Deborah Jinza Thayer

Deborah Jinza Thayer is an award-winning choreographer, dancer, and artistic director of Movement Architecture, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Thayer has created more than fifty original works.[1][2] Her conceptual pieces take over entire spaces,[3] transforming her performances into vividly illustrated “other worlds” to create dance theater that is both smart and architecturally sound.[4][5][6]

In recognition of her dance creativity and outstanding design, Thayer received a 2010 Sage Award.[7]

Early life

Deborah Jinza Thayer spent her first six years in Japan, relocated to New York City, and was raised in Brooklyn, New York.[8] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University (1984),[1][8][9] trained in dance in New York City,[9] and received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from George Mason University (1997).[4][8] After receiving her master's degree, Thayer relocated to Minneapolis, where she manages a one on one movement training practice that incorporates the Global Somatics and Gyrotonic Expansion System.[2][8]

Honors

Thayer has received numerous awards and honors, including a Sage Award for Outstanding Design, “Ode to Dolly” (2010),[7][10] a Minnesota State Arts Board, Artist Initiative Grant “to create a full-length work in a modular format that can be presented in its entirety or in parts to initiate a national touring experience (2009),[11] a Music in Motion Award (2006),[2] and a McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreographers (2004).[12] She has twice been a semi-finalist for France's Recontres Choregraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (Bagnolet),[4][9] and was an invited Guest Choreographer for the 15th Annual Minnesota Dance Festival (2003).[13]

Choreography

Thayer has presented her choreography and original works around the United States, most notably in Minneapolis, New York City, and the Washington, D.C. metro area.[9] Her work is frequently featured in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, sponsored by the Minnesota Dance Alliance,[4] and is strongly influenced by Laban Barientief Funadamentals (Karen Studd at GMW); Butoh (Maureen Fleming in NY); Vocal Dance (Patricia Bardi in Amsterdam); Global Somatics and Body-Mind Centering Approach (Suzanne River in Minneapolis); the International School of Theater Anthropology (Eugenio Barba in Copenhagen); and various movement theater techniques.[8]

Select Original Works

Quotable

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=201411
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.americancomposersforum.net/about_forumnewsdetail.cfm?oid=6684
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://3minuteegg.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/deborah-jinza-thayer-ode-to-dolly/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 http://dance.gmu.edu/Pages/alumni.html
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 http://www.citypages.com/2007-10-03/calendar/deborah-jinza-thayer-movement-architecture/
  6. ↑ http://www.franconia.org/press/pressrelease0809.htm
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://minnesotaplaylist.com/blogs/sage-awards-wins
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 http://www.globalsomatics.com/about/gs_directory.htm
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 http://www.zenondance.org/school/our-instructors.html
  10. ↑ http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/102953699.html
  11. ↑ http://www.arts.state.mn.us/grants/2009/09_aa_ai.htm
  12. ↑ http://www.southerntheater.org/pastfellowships.htm
  13. ↑ http://www.balletminnesota.org/MDFhtml/MDFguide.html
  14. ↑ http://www.citypages.com/2007-09-12/arts/deborah-jinza-thayer-movement-architecture/
  15. ↑ http://www.walkerart.org/archive/4/AC73699A4A947C676161.htm
  16. ↑ http://penumbratheatre.org/content/blogcategory/149/146/