Moving Life Stories Coordinator
Tom Truss is a performer, creator and educator. His 30 year career includes dancing, acting, choreographing, directing, devising and teaching. He toured with the Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange (’89-’94); ran his own dance company (’94-’01); was a community artist at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (’94-’99) leading workshops at local schools and various communities throughout Berkshire County; taught at American Dance Festival (’93-’98); and has been a teaching artist with Flying Cloud Institute since ‘95. Tom has been published in Dance Magazine, Contact Quarterly, and was a frequent contributor to OutRightRadio an award winning radio show on PRI. He has performed all around the world and his work has been seen at the Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, New Zealand’s Wellington Fringe, American Dance Festival, On the Boards, Dance Place and The Foundry to name a few, as well as in parking lots, rivers, furniture stores and cars. Truss graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Texas; obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from the University of Iowa; a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the College of Wooster; is an AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique; and is a level one certified Internal Family Systems practitioner. Some awards Tom has received are Best Choreography – Austin Critics Table Awards (HAIR), Best Actor- Austin Critics Table Awards (The Idiot), Best Actor Nominee – B. Iden Payne Awards (The Idiot), New England New Works grant – New England Foundation of the Arts, and an Artist Fellowship – Massachusetts Cultural Council. Currently he is touring a dark comedy, solo show about growing up queer called, Tell me what you learned Tuesday, and ReWritten, a multimedia evening length duet co-created with Matthew Cumbie about the intimate relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne.