STUDIO STORIES: REMINISCING ON TWIN CITIES DANCE HISTORY
Arts
About
Stories are among our most potent tools. We need to unearth old stories that live in a place and begin to create new ones. We are story makers, not just storytellers. All stories are connected, new ones woven from threads of the old. (Paraphrased- Robin Wall Kimmerer) Join ARENA DANCES every Thursday at noon for Studio Stories, a podcast reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance history. Hosted by Mathew Janczewski, each week will feature a new renowned dance artist who has made an impact on the dance landscape in this big dance town. Know of someone whose connections should be shared? Let us know! Email us at arenadances@gmail.com
Episodes
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Marciano Silva dos Santos of Contempo Physical Dance- Season 21, Episode 206
Marciano Silva dos Santos, founder of Contempo Physical Dance, is recognized for his unique fusion of Afro-Brazilian and contemporary dance. His work in the Twin Cities has earned him critical acclaim and multiple awards, including the McK…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Rachel Lieberman - Season 21, Episode 205
Rachel Lieberman, who trained and performed with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, discusses her work with CANDY BOX Dance Festival. Her choreography explores themes of home, place, violence, time, and throughlines from queer, Jewish, diasporis…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Dance Rec Pick Up League - Season 21, Episode 204
The CANDY BOX Dance Festival is highlighted, featuring the Dance Rec Pick Up League, a collective of friends who collaboratively design dances through various creative methods.
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Ronna Rochell - Season 21, Episode 203
Ronna Rochell recounts her extensive dance journey, beginning with modern dance training in her youth and progressing to apprenticeships and performances with prominent Chicago and Minneapolis dance companies. She also touches upon her sub…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing Twin Cities Dance History with Kaitlyn Gilliland- Season 21, Episode 202
Kaitlyn Gilliland, formerly of New York City Ballet and a collaborator with Twyla Tharp, shares her experiences in Twin Cities dance history. She trained at Minnesota Dance Theatre and the School of American Ballet, and founded A Dancer’s…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Joey Weaver, aka Joe Tennis - Season 21, Episode 201
A multifaceted dance artist and a practitioner of experiential mechanics, Joe Tennis is an improviser and moment maker based in New York City. Engined by discovery and play, he is viscerally drawn to movement through experiencing it. He is…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Betsy Schaefer Roob - Season 21, Episode 200
Betsy Schaefer Roob was born and raised in Elm Grove, WI. Now based in Minneapolis for over fifteen years, she has worked with Rhythmically Speaking, ARENA DANCES, Threads Dance Project, 43X94 Movement Research, Dance & Other Behaviors, fa…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Susan Chilcote-Wade - Season 20, Episode 199
Susan Chilcote-Wade Originally from Michigan, I received a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theater and Dance. In 1982 fresh from college, I was one of 7 original members of the New Dance Ensemble,…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Madeline (Dean) Black - Season 20, Episode 198
Madeline’s life pursuit is the discovery of how the human body moves. Over 30 years in the field of movement, her curiosity explored all aspects of movement in dance, Pilates, yoga, Gyrotonic®, fitness training and from studies of human bi…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Catherine Jhung- Season 20, Episode 197
Catherine Jhung is a dancer, actor, teacher and school administrator. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and Denver, CO., she graduated with a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and holds a Master’s degree in early childhood education from…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Olalade Gbadamosi - Season 20, Episode 196
Ololade Gbadamosi, also known as O, is a Twin Cities native who is a dancing artist, an educator and administrator. Ololade specializes in the dance styles Krump, Hip Hop and Afro Social dances. Krump is a street dance that stands for King…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Vanessa Voskuil - Season 20, Episode 195
Vanessa Voskuil is a choreographer, director, performer, writer, designer, and teaching artist. Ranging from large community-inclusive performance works to ensemble and solo works for site-specific locations and theater settings, her work…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Cecil Neal - Season 19, Episode 194
Cecil Neal, also known as Virgo and The Final Warning, is an artist born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and based in Minneapolis. His training began in his high school dance program and at SPCPA (St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists), and w…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Kayla Schiltgen - Season 19, Episode 193
Kayla Schiltgen is an interdisciplinary artist based in rural Two Harbors, Minnesota, blending dance and film to cope with and communicate her existence. Guided by her belief that subjectivity and vulnerability serve as an echo palette for…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Emily Michaels King - Season 19, Episode 192
