Senior Instructor, Dance Program

Theater Building, 08
Telephone: 651-696-6734
heist@macalester.edu

Becky Heist teaches four levels of modern dance technique and dance composition. She is the artistic director of the annual Fall Dance Concert and guides the students in their spring show. She annually choreographs new work for student dancers and accompanies the Macalester Dance Ensemble to the American College Dance Festival. Heist remains active in the Twin Cities dance community as a grants panel participant and performer. Her recent creative endeavor is dance for the camera. Terrain, a dance film shot in five outdoor locations, had its premier in December 2010.

AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST AND TRAINING

Artistic Director and Producer of Fall Dance Concert
Creator of dance films and documentaries
Producer of site-specific events
Freelance performer 
Practitioner of yoga and Bartenieff fundamentals

MACALESTER COURSES

Dance Composition
Modern Dance Technique
Dance for the Camera

RECENT MACALESTER PRODUCTIONS

Artistic Director and Producer of the annual Fall Dance Concert: Voices of the Silenced, 2011;
Beyond Control, 2010; Faces of Madness, 2009; Worlds Within Worlds, 2008
Produced, choreographed and performed in Sonatas, Interludes and Accumulations, with music 
professor Mark Mazullo, based upon a John Cage composition, 2009.
Produced Rolling Footage, a dance film festival featuring work from artists in Europe, Nigeria 
and North America, 2007.

RECENT CHOREOGRAPHY

Rendered Obsolete, a trio for students and faculty, drawing upon the talent and tragic lives           of women in the entertainment industry, 2011.
Open Throat, Inner Cells, a solo inspired by the wilds of Ireland, 2010.
Janis, set to Janis Joplin’s inimitable singing, 2008.

DANCE FOR THE CAMERA

Terrain, a dance film created in five outdoor settings encompassing the Ayurvedic elements, screened in the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, 2011.

CURRENT ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR

Decorah Boys, a dance film featuring four precocious boys.

DEGREES:

MFA, University of Illinois, 1996
BFA, University of Utah, 1973

OTHER:

Active participant in the Twin Cities dance community as collaborator, awards panelist, performer, choreographer, and education advocate.

COURSE SYLLABI

121 Dance Composition