SMTD alumna Marly Spieser-Schneider is, among many things, a dance artist who currently teaches, choreographs, performs, and experiments in various locations, primarily Vermont, New York, and Michigan. As usual, she is constantly embarking on a multitude of projects and at the moment she is working on an evening-length collaborative work with Avi Waring and Paul Besaw, a duet work with Trina Mannino, a solo show entitled Mantra.Math.Marrow, and a series of ongoing projects with various multi-media artists, including Ona Schneider and Jamie Killen. Spieser-Schneider seeks to connect with people and engage in collaborative processes that inspire creative problem solving and open-minded investigation.

Each Modern Lab session features a different guest artist teaching a master class and sections from their repertory. This panorama of the contemporary dance field is presented to broaden the students’ awareness of potential career possibilities.

Each guest artist conducts a 30-minute technique class/warm-up and then teaches repertory that is performed by the class. In the final 15 minutes, faculty coordinator Bill De Young conducts a Q & A with each artist, discussing their career; their recommendations for transitioning from student to professional, and what they look for when they audition dancers for their projects.

This event supported in part by the EXCEL Lab.