Curriculum Vitae
Stephanie Skura
Auburn, WA
EDUCATION
| 1994 | Teacher Training Certification, Skinner Releasing Technique, Intermediate Level |
| 1993 | Teacher Training Certification, Skinner Releasing Technique, Introductory Level |
| 1975 | MFA Dance, New York University Tisch School of the Arts |
| 1974 | BFA Dance, New York University Tisch School of the Arts |
| 1972-74 | NYU Washington Square College, studies in literature, mathematics, & philosophy |
| 1972-98 | Dance studies in ballet (primarily Cechetti technique with Diana Byer), many styles modern dance & postmodern dance, contact improvisation, KleinTechnique, Pilates, and Skinner Releasing Technique |
| 1965-75 | Classical piano training |
SELECTED CHOREOGRAPHY & INTERDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCES
2019
2015-17 |
Seattle Improvised Music Festival presents
a dance/music performance with some of Skura's favorite living iconoclasts: A rare-breed, wizardly dream-team for lovers of non sequitor, alternative flow & multiverses. Surreptitious Preparations for an Impossible Total Act, rehearsed worldwide, performed in New York City at WeisAcres Studios; Roulette, Brooklyn; SFDI, Seattle |
| 2015 | Dialog With Caravans, Juniata College |
| 2014-15 | Double Soliloquies, Juniata College |
| uys | Choreographer for the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Juniata College, PA |
| 2013 | Score for Giuseppina, Choreographer, Container12, Brescia, Italy |
| 2013 | Noir Noir Noir , Writer/Director/Choreographer, Juniata College, PA |
| 2012-14 | Sacrilege is Needed. Competency is Hell., Solo with text, Writer/Director/Performer, Movement Research Judson-at-50 Celebration, NY; Seattle Festival of Improvisation; La Caldera, Barcelona; ImproEvents, Prague |
| 2012 | Two Huts, Writer/Director/Performer, Roulette, Brooklyn, NY ; Open Flight Studio, Seattle. |
| 2011 | Prima Fila, Choreographer, Teatro Grande Opera House, Brescia, IT |
| 2010,11 | Slow Owls Shout South, duet with musician Adam Kozie, at SFDI & Here/Now, Seattle |
| 2011 | Two Huts, full-evening version, Conceiver/Director, Juniata College, PA |
| 2010 | 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Choreographer, Juniata College, |
| 2010 | Ruins Memories, Conceiver/Director, Santa Giulia Museum, Brescia, Italy |
| 2010 | Two Huts, Conceiver/Director/Performer, Juniata College, PA |
| 2009 | Present Tense, Conceiver/Director, Nuovo Eden, Brescia, Italy |
| 2009 | The Corduroy Prayer, Conceiver/Director, Juniata College, PA |
| 2008 | Return, Associate Artistic Director & Choreographer, Juniata College, PA |
| 2008 | The Glorious Nosebleed, solo performance at Juniata College, PA & Velocity Dance Center, Seattle |
| 2008 | Crispin (movement conception), People's Light & Theatre, Philadelphia, PA |
| 2007 | Q & A, solo performance at UW Bothell & SFDI, WA |
| 2007 | Pippin, Choreographer, Juniata College, PA |
| 2007 | If Katie Does It, Moving Current Dance Co, Tampa, Florida |
| 2007 | The Albino Turk, duet for myself & Nate Dryden, Erickson Theater, Seattle |
| 2007 | Enrico IV (Associate Director & Choreographer) Juniata College, PA |
| 2006 | Present Tense, Toronto Dance Theatre, Toronto, Canada |
| 2006 | Small Awkward Event, for 3 performers including myself, Erickson Theater, Seattle |
| 2006 | Featured poet at Kent Cornucopia Days, WA |
| 2006 | Warehouse, solo commissioned by choreographer & dancer Julie Mayo |
| 2006 | Midsummer Nights Dream (Assoc. Director, Choreographer), Juniata College, PA |
| 2006 | Nine Gates (Movement Conception, Assoc, Director), The Gravity Project, Huntingdon, PA |
| 2005 | Dialog, solo with movement & spoken word, Chisenhale Dance Space, London; Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance & Improvisation, Seattle, WA |
| 2005 | Standing Stone, (movement conception), The Gravity Project, Huntingdon, PA |
