Mathew Janczewski is the founder and artistic director of ARENA Dances, a modern dance company based in Minneapolis since 1995. He received his BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota in 1994. Mathew has danced with a variety of Minnesota choreographers, including Beth Corning, Shawn McConneloug, Robin Stiehm and Cathy Young. He was a company member of Shapiro & Smith Dance and JAZZDANCE! by Danny Buraczeski for seven years with both companies.
Since 1992, Mathew has choreographed more than 30 contemporary works. His continued studies of ballet, hip-hop, yoga, tai-chi and modern dance continue to influence his blend of movement. In 2005 Mathew joined forces with Theater Latte Da and choreographed an original dance theater work Bankrupt City Ballad to a live big band; with text by Kira Obolensky and directed by Peter Rothstein. Following Ugly at the Walker Art Center, Mathew choreographed for the Minnesota Opera’s production of Rusalka in April of 2008. ARENA is in the studio preparing for Dancin’ with ETHEL at the Southern Theater October 23-26, 2008 with the string quartet, ETHEL.
Mathew received a 2005 Sage Award for “outstanding performance” for Solo Lounge and is a recipient of a 2005 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreographers, administered by the Southern Theater and funded by the McKnight Foundation. In Fall 2006 ARENA celebrated its Tenth year Anniversary at the Southern Theater. Mathew’s choreography for ARENA was presented by the SCUBA network in Philadelphia of March 2007 and performed at Symphony Space and City Center in New York in January 2008. Mathew is Dance Magazine’s “25 to watch” for 2008 and recently traveled to Budapest, Hungary in March 2008 to perform Plastic Language at the L1 Dance Festival with ARENA. The company has several tours this year including Philadelphia, Missouri, Michigan and the New York DEBUT of UGLY at Joyce SoHo.
Several companies in the United States have performed Mathew’s distinctive movement. Special projects and commissions have included choreography for the Repertory Project of Cleveland, St. Olaf College, Gustavus Adolphus College, Macalester College, State University of New York – Potsdam, State University of New York – Brockport, Carleton College, University of Minnesota, St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, Perpich Center for the Arts, Walker Art Center, and Zenon Dance Company and School. Plans for the future include setting quartet on aTrek Dance of St. Louis, MI this summer, setting his first ballet work for the Minnesota Dance Theater, and creating a new work for the St. Paul Conservatory for the Arts.