Meredith Ventura is a multi-creative artist based out of southern California. She graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a B.F.A. in Dance, received her M.F.A. in dance at Hollins University in collaboration with the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, and The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company (formerly the Forsythe Company), and is currently a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a Ph.D. student in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.
As the founder and artistic director of Selah Dance Collective, Ms. Ventura has produced full evening-length performances and presented works throughout the United States and abroad, most recently in Estonia, Norway, Finland, and Italy. Ms. Ventura is the Director of Education at State Street Ballet, where she developed the new Choreography and Dance Education certificate programs and travels nationally and internationally as a dance educator and advocate for the arts. She also serves as a board member for Artspace Inc, Arts Mentorship Program, and the Public Domain Players.
Resume/CV - coming soon
Choreography Reel - coming soon
ResearchGate - coming soon
Current Research
My interests lie in dance historiography and theory, particularly issues of embodiment and empathy in early modern and contemporary dance. My current research interest is in the historiography of the body in early dance modernism, emphasizing the interwar period, the politics of the female body, and portrayals of death onstage in modern dance performances. My most recent work, Sound and Smoke, was an evening-length contemporary dance work that explored the intersections of early modern dance and cabaret. My new work, Palermo!, will premiere in January 2025.
Current Work
-
Selah Dance Collective
Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer
Selah Dance Collective, Inc is a contemporary dance company dedicated to producing original work, creating educational experiences through performance, and maintaining a platform for community dance works and emerging artists through outreach, education, and mentorship. I have choreographed more than 20 works for the company in the past 10 years of my tenure.
-
State Street Ballet
Director of Education
State Street Ballet is an internationally acclaimed dance company based in Santa Barbara, California. I am the Director of Education and the Trainee program, most recently reworking the program to include specialization courses and a certificate program in Dance Education and Choreography, modeled after the innovative programs that I have taken part in through my dance education and training.
-
Lights Up! Theater Company
Dance Director and Resident Choreographer
Lights Up! Theatre Company’s mission is to provide professional training and performance experience in a nurturing environment. I joined Lights Up!’s team in 2021 and have choreographed and directed the dance for Something Rotten!, Matilda, The Drowsy Chaperone, Into the Woods, Anything Goes, and Footloose.