Emily Michaels King is a performing artist based in St. Paul, Minnesota exploring authentic expression and human depth through movement, multimedia, and visual compositions for the stage. Emily is known for her fearless personal work, prov…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Malia Craft - Season 19, Episode 191
Malia Craft is from Hartwell, Georgia and began her training at Hot Shots Dance Company, where she trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, hip hop, and jazz and found her love for performing, as well as teaching. Malia attended the Univer…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Dominick Burkhardt - Season 19, Episode 190
Twin Cities–based dancer and choreographer Dominick Burkhardt discovered his passion for the arts early in life, growing up in his mother’s dance studio. Immersed in a creative environment from a young age, he trained extensively in all st…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Rachel Lieberman - Season 19, Episode 189
Growing up, Rachel trained, performed, and taught primarily with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. She moved to the Twin Cities to attend Macalester College, graduating in 2018 with a BA in Geography. She has since performed in works by Contemp…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Alex Arce - Season 19, Episode 188
Alex Arce is an Ecuadorian American artist born and raised in Minnesota has been dancing since the age of 5 culturally and socially as well as technically. He focuses his practice within hip hop and Latin diasporic dance forms as well as c…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Doug Hooker - Season 18, Episode 187
Doug Hooker graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Dance. He has had a variety of professional performing opportunities, including with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps, the Broadway show Blast! and the Dancing…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Frances Machala Cerro - Season 18, Episode 186
Frances Machala Cerro Grew up in Cumberland, Wisconsin, graduated from St. Catherine’s College in 1965. She met Loyce Houlton there in 1963 when Mrs. Houlton began teaching at St. Catherine’s. Loyce Houton had started the Contemporary Danc…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Kaleena Miller - Season 18, Episode 185
Kaleena Miller makes sound-focused dance and installation work, rooted in tap dance technique and deep listening modalities. Named one of DANCE Magazine’s 25 to Watch, she has received a McKnight Fellowship for Dance and a Sage People’s Ch…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Aneka McMullen - Season 18, Episode 184
Dancer and Choreographer Aneka McMullen is an independent performing and teaching artist who lives to dance through life, inspire & connect with all people through her passion for movement of all types. She hails from Minneapolis and holds…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Jennifer Hart - Season 18, Episode 183
Jennifer Hart - Hailed as a choreographer “with an imagination so exuberant that one could not be sure how one movement led to the next” and “not only inventive but heart-rending,” Jennifer Hart has been commissioned by Ballet Austin, Ball…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Sam Aros-Mitchell- Season 18, Episode 182
Sam Aros-Mitchell (he/him) is an enrolled member of the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians and an interdisciplinary artist, scholar, and educator. His work spans performance, sound, light and scenic design, choreography, and embodied writing. Roo…
- Studio Stories: special interview with Mathew Janczewski for "only the perverse fantasy can still save us" Season 17 - Episode 181
Mathew Janczewski’s inquisitive, immersive and heartfelt approach to contemporary dance reaches beyond the surface and holds the viewer in its embrace. With over 40 works in his repertoire and more than two decades of experience as a chore…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Cheng "Technica" Xiong - Season 17, Episode 180
Cheng Xiong is a local artist, teacher, and community leader. Xiong grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and received his Bachelors of Art in Dance at the University of Minnesota. Though he began his journey as a street dancer, through his studi…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Joe Chvala of Flying Foot Forum - Season 17, Episode 179
Joe Chvala (Artistic Director/Flying Foot Forum) is the founder and artistic director of the highly-acclaimed percussive dance company, the Flying Foot Forum. In addition to the Flying Foot Forum, Chvala has directed, choreographed, and be…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Alexandra Bodnarchuk of Doma Dance Theater - Season 17, Episode 178
Under the direction of Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Doma Dance Theater creates dance works for the stage and screen that explore the body as a tangible site of culture. Doma, the Carpatho-Rusyn word for “at home,” cultivates a sense of belonging,…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Connor Berkompas of NERVOUS THEATRE - Season 17, Episode 177
NERVOUS THEATRE is a nomadic theatrical collective creating ensemble-driven productions. Their work celebrates and exploits the ‘liveness’ of theatre for all its physical and communal possibilities. Founded by artistic director Connor Berk…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Nieya Amezquita + Kaityln Hawkins - Season 17, Episode 176
Dive into a world devoid of time that witnesses two people attempt to navigate their relationship while questioning their boundaries, perceptions of reality, and conflict resolution skills within the confined space of a growing cardboard s…
- Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Yukina Sato - Season 17, Episode 175
