About THe CoMotion Dance Project

The CoMotion Dance Project is in residence at the University of Montana and was developed by Karen Kaufmann, professor of dance. The company is an extension of the Mo-Trans Dance Company (founded in 1993). We reside in the School of Theatre andA CoMotion in Motion Dance at The University of Montana and are served by the College of Visual and Performing Arts Advisory Board. We have been performing and teaching dance in Montana schools since 1995.

The mission and purpose of the CoMotion Dance Project is to increase the presence of dance in Montana schools and communities. 

We promote our mission in three ways:

  1. Long-term dance residencies in Montana Schools. The on-going MoDE Project, begun in 2008, hires highly qualified dance teaching artists for long-term residencies in K-12 schools.

  2. Interdisciplinary performances for school children. We travel to rural and urban communities and present live dance performances that are interactive, educational and artistic. From 2006-2009 we toured performances of A CoMotion in Motion—an interdisciplinary dance performance combining dance with Newton’s Laws of Motion.

    In 2009-2010 we proudly present Bebe Miller in the Schools featuring the dance “Prey” and a discussion of the choreographic process of American master dance maker Bebe Miller, who will set her legendary work on our dancers.

  3. Professional development for classroom teachers and professional dance teaching artists. We prepare dance artists to work in schools, and initiate new dance teaching residencies. Artistic Director Karen Kaufmann published Inclusive Creative Movement and Dance ©2006 a textbook for classroom teachers used in these training sessions. University or recertification credit is available in our carefully designed workshops.