ABOUT
Scott Stafford is a dancer, teaching artist, and movement director. He believes that expression is vital, and accessible to every individual.
Scott's choreographic efforts have been shown at The Walker Art Center, Park Square Theater, The University Of Minnesota, The Southern Theater, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, The Red Eye Theater, and Fresh Oysters Performance Research. As a dancer, he's performed work by Kristy Faulkner, Vanessa Voskuil, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Karen Sherman, Dolo McComb, and Sherrie Barr, among others. He toured as a repertory dancer with Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater for four seasons.
His most recent work, "Honey", an evening-length dance landscape inspired by the bodies, movement, and music of club spaces, premiered in July, 2021 at The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN, and was shown again at The Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis, MN, in July 2022. "Scott Stafford's choreography shone with sweeping and luminous flow and pristine technique." - Sheila Reagan, Star Tribune.
Scott has worked as a teaching artist around The United States, and has been in residence with over 100 k-12 institutions. Through Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater, The Cowles Center for Dance, and independent efforts, his outreach has spanned dance technique and repertory, dance history, story telling through movement with senior populations, caring for the caregiver workshops with doctors, nurses, and hospice staff, and k-12 residencies focused on movement fundamentals, dance creation, and developing skills in artistic agency. Additional populations have included juvenile rehabilitation facilities, homeless shelters, veteran communities, and dance departments at St. Olaf College, Michigan State University, Weber State University, Virginia Tech University, Shenandoah University, St. Paul Conservatory For Performing Artists, South High School (Minneapolis, MN), The University of Minnesota and Mankato State University.
He has been a guest teaching artist at institutions including The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Cowles Center For Dance, and Tapestry Dance.
He is currently a teaching artist in Minneapolis / St. Paul k-12 public schools through the Cowles Center For Dance, where he leads residencies in k-12 focused on artistic agency through dance, choreography and technique with high school students, and dance in culture with undergraduate students.
In addition to performance work, Scott also competes in the national and international ballroom scene in the category of New Way Vogue, as Edward 007.
His artistic efforts have been been recognized by The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Minnesota State Arts Board, Minnesota Regional Arts Council, and Springboard For the Arts. He is the recipient of a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Fellowship.
Scott was born in Windsor, Ontario and grew up in St. Clair Shores, Michigan - earning his BA from Michigan State University in Communication Studies and Dance. Whether prancing to disco or moving qi to the sound score of an exhalation, he views every movement as an opportunity to research the dynamic relationship between our physical, emotional, and energetic bodies.