| 2003-2005 | Stephanie Skura & Bruce Haedt, spoken word, music & movement, Polestar Music Gallery; Through-Traffic, Molly!, Ladyfest Festival, Freehold Theater, Lo-Fi, Seattle; Vision Festival, NYC |
| 1997-2003 | A Fashion Show, collaboration with visual artist Claudia Fitch; Ceramics Gallery, University of Washington; Dance on Capitol Hill; Bumbershoot Visual Art Opening Gala; Seattle Festival of Dance & Improvisation, Seattle |
| 2003 | Creative advisor to performer/choreographer Dale Andree, solo with movement & spoken word, Miami |
| 2003 | Disintegrating Joke, poetic monolog, Northwest New Works Festival, Seattle |
| 2003 | Disintegrating Joke, University of Rochester, NY |
| 2002 | Red Air, trio with poet Anne Sweet & percussionist Chuck Smart, RASP, Redmond, WA |
| 2002 | The Finest Divorce, spoken word duet with Martin Marriott, Red Sky Poetry Theater, Seattle |
| 1999-2001 | Twisting Runes, duet with poet Paul Nelson, Bumbershoot Literary Stage, Subtext Reading Series, Seattle Poetry Festival, Red Sky Poetry Theater, Seattle; Redmond Association of the Spoken Word, Redmond; Aloha Caf�, Chicago |
| 2001-2004 | Creative advisor to choreographer Jessica Runge for solo Q & A, Toronto |
| 2000 | Dolphin Skull, duet with poet Paul Nelson, Bumbershoot Literary Stage, Seattle; Passion for Poetry, Federal Way |
| 1996 | Nose to the Ground, including Four Solos for Other Choreographers, Tiny & Overexposed, and Delicacy, Freehold Theater, Seattle; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon |
| 1995 | Exposed, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Oregon; The Compound, Seattle |
| 1995 | Homesteading for Dinosaurs, solo, Movement Research, NYC; PICA, Portland |
| 1994 | Lush Rites, Broadway Performance Hall, On the Boards, Seattle; Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, Canada |
| 1993 | Into the North Canoe, Oberlin College, Ohio; Dancing on the Edge Festival, Vancouver, Canada; Bagley-Wright Theater, Seattle; On the Boards, Seattle; IFICT Theater, Lisbon; European Dance Development Center, Arnhem; Werkstaat, Dusseldorf; Slaski Teatr Tanca, Bytom, Poland; |
| 1992 | After She Squawks, in collaboration with composer Michael Gordon, Performance Space 122, New York, NY |
| 1991 | The Bad Play, in collaboration with playwright Ana Maria Simo; Zurich Theatre Spektakel; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Carver Cultural Center, San Antonio; Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY; Performance Space 122, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Big Waves, Gilbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Tanz '90, Secession Theater, Vienna; Posthof Theatre, Linz, Austria; Petofi Csarnok, Budapest; The Dance Hall, Cincinnati; Bennington College, VT; MoMing Arts Center, Chicago; Group Motion, Philadelphia; Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY |
| 1988 | The Fantasy World of Bernard Herrmann, Joyce Theater, New York, NY; Ordway Theater, Minneapolis; Columbia College, SC; Bryn Mawr College, PA; Dancers' Collective, Atlanta; Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Cranky Destroyers, Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, New York, NY; Brooklyn Academy of Music Opera House, NY; Dance Theater Workshop, NY; Performance Space 122, NY; Pepsico Summerfare, Purchase, NY; Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, NY; Central Park Summerstage, NY; Joyce Theater, NY; Intermedia Arts Center, Huntington, NY; Group Motion, PA; MoMing Arts Center, Chicago; Casa de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Tanz '90, Secession Theater, Vienna; Petofi Csarnok, Budapest; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, MA; Bates College, ME; On the Boards, Seattle; Bagley-Wright Theater, Seattle |
