Melli Hoppe Bio

Education

M.F.A., Interdisciplinary Arts, 2010, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT.

B.A., Dance, 1985, Columbia College , Chicago, IL.

Dance/Theater Teaching Experience

2013 Columbia College, Chicago, IL. Adjunct Faculty in Department of Theatre. Movement Instructor for Theatre Foundations Course.

2002-2012 Butler University, Indianapolis , IN. Adjunct faculty in Department of Theater. Instructor of Site Specific Theater and Stage Movement.

1999-01 Shortridge Middle School Performing Arts Magnet, Indianapolis , IN. Dance teacher. Director of Footworks Modern Dance Company. Responsible for writing curriculum, teaching ballet, modern and jazz dance, choreographing and directing dance performances.

1998-1999 Broad Ripple High School Center for the Performing and Visual Arts, Indianapolis , IN. Modern Dance Instructor and Choreographer.

1997-98 Butler University, Indianapolis , IN. Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Dance. Instructor of Body Placement, Modern Dance, Dance for Athletes and Dance Improvisation.

1996... Young Audiences of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN. Teaching Artist in Dance.

1995-99 Susurrus Space, Indianapolis, IN. Modern Dance Instructor.

1994-99 Academy of Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Indianapolis, IN. Modern Dance Instructor.

1993-96 Indiana Arts Commission, Indianapolis, IN. Dance Educator in the Artist in Education and Visiting Artist Program.

1993-2010 VSA Arts Indiana, Indianapolis, IN. Teaching Artist in Dance

1989-95 Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN. Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Physical Education. Modern Dance Instructor and Choreographer for the IUPUI Moving Company.

1988-95, 2007-08... Jewish Community Center, Indianapolis , IN. Preschool Dance Instructor.

1986-88 Southold Dancenter, South Bend, IN. Modern Dance Instructor.

Arts Administration Experience

2001-03 Young Audiences of Indiana , Indianapolis, IN. Director of Artist Services. Responsible for recruiting artists, evaluating artists and providing training to artists performing and presenting workshops in schools.

1993-2013 Susurrus, Indianapolis, IN. Founder and Artistic Director of not-for-profit performance group. Responsible for writing grants, producing, directing and choreographing performances. Founder and director of school that offered community classes in modern dance, dance improvisation, ballet, conditioning and ethnic dance forms. Founder of performance space.

Awards and Honors

2017 Selected to participate in Columbia University’s Teacher’s College Teaching Artists Certificate Program.

2015 Received a Partnering Arts and Education grant from the Indiana Arts Commission for Dance Writing and the Indiana Dunes, a multi-year Arts for Learning residency at Pine Elementary School in Michigan City, IN.

2004 Performed with The European Live Arts Network in Bianco under the direction of Firenza Guidi in Fuccechio, Italy.

2003 Selected as regional artist for the Lewis and Clark ArtsCorps, a cultural development initiative supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the Indiana Arts Commission, the Kentucky Arts Council and the Falls of the Ohio Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committee.

2003 Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship.

2002 NUVO Cultural Vision Award for Susurrus and Theater of Inclusion collaborations.

1992 Where My Family Stops, national video competition, for dance video, This Peace is War .

1992 Citation Merit Award, Indiana Film Society, for dance video, This Peace is War.

1991 Selected as associate to Kei Takei and performed with Kei Takei's Moving Earth in 16 Hours of Light at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL.

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Movement in the Classroom, teacher workshops presented at Pine Elementary School through a Partnering Arts and Education grant from the Indiana Arts Commission, 2016 and 2017.
 
Habitats in Motion, a workshop presented at the Environmental Education Association of Indiana Conference, 2015.
 
Salvaged Layers: A Collaborative Site-specific Performance, article co-written with Timothy Gray included in the book Architecture as a Performing Art, published by Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2013.
 
Connecting STEM with Arts Programs, presented Water Dance, a dance residency based on the water cycle at the Young Audiences National Conference, Indianapolis, IN, 2011.
 
But is it Art? Exploring Boundaries and Transforming Communities, a community workshop presented by Susurrus Performance Group for the Spirit and Place Festival, 2008.
 
Weather Dance: Learning Earth’s Processes Through Movement, a workshop for teachers of grades 3-6, developed in collaboration with the Kennedy Center Partners in Education Program at Clowes Memorial Hall
of Butler University, 2007 and 2008.
 
Arts Together:  Integrating the Fine Arts, led dance portion of summer course for education students and current teachers at Herron School of Art, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. 
 
Dance on Site, a site-specific dance workshop presented at the Indiana Dance Festival in Fort Wayne, IN, 2005.
 
Landscape and the Body, a community workshop presented by Susurrus Performance Group at the Christian Theological Seminary, 2000.

Choreography and Direction

Please visit my Choreography page for more information.