Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Colleen Callahan- Russell Season 2 Episode 29

A St. Paul native and tap and jazz dancer through high school, Colleen went to Utah andmajored in dance. She came back to the Twin Cities on fire with the idea of performing andchoreographing and teaching dance in the schools. While in Utah, she was exposed to andembraced for the first time “modern dance”.  She came back to Minnesota in 1979 with arenewed idea of how deep and wide dance could be and became an apprentice with the Nancy Hauser Dance Company and a member of Loon on a Log Dance Company with Joan Sloss.Colleen received a Mcknight Choreographic Fellowship award, a State Arts Board Award, a Dancer Pool Award and co-produced many of her own concerts as well as being produced by The Minnesota Dance Alliance’ Summer Dance series. Her work was also featured in the Walker Art Center's  “Choreographer’s Evenings” multiple times through the 1980’s and 90’s. At the same time, she was teaching dance at Minneapolis North High for 15 years and finally at Minneapolis Southwest High for 20 years; she also began and has sustained the Dance Educator’s Coalition since 1986 who’s mission is to increase the quantity and quality of dance K-College throughout the state. She is a recipient of the 2007 Sage Award for Minnesota Dance Educator, the 2011 National Dance Educator of the Year award through the National Dance Education Organization and 2014 Dance USA’s “Inspiration Award”.