Biography
Taryn Packheiser received her Masters of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance from the North Carolina School of the Arts.
She currently dances professionally with Blank Slate Dance Company in Durham, North Carolina. Her past company credits include Fellow Travelers Performance Group, Hurley & Dancers, Co-motion Dance Theater (Iowa), Third Law Dance Theatre (Colorado), Nich-Walk Dance Project, Montage Showcase Ensemble, Greensboro Ballet (North Carolina), Urban Impact, and Elinor Coleman Dance Ensemble (New York). She has performed in major works by Gabriel Masson, Joe Goode, Bebe Miller, David Parsons and Paul Taylor.
Packheiser’s work has been shown in several states, as well as in the Promising Artists of the 21st Century cultural exchange program in San Jose, Costa Rica. Her choreography ranges from popular Hip Hop to Classical Ballet/Modern to extremely Avant-garde. She also dabbles in Musical Theater.
She spent the last five years on faculty at Iowa State University where she taught multiple levels and genres of technique, along with creative and academic courses. At Iowa State she served as the Adviser for the Orchesis I Dance Company. She was the Artistic Director for their annual show, Barjche, and served as the liaison for the American College Dance Festival. During her time at Iowa State she created the annual T:A:R:L:A Dance for the Camera Festival, produced the Dance Benefit Gala, and hosted several guest artists from around the United States.
In addition to an active performance, choreography, and teaching life, Taryn makes audio scores and experimental dances for the camera. Her audio has been used by contemporaries in the dance field and her short videos have been screened at Pixilerations in Rhode Island and the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema in Colorado.
Presently, Taryn is working as a Freelance Artist in the realms of Performance, Choreography, and Teaching.
