Laura Selle Virtucio: For 25 years, Laura has maintained a vibrant performance career in the Twin Cities and toured nationally with several artists and companies, most recently continuing her long history with Shapiro & Smith Dance, as a performer and Artistic Associate, as well as creating new works with choreographers Mathew Janczewski and Chris Schlicting. Laura has graced several of the nation’s best-known stages such as the Joyce Theater in NYC, and Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church in NYC, the Guthrie Theater, and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. She was a long-time company member and teaching artist with Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, Zenon Dance Company, and Carl Flink’s Black Label Movement. While at Zenon Dance Company, she had the pleasure of creating and performing new works by Morgan Thorson, Kyle Abraham, Luciana Achugar, and Daniel Charon, to name a few. In her work with Shapiro & Smith Dance, Laura consistently restages the company’s repertory across the country. Most recently, staging work at Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City and on students at Carleton College in MN; and previously at universities such as Boston Conservatory and Western Oregon University. Laura received a 2007 McKnight Fellowship for Dancers and a Minnesota Sage Award for Best Performer. As an arts educator, Laura taught contemporary modern and jazz dance techniques at the St. Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts for eight years and has extensive experience working in communities of non-dancers. Laura is currently a senior teaching specialist in dance at the University of Minnesota as well as the director of University Dance Theatre Fall production.
