photo credit: Cameron Browne

Dawn Stoppiello is a conceptual artist whose primary material is the human body in action. Obsessed with performance itself as content, Stoppiello’s recent work is an exploration of the duality that exists in a performance situation. Intentionally straddling the two simultaneous realities – the “real” people on stage and in the audience, and the fantasy being created by the event – the performances become an examination of how meaning is created in the encounter between performers and viewers. With composer Mark Coniglio she co-founded Troika Ranch, a critically acclaimed performance ensemble that has been innovating and experimenting with computer technology in live performance since the late 1980s. Stoppiello has performed, taught and lectured throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the US. She received a BFA in dance from California Institute of the Arts in 1989 and an MFA in dance from George Washington University in 2014. She has received multiple honors from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA over the years including a 1987 Dance Scholarship, three Special Project grants in 2004/2009/2015 and the foundation’s highest honor, the Statue Award in 2004 for her continued excellence in her field. In 2009, after 25 years away, she relocated back to Portland, Oregon. Stoppiello now lives the majority of the year in Los Angeles, CA where she is an Associate Professor of Practice, with a focus on Dance and New Media, at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. When not at USC, she is usually in Portland digging in the garden, drinking perfect craft beer, and dreaming up grand schemes!