Dani Robbins

Interdisciplinary Artist | Educator | Organizer

Mount Desert Island, Maine

danirobbinscontact@gmail.com | dani-robbins.com

 

Education

2014-2018 | Bennington College

Bachelor of Arts with Dance performance, Visual Art, and Public Action Concentrations

 

2023-2024 | University of Maine

Graduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

Awards, Fellowships, and Residencies

2024 | Maine Dancemakers Artist in Residence, Bearnstow Center, Mount Vernon ME

Site-specific improvisation research and creative coalition building for Maine-based dance artists

 

2024 | Project Grantee, The Onion Foundation

Capacity-building grant for development of the Maine Dancemakers Collaborative

 

2024 | Springboard Artist Grantee, Maine Arts Commission

Funding for “Maine Mini Fest” artist gathering, Portland, ME

 

2023 | New England Creative Community Fellowship, National Arts Strategies

Nine months of intensive training for 20 New England artists in equitable leadership and community organizing principles, culminating in project pitch sessions at Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA

 

2022 | PortFringe Festival Awards for PLAYFIGHT Professional Wrestling Theater

Received the “#thisisfringe” Award, the “LOLs so funny!” Award, and the “Reykjavik Fringe” Award. Selected for performance at the 2023 Reykjavik Fringe in Reykjavik, Iceland.

 

2019 | Guest Artist, Middlebury College and Bennington College

In collaboration with Elena Demyanenko on her original work, “Welter”

 

2019 | Acadia National Park Artist in Residence, Mount Desert Island, ME

Site-specific movement research exploring place, embodiment, and the privatization of land in collaboration with Zoe Huey. Free public performance and workshops offered.

 

2017-2018 | Lake Studios Artist in Residence, Berlin, Germany

Two consecutive residencies used to develop original solo and ensemble works for performance at Movement Research (NYC) and Bennington College in 2018.

 

2014-2018 | Bennington College

Brockway Faculty Scholarship

Iftekhar Entrepreneurial Grant

Field Work Term Grant

 

Work Experience and Teaching

June 2024-present | Community Health Coordinator, Healthy Acadia

Works with Healthy Acadia’s Substance and Tobacco Prevention Team to implement primary prevention strategies in Hancock and Washington counties, supported by the Maine CDC through the Maine Prevention Network. Program lead for StrengthenME, a new community resilience initiative that expands mental healthcare access for communities in response to severe weather and climate change.

 

2023-Present | Founder and Director, Maine Dancemakers Collaborative

Established and continue to facilitate a state-wide collective of Maine-based dancemakers that gather regularly for creative and administrative exchange, collaboration, and collective action on social justice-oriented projects.

 

2021-2024 | Faculty, The Community School for Place-Based Education

Classroom teacher for grades 3-5 and arts/ecology teacher for grades K-8. Developed and implemented experiential curriculum that integrated field work and strengthened foundational literacy, logic, and observation skills in diverse learners. 

 

2020-Present | Visiting Faculty, College of the Atlantic

Sourcing the Body: Experiential Anatomy (Spring 2020, Winter 2021, Winter 2022, Winter 2023)

Bodies in Focus: Dance on Camera Now (Winter 2021)

Making Dance from Place (Spring 2021)

Beginning Contemporary Dance Technique (Yearly, Fall 2021-2024)

Dance Composition (Fall 2023)

Sourcing the Body: Disability as Human Ecology (Winter 2024)

Dance Improvisation Ensemble (Spring 2024)

 

2020 | Associate Festival Director, Acadia Dance Festival

Administrator and curator for a dance film festival featuring artists from all New England states, held at the 1932 Criterion Theater in collaboration with Sam Pott of Nimbus Dance Company.

 

2019-Present | Guest Teaching Artist

Offer classes through Tufts University, ArtWaves Community Art Center, College of the Atlantic, the Mount Desert Island Regional School System, and Maine Mini Fest.

 

Selected Choreography, Performance, and Exhibitions

PLAYFIGHT: Unprofessional Wrestling Theater

Evening length physical theater work for two performers exploring care, violence, and queerness. Choreography, dramaturgy, set design, and costume design by Dani Robbins. Performed by Dani Robbins with Sophia Eliana

June 2022 | PortFringe Festival, Portland, ME

July 2023 | Reykjavik Fringe Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland

July 2023 | The Foundry, Cambridge, MA

February 2024 | Mayo Street Arts, Portland, ME

 

Maine Mini Fest, Presented by the Maine Dancemakers Collaborative

Two days of performances, workshops, and panels offered for free or at a low cost to Maine-based dance community with the intention of sector-building for performing arts in Maine. Organized, curated, and facilitated by Dani Robbins in collaboration with Maria “Mafe” Fernandas Briseno.

January 12-14, 2024 | SPACE Gallery, Mechanics Hall, and Casco Bay Movers, Portland, ME

 

sites of grace / rooms of grief / floors for dancing

Movement research and dance/choral performance work for 6 performers exploring death, grief, and dying as a somatic practice. Choreography, object fabrication, and costume design by Dani Robbins in collaboration with performers Tanvi Koushik, Halei Trowbridge, Sophia Eliana, Emily Fetter, and Margit Hardi.

November 2022 | College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME

May 2023 | Seal Harbor Beach, Mount Desert, ME

 

NEST

Collaboration between choreographer Dani Robbins, projection tech Zachary Taibi, and video and musical artist Poorva Singh. “Video quilt” installation exploring fragmentation, sensation, and impossible bodies as a part of the exhibit “Polychroma” through the Maine Union of Visual Artists

February 2022 | Portland Media Center, Portland, ME

 

songs from the edge of this dream

Dance/choral performance work for four performers exploring interdependence, care, restful resistance, and the subconscious. Choreography, choral composition, costume design, and object fabrication by Dani Robbins. Sound design by James Pike. Performance by Dani Robbins, Isidora Munoz Segovia, Tanvi Koushik, and Sophia Eliana. Creative assistance and movement research by Halei Trowbridge.

November 2021 | Meetinghouse Arts, Freeport ME

March 2022 | ENGINE Biddeford with support from Subcircle Residency Center, Biddeford ME

May 2022 | Neighborhood House, Northeast Harbor, ME