| 1987 | Dead Dogs, Dance Theater Workshop, NY; Performance Space 122, NY; Pepsico Summerfare, Purchase, NY; Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, NY; Central Park Summerstage, NY; Joyce Theater, NY; Intermedia Arts Center, Huntington, NY; Casa de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Tanz '90, Vienna; Petofi Hall, Budapest; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, MA; Bates College; SUNY Buffalo, NY |
| 1987 | Stopstartswat, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA; State University of New York at Brockport; State University of New York at Buffalo; Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, MA; Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY; School for New Dance Development, Amsterdam |
| 1986 | Travelog, in collaboration with video artist Terry Moyemont, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; Santa Barbara Museum of Art; New Performance Gallery, San Francisco; Pyramid Art Center, Rochester, NY; Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY |
| 1985 | Survey of Styles, Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY |
| 1984 | Chase Scene, in collaboration with video artist Terry Moyement, American Center, Paris; The Place Theatre, London; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wales; Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK; University of Warwick, UK; Midland Group, Nottingham; Arts Centre, Hexham; St. Donates Arts Centre, Llanwit Major: UK; Danspace at St. Marks Church, New York, NY; University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana |
| 1984 | Climbing the Waltz, American Dance Festival, Durham, NC |
| 1984 | Artbusiness, Institute for Art & Urban Resources at PS 1, Queens, NY |
| 1983 | It's Either Now or Later, Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Some Kind of Dance, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY; Trinity College, Hartford, CT; Performance Space 122, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Enoughenough, in collaboration with choreographer Yvonne Meier, The Kitchen, New York, NY |
| 1981 | Boy Meets Girl, Musee d'Art Contemporain, Montreal; Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck, NY; Pyramid Art Center, Rochester NY; State University of NY at Buffalo; Performance Space 122, New York, NY; Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI |
| 1977 | Castle of Perseverance, Performing Garage, New York, NY |
| 1975 | Babies, Dreams and Stories, Byrd Hoffman Foundation, New York, NY |
SELECTED TEACHING
| 2013-present | Annual spring two-four-week Open Source Forms workshop, Seattle, WA |
| 2009-present | Annual Open Source Forms Teacher Certifcation Programs, USA & Italy |
| 2003-16 | Annual guest residencies at Juniata College Theater Program, teaching, mentoring, writing/directing, choreographing |
| 2016 | One-week workshop, Movement Research Winter Melt, New York City |
| 2015 | One-week Open Source Forms Retreat, Felinganol, Wales |
| 2015 | One-week workshop, Open Source Forms & Performance Scores, Ponderosa, Germany |
| 2015 | Four-day workshop in Open Source Forms, Tanzfabrik, Berlin |
| 2015 | Two-week Open Source Forms workshop, Seattle, WA |
| 2014 | Weekend Open Source Forms Workshop, Coventry University, UK |
| 2014 | Three-day graduate intensive in creative process, Coventry University, UK |
| 2014 | One-week workshop in performance scores, Institut del Teatre, Barcelona |
| 2014 | Artist selected to teach annual week-long residency at ImproEvents, Prague |
| 2014 | Weekend Open Source Forms Workshop, Hope Mohr Dance Company, San Francisco, CA |
| 2014 | Two-week Open Source Forms Workshop, London |
| 2014 | Three-day Open Source Forms Workshop, Movement Research, New York City |
| 2014 | Two-week Open Source Forms workshop, Seattle, WA |
| 2013 | Weekly Open Source Forms classes, Velocity Dance Center, Seattle, WA |
