Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Dance Educators/Teaching Artists

  • Artist Profile #55: Jennifer Kayle (Iowa City, Iowa)

    From: Northeast – New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts Current city: Iowa City, IA Age: 40-something College and degree: Middlebury College, BA Dance/Sociology Graduate school and degree: Smith College (graduated at 30) Website: http://www.architectsdance.org/ How you pay the bills: Associate Professor, University of Iowa All of the dance hats you wear:  At UI – Co-Director MFA Program, Undergraduate Honors Director. Co-Founder…

  • Artist Profile #54: Graham Brown (Provo, UT)

    Hometown: Annapolis, MD Current city: Provo, UT Age: 34 College and degree: Univeristy of Utah, BFA in Modern Dance Graduate school and degree: University of Maryland, College Park; MFA in Dance (at age 33) Website:  www.grahambrown.org How you pay the bills: Assistant Professor of Dance at Brigham Young University All of the dance hats you…

  • Artist Profile #53: Peter DiMuro (Boston, MA)

    Hometown: Round Lake, Illinois                  Current city: Boston, Massachusetts Age: 54 College and degree: Drake University, BFA Theatre Graduate school and degree: Connecticut College, MFA in Dance; grad at 24 Websites:  publicdisplaysofmotion.com                                         …

  • Artist Profile #52: Jillian Harris (Philadelphia, PA)

      Hometown: Columbia, Maryland Current city: Philadelphia, PA Age: 38  College and degree: University of Utah, B.F.A. Modern Dance Graduate school and degree: New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, M.F.A. Dance Websites: https://vimeo.com/channels/303741 and https://vimeo.com/channels/508021 How you pay the bills: Assistant Professor of Dance, Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) ———————————————– In late 2011, I decided to…

  • Artist Profile #51: Jill Patterson (Lakeville, MN)

    Hometown: Apple Valley, MN Current city: Lakeville, MN Age: 38 Attended an arts high school? No, however I was fortunate in that my high school did have a dance program run by a former professional modern dancer. I was able to take a modern class each trimester of high school, and by my senior year…

  • Artist Profile #49: Alexandra Beller (New York, New York)

    Photo: Judy Stuart Boronson Hometown: New York, NY Current city: New York, NY Age: 41 College and degree: BFA University of Michigan Graduate school and degree: MFA University of WI at Milwaukee. I started at 32 and graduated at 33, 3 weeks before my due date for my first child. Website: www.alexandrabellerdances.org            How you pay the…

  • Artist Profile #47: Pamela Vail (Lancaster, PA)

    Photo by Alan DiBerio; Pamela performing her own work, I see/saw Hometown: Irvington, NY Current city: Lancaster, PA Age: 45 Attended an arts high school? Yes, for 2 years (junior & senior years) – Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA College and degree: Middlebury College, B.A. in dance and sociology Graduate school and degree: Smith College,…

  • Artist Profile #46: Elizebeth Randall (Oakland, CA)

    Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA Current city: Oakland, CA Age: 35 Attended an arts high school? No, but I had a fantastic dance teacher in high school, Cathy Warner. Her class was my first foray into modern dance after years of being a complete bunhead. I loved it and thank Cathy for bringing prances and undercurves into…

  • Artist Profile #45: Gigi Arrington (Salt Lake City, UT)

    Hometown: Provo, Utah Current city: Holladay (Salt Lake City), Utah Age: 57  Attended an arts high school?  Did not have the pleasure of attending an arts high school; however, I had the good fortune to have BYU literally across the street from my high school so I was allowed to attend upper level ballet classes at BYU concurrently.…

  • Multiple Perspectives: Advice for Young Dancers on Teaching and The Role of Teaching in Their Dance Careers

    Let’s look back over the past few months at comments from various artists about teaching.   From Dana Lawton, age 46 (Oakland, CA): Find a mentor! Have her/him watch you teach and give honest feedback. Go watch class instead of taking; this will let you see the students' reactions when the teacher is talking/demonstrating/correcting. Lastly,…