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 the Minnesota Dance Alliance, taking over the “Dance Production Clearinghouse”, building and running of the Studio 6A performance space until 1997. During those years he was privileged to join and work with the extraordinary community of performing artists that flourished in that amazing time and place. While there, he also began to use early CADD, 3D, and video sof ..read more

Ray Terrill | Dance Group has been performing in and around the Twin Cities since Ray relocated in 1994. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he has extensive experience as performer, choreographer, teacher, presenter and arts program administrator. He started his professional modern dance career as a member of Martha Graham-based Repertory Dancers Northwest in Seattle Washington until relocating to Portland Oregon to work with the Mary Wigman-based modern dance company Oregon Dance Consort. In Portland, he eventually became co-artistic director of the company where he choreographed numerou ..read more

Rebecca Frost, CMT, MSMT, MFA  (she / her) After her career as a modern dancer, she's moved into life as a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, somatic therapist, educator and activist. Rebecca earned a BA in Theater and an MFA in Writing and is certified in a number of modalities. As an adjunct faculty member, Rebecca taught Body-Mind Centering in the University of Minnesota Dance and Theater Department. She  created the course, Writing and Emotional Currency at The Loft Literary Center, taught experiential anatomy to UMN Medical students and at the Mpls Yoga Center, and body-sourced ..read more

Erika Thorne has been a progressive activist, writer, facilitator and cultural worker since 1974. She focuses on cross-race coalition-building, anti-racism work with other whites, and diversity work. Erika has worked with environmental and media justice groups, undocumented immigrants, Hmong organizations, domestic violence activists, housing projects residents, the national education department of a large US union, and a full range of non-profits, organizers and rabble-rousers. In 2012, she collaborated with local training organizations to co-facilitate four workshops for 98 Burmese nonviolen ..read more

Melanie Lien Palm Currently: Body Wisdom LLC as owner, practitioner, instructor, presenter, perpetual student (I would LOVE to offer a 6 hour class of BodyTalk Access and/or a 1.5 hour class of EmotionalResolution for DANCERS! I’d be combining my love of dance with my love of energy medicine. BodyTalk is very helpful in operating at peak performance, preventing and recovering more quickly from injuries, and reconnecting lines of communication within your body. EmRes is very helpful in resolving emotional upset within 60 seconds. Contact me if you’re interested in coordinating a class for a gro ..read more

jess pretty is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the current artistic director of AUNTS; a punk/DIY performance series that hosts events/festivals/shows to highlight the works of experimental dance makers in NYC. she has shown her work at La Mama Experimental Theater Club (2017 La Mama Moves Festival), New York Live Arts (as a 2016/17 Fresh Tracks artist), CATCH!, Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, the CURRENT SESSIONS, panoply performing arts space, Green Street Studios, three ACDA conferences, and the Chocolate Factory Theatre. prett ..read more

Tristan Koepke (he/him) is a dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Portland, ME. He holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently Assistant Professor at Bates College and Associate Director of the Young Dancers Intensive at the Bates Dance Festival. Benny Olk (he/him) is a performing artist based in Minneapolis with an interest in contemporizing and contextualizing American modern and post-modern dance. As a member of Lucinda Childs Dance Company, he performed reconstructions of pieces such as Dance and Available Light. He performed in reconstruc ..read more

Paula Mann has been creating dances for 44 years and is a graduate of New York University. She was full time faculty at the University of Minnesota Department of Theater and Dance from 1993-2013. She is co-artistic director of Time Track Productions. APRIL 25-27, 2024 CBDF Featured Artist Work: Nothing A trio: performed by myself, Leila Awadallah and Roxane Wallace. We question and  interrogate our understandings of our realities through movement. Building a focused movement vocabulary since November 2022, we are intent on shifting the structure of the movement and its qualities, hoping ..read more

For over forty-five years I was a movement educator, dancer and choreographer devoted to the exploration of the expression of the mind through the body. I graduated from the Juilliard School in 1971 and my first professional job was working in dance pioneer Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Projects. I continued to dance and perform professionally until 1995. My creative work as a choreographer and dancer always focused on how movement could fully express the states and conditions of the mind and heart. The objectification of movement has never been my interest; rather my concerns were always about exca ..read more

Joe Chvala has created over 30 original works for the stage that have toured from New York to Paris and from Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival to Litle Falls, MN. He is the founder and artistic director of the highly acclaimed percussive dance company, Flying Foot Forum. Articles and reviews of his work have appeared in national and international magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, La Monde, the Chicago Tribune, Dance Magazine, and the Village Voice. The range of his work has been described as "somewhere between Sammy Davis, Jr. and Samuel Becket" and has earned such accolades a ..read more