Deirdre Strand

Co-Founder

Director of Education

 

Co-Founder Deirdre Strand started her professional career with the Fort Worth Ballet and continued with James Clouser’s Space/Dance/Theatre and Austin on Tap touring company. She started her degree work at Texas Christian University and has taught for the University of Houston where she holds her B.F.A. in Dance.  In addition, she has studied with Manolo Agullo, Fernando Schaffenberg, Edward Villella, Arthur Mitchell and Melissa Hayden among others. Highlights of her ballet roles include James Clouser’s Rasputin and Don Quixote staged by Miguel Terekov. She has staged unique contemporary ballet and modern/jazz works for Tapestry Dance Company as well as the British Olympic Association, the New Orlean’s World’s Fair and numerous professional and training organizations worldwide. Her unique and holistic teaching techniques are the standard syllabus for The  Dance Arts Institute of America and are in demand locally as well as nationally and abroad. Past work has involved Ballet Austin and The International Summer School/Cyprus, the Dance Department of TASIS/London, Tanzsommer in Austria, Danse Encore in Canada as well as the initiation of unique dance cross-training programs for Irish step dance in collaboration with Eimir Ni Mhaoileidigh in Ireland as well as an international dance education program in Salamanca, Spain.  Ms. Strand has also choreographed numerous musical theatre productions including Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, My Fair Lady and the critically acclaimed Zilker Summer Musical Big River! among many others. In addition to Tapestry Dance Company, Ms. Strand heads the Dance Department of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin and hosts numerous dance educational residencies that have included The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Jane Comfort & Company, Rennie Harris, Zen One and numerous Austin artists.