Maura Gahan
Originally from Malvern, Ohio, Maura Gahan MFA '22 is a Northern Vermont based dancer, puppeteer, and improviser. Her practice is derived from the technical forms and philosophies of Material for the Spine (Steve Paxton), Tuning Scores (Lisa Nelson) and the Bread and Puppet Theater (Peter Schumann) and is influenced by the movement of objects, plants, and other species.
Biography
How does one compose the present? Gahan pursues this question in two ways: 1) a daily practice of dance forms & somatic research as learned by dance makers Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, and Peter Schumann; 2) the ancient ritual of creating performance.
The turning of the world upside down is a movement and movement is Life.
Gahan earned a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography with a minor in Art and Theater from Ohio University Honors Tutorial College. In 2007, she became a full-time company member with the Bread and Puppet Theater, touring shows and exchanging dance, puppet, and mask techniques with communities in North America, Asia, West Africa, the Caribbean and Europe. Together with Peter Schumann, Gahan co-created the Lubberland National Dance Company — a touring, community oriented, volunteer-based dance company that explored the juxtaposition of pedestrian movement, objects and political text.
Performance highlights include: Quicksand with Steve Paxton and Robert Ashley (NYC/Paris); Fantasque with Dance Hegginbotham and Redwing Blackbird Theater (NYC); 8 Dances for Human Rights with Fos Mayonet and B&P (Jacmel, Haiti); Songs of the Yellow Earth with Bread and Puppet Theater and Chinese Theater Works (Chengdu, China); and 7 Boat Dances with the Isadora Duncan Dance Center (Athens, Greece). Gahan received her MFA in Dance at Bennington in Spring 2022 and was a visiting faculty member for Fall 2022.