Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance History
Stories are among our most potent tools. We need to unearth old stories that live in a place and begin to create new ones. We are story makers, not just story tellers. All stories are connected, new ones woven from threads of the old. (Paraphrased – Robin Wall Kimmerer)
Join ARENA DANCES every Thursday lunch break for new podcasts, hosted by Artistic Director Mathew Janczewski. This series will share the histories of notable Twin Cities dance artists and the evolution of the industry’s landscape through time. Each week will feature a new guest of honor, sharing their story and impact on this gem of an arts town.
— Our special guests this week is Kayla Schiltgen —
To listen to previous episodes, click HERE!
More about today’s special guest –
Kayla Schiltgen is an interdisciplinary artist based in rural Two Harbors, Minnesota, blending dance and film to cope with and communicate her existence. Guided by her belief that subjectivity and vulnerability serve as an echo palette for others, Kayla creates screendance, installation, and performance to facilitate exchange that affirms, affects, and inspires both artist and audience. She takes a multidimensional approach rooted in the Rural—working as choreographer/editor, dancer, cinematographer, and sound designer, with place as her collaborator.
Kayla is a 2025 Mcknight Choreographer Fellow, 2022 Upstream Artist Fellow, the recipient of multiple Minnesota State Arts Board and Arrowhead Regional Arts Council awards, and recognized as a creative rural leader in the Upper Midwest by Springboard for the Arts.
Her work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, the International Meeting on Video-Dance and Video-Performance (Spain & France), North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival, InShadow Screendance Festival (Portugal), Duluth Superior Film Festival, DanceBARN Screendance Festival, Wolf Tree Film Festival (MI), Arena Dance’s CandyBox Festival, RAD Fest, The Lab at NorShor Theatre, and the Minnesota Fringe Festival, among others.
Kayla’s practice centers the Rural as a site of resilience and creativity. She is currently touring rural Minnesota with performances, workshops, and artist chats of her evening-length work is this magic?. She holds a B.A. in Dance from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and continues her studies with screendance artist Katrina McPherson, and courses in filmmaking and improvisational movement.
Learn more about Kayla’s work @kaylaschiltgen or at kaylaschiltgen.com.
Photos Andréa Miller and Ashley Deran
Missed last week’s episode? You can find all our previous interviews by clicking here!