his work have appeared in national and international magazines and newspapers including the New York Ti...

Swan Song Studies marks Zhauna's 6th full evening length production. Previous productions: The Dream Channel- Episodes 1 & 2 at The Ritz Theater, Episode 3 (in 3D) at Open Eye Figure Theatre, Her Hysterical Nostalgia (Open Eye Figure Theatre) and Beauty and the Beast (Minneapolis Fringe- Best Dance Production - Audience Choice Award ). In New York Zhauna was featured in over 500 shows spa...

Kathryn (Thern) Anderson started her dance training at the U of M in 1968 with Margret Dietz, Heidi Hauser and Judith Mirus.  In 1971 she joined Margret’s Company, Choreogram ,and danced there until 1976.  She then moved to Port Townsend, WA to work with Meg Robson, then to Portland Oregon to dance with Spira, and started Oregon Dance Consort with other dancers from the Wigman tradition.  She was...

When Cathy was 15, she fell in love with dance and mime while studying at the Children’s Theater School with Myron Johnson and Wendy Lehr. She went on to dance with Zoe Sealy’s Minnesota Jazz Dance Company where she met aspiring choreographer Ken Delap. As an original member of Ken Delap’s Ozone Dance Company, Cathy performed across the Midwest and in New York City at the American Theater Laborato...

Maria Genné is a dancer, choreographer and educator, recognized as a pioneering leader in the intergenerational interactive participatory performing arts, and arts and health fields. Her national award winning work to create interactive dance, music and story programs for intergenerational participants is designed to tap into the artistry and creativity of older adults and invite them to be centra...

Rita Mustaphi is choreographer, dancer, educator and a disciple of the living legend Pandit Birju Maharaj in Kathak style of Indian classical dance. She is known for her visionary approach and innovations in dance, her multi-disciplinary productions incorporating spoken word, live and commissioned music, and the utilization of production elements. She is Founder and Artistic Director of Katha Danc...

Christian Burns is a Teaching Artist, Performer, and Choreographer. His body of work is built upon interdisciplinary projects relating to the intersection of Improvisation, Choreography, and Training. Some of his collaborators include Hope Mohr, Bobbi Jene Smith, Alessio Silvestrin, Chris Aiken, Ray Chung, Eric Beauschsne, Shinichi Lova-Koga, and Kirstie Simson among others. He was a guest artist...

Myo-O Marilyn Habermas-Scher has an extensive background in the performing arts, including choreography, opera, vocal improvisation, performance art and story telling.  She is trained in Qi Gong and Body Mind Centering TM, as well as practicing yoga and Gyrotonics. She is the originator of VoiceWork, a somatically based voice training, which she has offered in private practice for nearly fifty yea...

Pam has been creating, teaching and performing dance for over 40 years. She was involved with the Nancy Hauser Dance Company/Hauser Dance from the mid-1980s to 2011 as an apprentice, company member, teacher and choreographer, along with freelancing in the community. As director of MotionArt (cofounded in 2013 with Diane Moncrieff), she is dedicated to providing opportunities for people - no matter...

Paul Herwig has been working for over 40 years as a professional visual and performing artist. Paul is the founding Co-Artistic Director/Manager of Off-Leash Area, a dance and theater company creating original interdisciplinary performance work, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA, which is now in its 25th year, and has presented 30 original productions. Paul is a graduate of the Ecole Jacques L...

Toni Pierce-Sands (Founder & Artistic Director) Prior to co-founding TU Dance, Minnesota native Toni Pierce-Sands performed with Minnesota Dance Theatre, Tanz Forum in Germany, Rick Odums in Paris, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she was a featured soloist in such signature pieces as Revelations , Cry and Rainbow Round My Shoulder . Her command of the Horton Technique has led to...

Deneane Richburg (Choreographer, Dancer, former Competitive Figure Skater, Founder/Artistic Director of Brownbody) grew up a competitive figure skater—in spaces where she had to check her blackness at the door, as world skating was dominated by whiteness and rooted in values that subjugated her ancestry’s truths; to quote Zora Neale Hurston, she always felt “most colored when [she was] thrown agai...

The scope of Nic Lincoln’s choreographic career is comprised of 29 works, and he dancedprofessionally in the Twin Cities for over 20 years. His pieces have been commissioned by James Sewell Ballet, The O’Shaughnessy Theater, Hope College, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, DITA in Michigan, and the Human Rights Campaign. Most recently, he received the Cowles Center’s Generating Room: Open Proposal Initiati...

SUZANNE COSTELLO joined Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater in New York City in 1979 and became its Artistic Co-Director in 1984. During her career with the company, she has been highlighted as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and rehearsal director. As Director of Arts & Education and Arts & Healthcare Programs for the company, she creates and facilitates the many community-inclusi...

JANE SKINNER PECK  is a researcher, choreographer, dance historian, teacher, writer/playwright and performer. She has worked across  the U.S., Canada, and France for over thirty years.   She found that dance history enables her to combine her love of history with her love of dance. She has extensive training in both modern dance and dance history, directing performances with her company Dance Reve...

Matthew Keefe has served the dance field for over 20 years as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, administrator, production & stage manager, non-profit consultant, board member, and artistic director. He holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa and a non-profit management certificate from Rutgers University. Matthew has danced with James Sewell Ballet, Louisville Ballet and BalletMet Co...