Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Jinza Thayer- Season 4, Episode 50

Jinza Thayer received her BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA from George Mason University. Recognitions include being a two-time semi-finalist for France’s Rencontres (Bagnolet); a 2010 SAGE Award; and support from the Minnesota State Arts Board, American Composers Forum, Jerome Foundation, and McKnight Artist Fellowship. She has created over 60 original works and presents her work as Movement Architecture – a blend of dance and theater in structured environments. Jinza is a registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Movement Educator (ISMETA) and has taught somatic movement re-patterning and modern dance training for the past 20 years.“I bring all of who I am into expression when I work– genetics, experience, and ways of perceiving. Through my choreography, I work with internal somatic processes to source the body's wisdom and instigate movement. Those ideas are then made manifest through immersive installations -- metaphorical spaces that the dancers navigate in the same way that we, as individuals navigate our own mental models.”