| 2013 | Weekend Open Source Forms workshop & daily professional classes, Independent Dance, London |
| 2013 | Weekend Open Source Forms workshop, Container12, Brescia, Italy |
| 2013 | Two-week Open Source Forms workshop,La Caldera, Barcelona |
| 2013 | Two-week Open Source Forms workshop, Seattle, WA |
| 2012 | Open Source Forms classes, Movement Research, NYC |
| 2011 | Teach Open Source Forms & Creative process, Soul Centre, & Touch Compass Dance Co, Auckland, New Zealand |
| 2009 - now | Create & direct Open Source Forms Teacher Certification, Huntingdon, PA & U of WA, Seattle |
| 2003 - now | Frequent Guest Faculty, Theater Program, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA |
| 2007- 13 | Annual teaching residency at Container12 Festival, Brescia, Italy |
| 2010 | Teach Releasing & Improvisation, Circuit-Est, Montreal |
| 2007-08 | Annual Seattle 1-week advanced workshop in creative practice, Dance Art Group |
| 2007 | Residency at UW Bothell: teaching, panels, performance |
| 2007 | Two residencies at Evergreen State College, April & November |
| 2007 | ATHE conference workshop, New Orleans, LA |
| 2007 | One-week intensive, Seattle Festival of Improvisation, Seattle, WA |
| 2007 | 2-week intensive, Bosphorous University, Istanbul, Turkey |
| 2004-06 | Two 2-day residencies, Series 808, Toronto |
| 2006 | 2-week residency, Toronto Dance Theatre |
| 2005 | One-week residency, Chisenhale Dance Space, London. |
| 1992-2006 | One of four core faculty members and Managing Director of the annual Skinner Releasing Intensives in Seattle |
| 1996-2006 | One of four core faculty members of the annual Skinner Releasing Teacher Training Certification Program in Seattle |
| 2004 | 3-week residency with Toronto Dance Theater & School of Toronto Dance Theater, teaching company, local professional dancers, faculty of school, and higher year students Skinner Releasing & Improvisation |
| 1998-2003 | Graduate Faculty at University of Washington Graduate School of Drama Professional Actors Training Program, teaching Skinner Releasing and Movement Improvisation |
| 2003 | Mazomanie Arts Center & University of Wisconsin Dance Dept, Madison, WI |
| 2002 | Festival of Interactive Physics, Toronto |
| 2002 | Madison Improvisation Festival, Wisconsin; guest teacher at University of Wisconsin at Madison |
| 2001 | Creativ-Haus, Munster, Germany; Triade, Hamburg, Germany |
| 1998-2002 | Florida Dance Festival, annual one-week Intensives |
| 1993-1998 | Adjunct Faculty at Cornish College of the Arts Dance Program, teaching Composition, Improvisation, Skinner Releasing, and repertory |
| 1997 | Teaching residency, Bennington College |
| 1996 | 3-week residency, Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland |
| 1990-1993 | Annual Guest Faculty at European Dance Development Center, Arnhem, Netherlands, teaching postmodern technique, Skinner Releasing, Improvisation, Composition, and Repertory |
| 1993 | 3-week residency, Silesian Dance Theater, Bytom, Poland |
| 1993 | 3-week residency, American Dance Festival |
| 1992 | One-month residency in Czech Republic, teaching at Conservatory of Dance, Center for Modern Dance, National Ballet Theatre, Center of Experimental Theatre, & Tanec Praha in Brno & Prague |
| 1988-1991 | Annual Guest Faculty at School for New Dance Development, Amsterdam, teaching Composition, Repertory, Improvisation, Skinner Releasing |
| 1991 | Cowles Chair Guest Faculty & Choreographer in Residence for one month, University of Minnesota |
| 1990 | Guest Faculty & Choreographer in Residence for one semester, University of MD, Baltimore Campus |
| 1989 | Summer artist in residence with my company, Bennington College |
| 1983-1996 | Regular Guest Teacher at Movement Research, NYC |
