STUDIO STORIES: REMINISCING ON TWIN CITIES DANCE HISTORY
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
180 episodes
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 stu...
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17:09
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 ...
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17:44
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 bel...
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25:21
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 Be...
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16:05
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 set...
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12:23
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 experienc...
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19:40
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 successfulstint as a baton twirler and majorette.She graduated from Denison University in Granville Ohio in ...
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1:08:04
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 EFFOR...
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56:46
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...
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1:21:53
Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Susan Delattre - Season 16, Episode 171
Susan Delattre was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated fromBarnard College and earned an MFA in Dance from the University ofNorth Carolina at Greensboro. She continued in the academic worldteaching in the University of Min...
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53:41
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 The K...
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1:05:00
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 Alv...
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1:01:01
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 ser...
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59:08
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 Achievement ...
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1:05:05
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 passion wa...
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36:09
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 and Iow...
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44:26
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 which...
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39:14
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 in thr...
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51:01
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, and ...
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32:01
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 BFA in ...
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43:57
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 that d...
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56:00
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 Hop ...
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52:18
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 interest ...
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44:26
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 StateUniversity, Mankato (MSUM). In 2020, she became chair of theDepartment of Theatre & Dance. Throughout her tenure, she helped tobuild multiple degrees in Dance. Ju...
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44:24
Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Steve Paul - Season 14, Episode 156
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 t...
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50:53