Guest Artist: Matthew Farmer

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MATTHEW FARMER

Matthew Farmer is currently the Chair of the Dance Department at Hope College, the Co-Artistic Director of R.G. Dance Productions and the Co-Artistic Director of H2 Dance Co. Formerly the Director of Dance at Anderson University, Farmer has had great success as a director, educator, choreographer, performer, and author; co-authoring a book (Introductory Modern Dance: A Teaching Manual) with his good friend and colleague Jon Lehrer. Formerly the Associate Director and company member of LehrerDance, Farmer has appeared in Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Magazine Online, and Dance Magazine. Prior to dancing with LehrerDance, Farmer danced with Peter Sparling as a company member of The Peter Sparling Dance Co.  While dancing for Sparling, Matthew received his MFA from the University of Michigan in Dance Performance and Choreography. Farmer also studied under and performed with Steven Iannacone while receiving his BA in Theatre and Dance from Hope College.   As a soloist and guest performer, his performance credits include Dance Chicago, Dance in the Desert Festival, Men Dance Michigan, Next Step Dance, Chicago Humanities Festival, The Rein Orange (Duesberg, Germany) The European Cultural Bid (Liverpool, UK), The Roof (Germany), The Summer Stage (Brugge, Belgium), and various other festivals. Farmer has also had the privilege of working with and/or performing works by Avi Kaiser, Sergio Antonino, Merce Cunningham, Laura Dean, Matthew Thornton, Doug Varone, Daniel Nagrin and many more. His teaching credits include Hope College, The University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Anderson University, Dancer’s Inc. National Conventions, Chicago National Association of Dance Maters, Southern Association of Dance Masters, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Interlochen, and many other festivals and master classes at home and abroad. Farmer’s choreography spans the field of dance, and can be seen on college campuses, professional companies, competitive dance teams, and musical theater venues throughout the U.S, as well as festivals and companies abroad.