| 1986- Present | Guest teacher/lecturer at University of Rochester, Wesleyan University, Manhattanville College, Naropa Institute, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Florida Dance Festival, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, SUNY Buffalo, University of Ohio at Athens, Dancers' Group (San Francisco), Stanford University, San Francisco State University, California Institute of the Arts, UC Riverside, Scripps College, Collective Theater Atlanta, Bryn Mawr, Columbia College SC, Moming Arts Center Chicago, Group Motion Philadelphia, Denison University, Luther College, University of Cincinnati, Dance Hall Cincinnati, Firehall Arts Center Vancouver BC, Gulbenkian Modern Art Museum Lisbon. |
| Two extended Eastern Europe teaching residencies were co-sponsored by the National Performance Network, NY |
GRANTS AND AWARDS
| 2011-12 | Project Grant for Two Huts, 4Culture, Seattle, WA |
| 2011 | USA Artists Projects recipient |
| 2000-2002 | Two year company grant, King County Arts Commission |
| 2000 | Project grant, King County Arts Commission |
| 1998-1999 | Two year company grant, King County Arts Commission |
| 1997 | Artist Trust Fellowship |
| 1984-1996 | Seven Choreography Fellowships and five Dance Company Grants, National Endowment for the Arts |
| 1994-1998 | Two Artist Awards and two project grants, Seattle Arts Commission |
| 1994-1998 | Three project grants and one company grant, Washington State Arts Commission |
| 1992 | Project grant, Meet the Composer ($15,000) |
| 1992 | Project grant, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust |
| 1991-1992 | Two company grants, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation |
| 1991-1992 | Two grants, Bob & Nancy Daly Foundation |
| 1991 | Company grant from Metropolitan Life Foundation |
| 1990 | Creation grant from Dance Theater Workshop Suitcase Fund for 'The Bad Play' |
| 1984-1992 | Nine company grants, one media grant, New York State Council on the Arts |
| 1991 | Project grant, AT&T |
| 1986-1991 | Four project grants, Art Matters Inc. |
| 1989-1991 | Three company grants, Philip Morris Companies Inc. |
| 1987-1990 | Three company grants, JCT Foundation |
| 1989 | Company grant, Morgan Guarantee Trust Company |
| 1986 | Project grant, Peg Santvoord Foundation |
| 1985 | Project grant, Harkness Center for Dance |
| 1984-1985 | Two interdisciplinary grants, National Endowment for the Arts |
| 1984 | Inaugural "Bessie" New York Dance and Performance Award for Choreographic Achievement |
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
| 2014 |
"I Am An Artist" Panel, Artist Trust, Inc., Tacoma, WA |
| 2004-10 |
Senior Artistic Consultant, Associate Artisic Director, and Core Trainer for The Gravity Project, theater company integrating movement & poetic text, Hungtingdon, PA |
| 1995-2006 | Managing Director of all aspects of Skinner Releasing Seattle Summer Intensives & Teacher Certification Program, including website & fundraising |
| 1984-2006 | Artistic Director, President and Chief Administrator of Stephanie Skura & Company (renamed Cranky Destroyers in 1992), a not-for-profit dance company and, since 1993, dance service organization sponsoring two major annual progressive dance festivals in Seattle: the Skinner Releasing Intensives, and the Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance & Improvisation (1994-2002) |
| 1999-2001 | Served on the Board of Directors of Northwest Spoken Word Lab, nurturing literary activities in the Northwest |
| 1983-1989 | Served on the Board of Directors of Movement Research in New York City, contributing ideas and services to help this pioneering organization in progressive dance education survive and thrive as a major international influence |
| 1981-1983 | Performed with ishmael Houston-Jones |
| 1979-1983 | Served on the Board of Directors of Performance Space 122 in New York City during its inception, contributing ideas and services to help form this now-renowned interdisciplinary presenting organization |
