Holley Farmer | Photo courtesy of Farmer

Holley Farmer, MFA, University of Washington, was a member of The Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1997-2009, receiving the New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award for Sustained Achievement. Her performances with MCDC include a repertory of over fifty dances, and thirteen original roles created for her by Cunningham, with multiple seasons at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Paris Opera, Théâtre de la Ville, the Barbican, and venues in 23 countries. With Twyla Tharp, she danced on Broadway originating the principal role of Babe in “Come Fly Away,” for which she received an Astaire Award Nomination. In 2011, she began staging the work of Cunningham, and creating her own choreographies. Her solo work has appeared at New York Live Arts, the Museum of Arts and Design, LaMama, the Joyce Theater, and Jacob’s Pillow. For the last twelve years, in higher education, she has taught theory and practice courses, and has served on the faculty at Mills College, Hunter College, Sarah Lawrence College, Nassau Community College, CSU Long Beach, and CalArts, among national guest teaching and lecture engagements including Stanford University, and Southern California Institute of Architecture. Her early career was inspired by training with Hae Shik Kim, leading to positions in Theatre Ballet of Canada, Phantom of the Opera (785 performances), and The Oakland Ballet.