Archive: Dance Writing, Reviews, and Podcasts

We hear from Scott Killian for Episode 169!

As a dance musician, Scott is a regular accompanist at NYC’s Gibney 890 Studios and NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As a composer and sound designer for theater, Scott has created works for over 120 professional productions in NYC and at many regional theaters.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Photo by Travis Magee.

Studio Stories is back! This Thursday, January 2 at noon we hear from Wendy Ansley for Episode 168!

Born in Chicago, Wendy began dancing with nuns who taught from ballet records. Her vast experiences in dance crossed the country from UCLA to Colorado College to NYU, eventually landing her in Minnesota where she taught at Carleton College and served as a Roster Artist for the Minnesota State Arts Board, teaching in hundreds of schools across the state.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Photo by Michael Engel.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Sarah McCullough for Episode 167. “NEW BREED” highlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Sarah (she/her) is a Minneapolis-based movement enthusiast, freelance performer, yoga practitioner/teacher, and educator in contemporary forms. Originally from Virginia, she attended James Madison University as a Madison Achievement Scholar and earned her BA in Dance and Mathematics.

Since joining Minneapolis’ dance community in 2018, she has had the pleasure of performing in works choreographed by Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Berit Ahlgren, Carl Flink, Helen Hatch, Marisol Herling, Mathew Janczewski, Taja Will, and more. She currently teaches contemporary classes at Zenon Dance School, Hothouse, and Minnesota Dance Theater.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Ruby Josephine Smith for Episode 166. “NEW BREED” highlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Ruby is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and founder of the new company Ruby Josephine Dance Theater (RJDT). She is passionate about movement as a form of emotional expression, story-telling, and language. Ruby returned to her hometown of Minneapolis, MN in 2020 and has since choreographed works for Collab Arts, Zenon Zone, Threads Dance Project, and more recently two full-length productions under her company’s umbrella. She performs with Analog Dance Works and has appeared in work by Jennifer Mack and Jagged Moves.

Ruby has been a teaching artist for over 10 years and currently teaches regular contemporary classes at Hothouse and WestMet Classical Training. She also offers artist residencies and dance program consultation to the American International School Network where she has taught in France, India, and Vietnam.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Brenna Mosser for Episode 165. “NEW BREED” highlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Brenna (she/her) is a dance artist based in Minneapolis, MN. She seeks to illuminate the awe in her surroundings by sculpting falls, stumbles, and asymmetries gracefully as the Artistic Director of Analog Dance. She earned her bachelor’s in dance performance at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK. She supplemented her degree at le Centre national de la danse Contemporaine in Angers, France where she spent two years learning intensively from world-renowned dance companies and their artists. Brenna dances for Threads Dance Project, Ruby Josephine Dance Theater, 43°N 94°W Movement Research, and Zoë Koenig.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Elayna Waxse for Episode 164. “NEW BREED” highlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Elayna is a choreographer, dance educator, and performer based in Mni Sota Makoce on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe, now known as St. Paul, MN. Professionally, Elayna has danced with Minnesota Dance Theatre, Colorado Ballet/Colorado Ballet Studio Company, Black Label Movement, BodyCartography Project, and with Cie. Ismael Ivo at ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival and in São Paulo, Brazil.

She was a member of TU Dance from 2012 to 2019 and received the 2019 McKnight Fellowship in Dance, through which they worked with choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith on an original solo.

Previous choreographic commissions include Minnesota Dance Theatre, University of Minnesota Dance Department (2022 Cowles Visiting Artist), Carleton College Dance Department, Threads Dance Project, St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, University of Minnesota Opera Theatre, and Zenon Dance Zone among others.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Javan Mngrezzo for Episode 163. “NEW BREED” highlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Javan relocated to Minnesota in 2021 by way of Portland, OR. As a creator, past credits include AMEZ Dance, James Sewell Ballet, and Minnesota Dance Theater – to name a few. As an instructor, Javan currently teaches at Out on a Limb and has previously taught at studios such as Lundstrum and Hothouse – to name a few. As a performer, past credits include AMEZ Dance, Rhythmically Speaking, ARENA Dances, and James Sewell Ballet – to name a few. He is presently investigating the convergence of dance and other mediums that will slowly find a home within his new creative art hub ZzoZzo.mn.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Lily Conforti for Episode 162. “NEW BREED” hightlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Lily Conforti is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer from the Twin Cities. She graduated in May 2021 from the University of Minnesota with degrees in Dance and Physiology. She is the founder and choreographer for Corpus Dance Project, the adult collective that creates mixed media art that combines dance and other artistic genres.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Nieya Amezquita for Episode 161. “NEW BREED” hightlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota’s dance future.

Originally from Decatur, GA, Nieya trained at the DanceMakers of Atlanta under the guidance of Lynise and Denise Heard. In order to be a versatile dancer, she trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, pointe, tap, and musical theater for the majority of her childhood. Currently, Nieya is dancing professionally in Minneapolis where she performs with Threads Dance Project and Rhythmically Speaking Dance. She has also worked with Alexandra Bodnarchuk Dance Projects, Yuki Tokuda, Off Leash Area, and Concerto Dance.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcast.

The Studio Stories series “NEW BREED” continues with Alexandra Bodnarchuk for Episode 160. “NEW BREED” highlights dancers and dance makers who are somewhat fresh to the scene and shaping Minnesota dance.

Alexandra Bodnarchuk is a Carpatho-Rusyn American choreographer and cultural activist based in Minneapolis, MN. As the Artistic Director and choreographer for Doma Dance Theater, Bodnarchuk creates original works for the stage and screen that draw together her ethnic heritage with contemporary movement practices. Centering the body as a tangible site of culture, Bodnarchuk explores questions of self-expression, community, dispossession, and cross-cultural identity through works that range from solo pieces to ensemble works.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcast.