Elise Knudson
Elise Knudson is a New York City
based dance artist who relocated to San Jose to join SJSU faculty in Spring of 2024.
She taught Contact Improvisation for Movement Research and facilitates CI at festivals
and studios such as Touch Festival (China), Leviathan Studio (Canada) WCCI Jam (Berkeley,
USA) and Moab Jam (Utah). Elise set repertory for Manhattanville College, MIT, and
our own SJSU University Dance Theater. She designed and taught a Theory and Practice
of Dance Improvisation for Yale University's Residential College Seminar program and
created NEXToNow, modeled after The Impermanent Society of Philadelphia to provide
a platform for the practice of performing interdisciplinary free improvisation. Elise
has enjoyed performing improvised dance with the likes of Nancy Stark Smith, David
Appel, Chris Aiken&Angie Hauser, Alicia Greyson, Margaret Paek and many others. She
has also enjoyed the opportunity to perform choreography with various Artists, including
Christopher Williams, Jenni Hong Dance, Kiori Kawai/Purring Tiger, Risa Jaroslow,
Jody Oberfelder and Koosil-ja/DANCE KUMIKO. She participated in Bill T. Jones' Deep
Blue Sea at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC and serves on the board of earthdance, a
center for Contact Improvisation in Plainfield, MA. Over the years Elise has choreographed
aerial dances, experimental installations and concert dances for stages large and
small. She is interested in developing fluidity between instantaneous and preconceived
choreography as well as cross-disciplinary investigations. The attempt to make meaning
with others in the moment is a value that infuses every aspect of her creative practice.
