Susan Rethorst, Dance

Rethorst began modern dance studies at an early age with Erika Thimey, a contemporary of Mary Wigman. She continued dancing at Bennington College where she met Judith Dunn, a participant in the early Judson Church performances. Tutorials with Dunn laid the groundwork for Rethorst’s artistic sensibility. Since 1975, Rethorst has created dances out of New York City, and since 1995, she has divided her time between New York and Amsterdam, teaching choreography throughout Europe and Scandinavia and continuing to make work in both Europe and America. Her work has been presented by The Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, The Downtown Whitney Museum, among other dance theaters, universities, and festivals throughout the U.S. Internationally her work has been produced by The Holland Festival, Spazio Zero Rome, The Kunsthalle Basel, The Aix-en-Provence Festival, among others. She has ongoing teaching relationships with Dansens Hus in Copenhagen, at Dartington College in England, and at Firkin Crane in Cork, Ireland. This past year she initiated a Master’s program for the Amsterdam School of the Arts. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Rethorst will be a visiting faculty member at Bennington for the spring term of 2006.