Dance Educator, Choreographer, Multi-Media Designer

Aaron M. Wood

Educator/Choreographer/Mixed-Media Designer

Photo Credit: Sydney Edwards

About me

I am a choreographer, educator, dancer, and mixed-media designer. For seven seasons, I danced with Utah’s Repertory Dance Theatre and performed an array of works by modern dance legends including Cunningham, Gotheiner, Ito, Limón, Sokolow, and others. As a freelance dancer, I performed the works of Alwin Nikolais with Ririe Woodbury Dance Company.

My choreographic voice is wide-ranging, and my works, including over 30 original pieces and 5 evening length concerts, have been performed nationally and internationally, from Salt Lake City to Beijing, China. In 2022 I had the honor of being recognized by the Wyoming Arts Council, and received a Wyoming Arts Council Performing Arts Fellowship award.

My research interests include the intersectionality of gender with social and political landscapes, as explored through the integration of multi-media elements and diverse movement modalities.

Currently, I serve as an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Wyoming in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Artist Statement

- Passionately Fearless -

I am in a constant state of growth. My journey of self-discovery, development, and exploration is ever evolving. In this artistic journey, I am here to improve myself, not to prove myself.

My works deal with themes of gender diversity, objectification of the body, sexual orientation, and self-identity. I believe art, in all of its forms, grants a mutually shared experience of humanity. Dance allows us sensorial interpretation and pathways to deeply and profoundly understand one another. Dance connects us with our communities and serves as a time vessel of past, present, and future. Like the human spirit, dance is ever evolving and has been since the beginning of time. Humans are innate story tellers and dance is a primal modality of storytelling. When I combine mixed-media with dance, I find that the stories I tell are concentrated in plasmic substance.

Dance has always served as a means to express community traditions, events, and self-identity. Dance provides a sense of place to deal with turmoil through seeking clarification. Dance is a channel for introspect and compassion, not only for one’s self but for others. I believe this in turn helps to open minds towards diverse understanding.

I feel very fortunate to have dance and mixed-media as my mediums of expression. I am a believer in human rights and equity for all. I am an agent for advocacy and I strive to, as Gandhi once said "be the change you wish to see in the world."

The way I practice in the studio and on stage is the way I practice my life: passionately fearless.

Teaching Philosophy

As an educator of dance, one must possess two passions: dance and education. These two passions reside in one another and influence each other on a daily, hourly, and momentary basis. I find myself to be most at home in an academic arena where I can explore my passion for dance education and witness the power this remarkable field has on individuals and communities. I have come to recognize and employ three truths which construct the corner stone to my teaching philosophy: actively be, fuel curiosity, and serve as a positive mentor.

Photo Credit: Sydney Edwards

Photo from the production: Life/AFTER\Dark

Actively Be:

As I stand before a group of students I strive to be actively present in our communications. Listening full heartedly to discussions, observing explorations with an open mind, and celebrating new discoveries are at the forefront to how I approach both my lecture and studio classes. I expect students to work hard and strive for excellence every time they walk into class; this is our laboratory and should be met with respect and honesty. I strive to have a class environment that is warm and inviting to help students invest in their learning, and be proud of the breakthroughs and discoveries they make. The classroom and studio are safe spaces where we openly discuss, share, explore, and unearth our most authentic selves. Respecting and valuing authenticity are at the forefront of my pedagogical value system. I want my students to learn and feel empowered with the truths they discover.

Fueling Curiosity:

Movement, at its core, is change and dance, by its very nature, is progressive. We as educators must be ever so open to progress and development, for the techniques of yesteryears have guided the techniques of today, just as our current movement vocabularies will guide future techniques; my courses echo these thoughts. With my diverse movement background, I strive to combine classical movement concepts with contemporary sensibilities. One of my great joys is taking these assorted technique systems then blending and abstracting them to create a personal movement vocabulary that is dynamically vigorous, spatially distinct, and ever open for nuance.

Fueling curiosity for students without dictating their breakthroughs is a primary goal of my classes. Through the years, I have found that the value of discovery resides within the venture. I want my students to appreciate the processes they go through because it is from these processes where we gain our knowledge, advancements, and truths. I believe in embodying flexibility, for being flexible, in its philosophical form, boils down to opening oneself to spontaneity. Some of my most memorable teaching moments have been when I put my lesson plan aside and witnessed experiences that would have otherwise passed by. I embrace change, progress, and innovation and look forward to my life being enriched by my student’s enthusiasm for this ever-evolving art form.

Positive Mentorship:

It is important to not just be a teacher of a specific subject, but serve as a proactive example of healthy living. Students are perceptive and recognize when teachers do not practice what they advocate. I believe that a strong teacher should accept all of their weaknesses and strengths; this is not to inflate the ego, but rather to be used as a channel of growth. By seeing the paradoxes within myself, I am more apt to seeing the paradoxes within my students. I am a student as much as I am a teacher. I always bear in mind that I can have a profound influence on my students, just as they will have on me.

I believe it is an honor to teach.

Choreography

- Full evening -

Life/After\Dark

Paralleled Universe

Shadowed Winds and Ghost Roads

The Yellow Wallpaper: a dance-theatre Adaptation

A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy

- click on titles above to see work samples -