| 1975-1976 | Performed with Stray Cat Dance Company |
| 1975-1982 | Professional ballet accompanist, NYC: Manhattan School of Dance, New York Theatre Ballet, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Morelli, & other studios around town |
| 1972-1973 | Performed with Meredith Monk/The House |
CHOREOGRAPHY & THEATER COMMISSIONS
| 2017 | Commission for Surreptitious Preparations for an Impossible Total Act, Roulette, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2012 | Two Huts, commissioned by Roulette, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2007 | If Katie Does It, commissioned by Moving Current Dance Co, Tampa |
| 2006 | Present Tense, commissioned by Toronto Dance Theatre |
| 2006 | Warehouse, commissioned by choreographer & dancer Julie Mayo |
| 2004-2007 | 3 choreography commissions for Moving Current Dance Company, Tampa, FL |
| 2003 | Solo commissioned by Dale Andree, Miami, FL |
| 2001-2003 | Q & A, solo commissioned by Jessica Runge, Toronto |
| 1999 | Cornish Dance Theater (A Fashion Show), Seattle, WA |
| 1998 | Linda Johnson (About to Begin), Portland, OR |
| 1996 | Choreography for Dannon Yoghurt commercial |
| 1995 | D-9 Dance Collective, Seattle (Cranky Destroyers) |
| 1993 | European Dance Development Center, Arnhem (Into the North Canoe) |
| 1993 | Cornish Dance Theater (Departures), Seattle, WA |
| 1989,1992 | Zenon Dance Company (Fantasy World of Bernard Herrmann, Lush Riots) |
| 1992 | Cynthia Thompson company commission |
| 1990-1991 | National Performance Network (The Bad Play) |
| 1987,1991 | 2 commissions from Performance Space 122, NY (Cranky Destroyers, Bad Play) |
| 1990 | Phoenix Dance Company, Baltimore (Ghost Stories) |
| 1990 | Improvisation Unlimited, College Park, MD (So Random, So Rare) |
| 1989 | URepCo, Minneapolis (Front Out Right Go) |
| 1984-1989 | Four commissions from Dance Theater Workshop, NY (Survey of Styles, Travelog, The Bad Play, Big Waves) |
| 1989 | MindCollission, Ohio (Not a Victory March) |
| 1988 | Theatre Ballet of Canada (Travelog) |
| 1984 | American Dance Festival (Climbing the Waltz) |
COMMERCIALS
| 1996 | Choreography for Dannon Yoghurt Commercial by Gray Advertising |
PUBLICATIONS
| "Oxford University Press Handbook of Improvisation in Dance: Intention and Surrender" on my improvisation teaching methods |
"Patricide", Issues 2,3,4, UK magazine, published poetry. 2009-12 |
| "Contact Quarterly", numerous articles & poetic writings, 1985-2010 |
| "Wandering Hermit Review", Vol 2, published poetry, 2005 |
| "Dance Magazine", article about Skinner Releasing, 2006 |
| "Cranky Literary Journal", Vol. 1, published poetry, 2003 |
| "Village Voice" article about Skinner Releasing, 1998 |
| "The Politics of Method". pp. 183-189 in Reimaging America: The Arts of Social Change. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.1990. |
| "Which Ring is Right". Dance/USA Journal. V.12, No.4: 12-13. Spring 1995. |
| "The CNDO Transcripts: Stephanie Skura. Arts Archives 1993, No. 6. Arts Documentation Unit. Exeter. 1993. |
| "Releasing Dance. Interview with Joan Skinner." Contact Quarterly. V.15, No. 1: 11-18. Fall 1990. |
| "Truncated Initiation and Other Approaches." The Drama Review. V.29, No.2: 41-52. Summer 1985. |
| "Interview with Meredith Monk." Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art & Politicse. 17:8-11.1984. |
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES UPON REQUEST:
Wendy Perron
Former Editor-in-Chief, Dance Magazine
Meredith Monk, Multi-Artist
Andrew Belser
Graduate Faculty, Theater Program, Penn State University, State College, PA
Former Artistic Director, The Gravity Project
Christopher House
Artistic Director, Toronto Dance Theatre
Roger Copeland
Professor of Theater & Dance, Oberlin College/Journalist & Author