Yukina Sato is a Japanese dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker whose work explores the dynamic interplay of movement, identity, and culture. Her artistic practice delves into the liminal space of hybridity, capturing the unique experiences…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Marge Maddux - Season 16, Episode 174
Marge Maddux was born on December 28, 1944 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Oak Hills High School in 1962 following a successful stint as a baton twirler and majorette. She graduated from Denison University in Granville Ohio in 1966…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Jennifer Glaws - Season 16, Episode 173
Jennifer Glaws is an artist who makes body-based work, who believes in elevating a deep-rooted felt experience for the audience, performer, and participant with the presentation of her work. She probes the physical psychology of SPACE and…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Nancy Duncan - Season 16, Episode 172
Nancy J. Duncan has had an eclectic career spanning over 50 years of experience in the performing arts as a dancer, educator, producing director, manager, and arts management consultant. Nancy’s dance training started under Nevorah Adams i…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Susan Delattre - Season 16, Episode 171
Susan Delattre was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated from Barnard College and earned an MFA in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She continued in the academic world teaching in the University of Minneso…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Justin Leaf - Season 16, Episode 170
Justin Leaf is a Minneapolis-based ballet teacher, choreographer, and performance artist whose multifaceted career spans over two decades. A graduate of The Juilliard School with a BFA in Dance Performance, Justin’s training also includes…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Scott Killian- Season 16, Episode169
Scott Killian has composed scores for Zvi Gotheiner (over 30 works), Shapiro & Smith Dance, Cherylyn Lavagnino, David Dorfman, Susan Marshall, Ralph Lemon, Bebe Miller, Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis. His works have been performed with Al…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Wendy Ansley - Season 16, 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 and landed her in Minnesota where she taught at Carleton College and serv…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Sarah McCullough - Season 15, Episode 167
Sarah McCullough (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 Achieve…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Ruby Josephine Smith - Season 15, Episode 166
Ruby Josephine Smith is a contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and founder of new company Ruby Josephine Dance Theater (RJDT). She is passionate about movement as a form of emotional expression, story-telling, and language. This passi…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Brenna Mosser - Season 15, Episode 165
Brenna Mosser (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. She spent two years in the Conservation Corps of Minnesota an…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Elayna Waxse - Season 15, Episode 164
Elayna Waxse (she/they) is a St. Paul-based choreographer, dance educator, and performer who prioritizes emotional attunement, identity and risk taking in their work. They facilitate an environment of empathy, compassion and witnessing in…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Javan Mngrezzo - Season 15, Episode 163
Javan Mngrezzo(he/him) is a dance creator, instructor, and performer – in that order. He relocated to Minnesota in 2021 by way of Portland, OR. Oregon was his second home state, after CA, where he graduated from Western Oregon University i…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Lily Conforti - Season 15, Episode 162
Lily Conforti is a performer, choreographer, and dance teacher from the Twin Cities. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in dance and physiology in May 2021. She is interested in articulation of movement with music,…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Nieya Amezquita - Season 15, Episode 161
Nieya Amezquita is a Minnesota-based professional dancer working with Threads Dance Project and Rhythmically Speaking. She has also performed works with Concerto Dance, Alexandra Bodnarchuk Dance Projects and many others. Nieya earned a BF…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Alexandra Bodnarchuk - Season 15, Episode 160
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 t…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Cheng Xiong - Season 15, Episode 159
Cheng Xiong is a local Hmong dance artist, choreographer, teacher, and community leader. Xiong was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, sponsored by family in the United States, and moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. Xiong started picking up Hip…
- Studio Stories: NEW BREED series with Jake Nehrbass - Season 15, Episode 158
Born and raised in Minneapolis Minnesota, Jake is a teacher and performing artist in the Twin Cities. Having danced since the age of three, and being trained in tap dance, ballroom dance, jazz dance, modern dance, as well as having an inte…
- Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Julie Kerr-Berry - Season 14, Episode 157
Julie Kerr-Berry retired in 2023 after 35 years at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSUM). In 2020, she became chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance. Throughout her tenure, she helped to build multiple degrees in Dance. Julie is E…