Laura Neese is a dance artist and educator from Staten Island, New York. She has performed work by Darrah Carr, Sean Curran, Melissa West, Ann Carlson, Maho Ogawa/suisoco, Christopher Caines,  Chia Ying Kao, and Shawna Emerick,  among others, and performs her own work.  Performance credits include Jacob's Pillow, Symphony Space, Mass MOCA, New Victory Theatre, Wexner Center for the Arts, Irish Arts Center, Movement Research, Center for Performance Research,  Dixon Place, The Yard at Martha's Vineyard, NBC, ABC, school gymnasiums, senior centers, corner pubs, and local parks.

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Neese’s choreography and interdisciplinary collaborations have been presented in venues such as the Ailey Citigroup Theatre, LUMEN Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, COOL NY Dance Festival, Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, The Secret Theatre, Green Space, Dance New Amsterdam, Snug Harbor, the College of Mt. St. Vincent, Brooklyn Museum, and the Ohio State University. Alongside artists Claire Baum, Caroline Martin, Joanna Futral, and Katie Vason, Neese co-directed the  KitchenSink Collective from 2012-2016, presenting collaborative choreographic projects throughout New York City. She has received honors for solo choreography from the National Society of Arts and Letters, and is a recipient of the  Staten Island Arts Excellence in Arts Award,  the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Academic Excellence, and Ohio State Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship. Her work has been supported by Staten Island Arts, the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs, the Ohio State University, the University of Kentucky, and Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

 

Neese holds an MFA in Dance from the Ohio State University, BFA Dance and  BA English from SUNY Buffalo, and Pilates Certification from the Kane School of Core Integration at Kinected Center in New York City.  Teaching credits include Hofstra University, the Ohio State University, University of Kentucky, NYC Irish Arts Center, Kinected, and various educational programs and studios throughout the greater New York City area.  Neese is currently a full time faculty member at the University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance. 

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