Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with E.E. Balcos- Season 5, Episode 62

E.E. Balcos (he, him) is a  Filipino-American and is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began formal training with modern dance pioneer Hanya Holm while also engaging in the practice of contact improvisation. A successful performer and choreographer for over 35 years, he danced with numerous independent Minneapolis choreographers including Diane Aldis, Madeline Dean, Mary Easter, Jill Heaberlin, Paula Mann, Patrick Scully, Georgia Stephens, Robin Stiehm,  Lovice Weller, Laurie Van Wieren, Diane Waller,  and several dance companies including Zenon Dance Company, Shapiro & Smith Dance, Demetrius Klein Dance Company, and Sam Costa’s 10,000 Dances. He worked directly and performed in the works of numerous nationally recognized choreographers and dance artists including: Chris Aiken, Danny Buraczeski, Ping Chong, Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Joe Goode, Daniel Gwirtzman, Dwight Rhoden, David Rousseve, Stephanie Skura and Bill Young. E.E. was the Artistic Director and choreographer for his company E.E.MOTION from 2007-2013 culminating with an evening-length work, Deep Water: The Murder Ballads in collaboration with composer, John Allemeier at the Knight Theatre in Charlotte, NC. This year (2021), he will be performing a new solo, Tales from the Wizard, choreographed by Bill Evans.His current endeavors apply somatic approaches to choreography, dance performance, interdisciplinary collaborations, physical resilience, and teaching. In 2021he presented at the ISMETA Conference: Engaging Embodiment and will return to the Body IQ Festival in Berlin, Germany in November;  in 2019 he presented at the C-DaRe Dance and Somatic Practices Conference in Coventry, United Kingdom; the Annual Body-Mind Centering Conference in Santa Barbara, California; and the Body IQ Festival in Berlin. Balcos is a founding member of Movement Migration, and has performed in 2019 in Campeche, Mexico; in 2018 in Pietrasanta, Italy; New York City; Roxbury, NY; and Charlotte, NC. He is an Associate Professor at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and holds a BA in Music from The Colorado College and an MFA in Dance from The University of Iowa. This year he became a Registered Somatic Dance Educator (RSDE) through ISMETA. E.E. is also a passionate botanic gardener and photographer finding and exploring the parallels in nature and dance.