Narrative

Morgan Thorson, Teaching Specialist for University of Minnesota Dance, teaches Composition and Contact Improvisation. Originally from Connecticut and New York, Morgan has created dance and performance in Minneapolis as an independent artist since 1994. Her passion for dance-making has manifested in many forms including outdoor performance, site specific choreography and ensemble and solo improvisation. Her works have been presented at a variety of international, national and local venues such as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Dance Theatre Workshop in New York City, Seattle Festival for Alternative Dance and Improvisation and London Improvisation in Performance at Jackson Lane and The Crossover Dance Festival in Seoul, Korea. She has been commissioned to create works for notable institutions like Gustavus Adolphus and Carleton College and the Zenon Dance School scholarship program as well as the nationally acclaimed Split Britches Theater Company.

This year Morgan received a commission from the Walker Art Center for the Momentum Series. Thorson teaches dance at the University of Minnesota and has received many awards for her work including fellowships from the Bush (2000) and McKnight Foundations (2002) and Jerome Foundations (2002). In 2004 she received the Bessie Schonenberg Memorial Endowed Fellowship.