and finally we meet. my name's holly.
"put some dust mops on her feet," my mum would tease as an eight year old version of myself boogied around every room of our home each sunday morning - cleaning day for mum, the only day with no dance classes for me.
the dancing never stopped
no matter where i went.
i never felt embarrassed, there was nothing to apologize for. who goes to a school formal and decides not to dance?
life is too unpredictable and our feet need to move.
the dancing never stopped,
even as age eight doubled and tripled itself over, you can meet me under the red glow as the bass grows so loud and tangible we have to carve our way through space. who cares if i have been in the studio for 2x4 hours a day?
life is too short and our hips need to move.
i don't want the dancing to ever stop.
that's why in addition to my devotion to dance + choreography, i found such respite in arts administration, community engagement, and stage management. it’s an asset of mine to bring organization to the arts, and an artistic eye to my logic.
i am here to serve. myself, others, and the dance itself.
i have a goal: I wish for everyone to feel movement's magic, to bring it back to the forefront of daily life.
i wish for everyone to join me on the dance floor. screw awkward middle school formals. let's boogie!
thank you for hanging out. love and light to all my friends and the friends i haven't met yet.
biography
Holly Trenbath (they/she) is a queer movement artist, interdisciplinary dance-maker, teacher, and performing arts facilitator based in Minneapolis, Mni Sota Makoce. Humor, physicality, grit, and storytelling have been a constant in their body and life, now evidenced in their performance, choreographic, and visual/communications work.
She is originally from the lands of the Powhatan people, Tsenacomoco, where she attended Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating in 2024 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance + Choreography along with minors in General Business and Theatre with a concentration in Stage Management. She was awarded the VCUDance Certificate of Excellence along with a number of scholarships for her outstanding performance, research, and dedication to the production of performing arts, including the Undergraduate Research and Creative Fellowship - for which she presented her research at VCU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium in 2024.
They currently work as a freelance dance artist and choreographer in the Twin Cities (sometimes Richmond, VA whenever visiting home), and the sole Administrative Assistant/Marketing Director for Off-Leash Area.
Holly’s body holds the teachings of many mentors and finds its lineage in Classical and Post-Modern, (Contact) Improvisational, West African, Nightlife, Somatic, Contemporary, Yogic, Floorwork, Balletic, Experimental, and Theatrical movement practices. She has deepened her physical and performance research through many workshops and intensives with Trisha Brown Dance Company (2025), David Dorfman Dance (2022, 2023), Orange Grove Dance (2023), Gibney, and Bates Dance Festival (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024), where she also attended as a Technical/Site-Specific Intern in 2022 and the inaugural Operations Intern in 2024.
They’ve danced with/for artists such as Paloma McGregor/Angela’s Pulse, LaWanda Raines, Christine Wyatt, Johnnie Cruise Mercer/TheREDprojectNYC, Norbert De La Cruz III, MK Abadoo, Charles O. Anderson, Robbie Kinter, Starr Foster, and Trebien Pollard among others. Her choreographic work has been produced at Dogtown Dance Theater, Grace Street Theater, The Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Henrico High School’s Center for the Arts, The Institute for Contemporary Art - VCU, Bates Dance Festival’s WIP Showcase, and Third Act Minnesota’s inaugural Sun Day Festival at Graco Park.
Behind the curtain, Holly’s involvement with the performing arts has included administration, community engagement, grant writing, operations management, producing, rehearsal assistance, and stage/project management for the following organizations and artists: Off-Leash Area: Contemporary Performing Works, Angela’s Pulse/Paloma McGregor, Bates Dance Festival, Department of Dance + Choreography at VCU, TheREDprojectNYC/Johnnie Cruise Mercer, MKArts/MK Abadoo, and Dean Moss/Gametophyte Inc.
Holly holds a CYT-200 Certified Yoga Teacher Training Certificate from Midtown Yoga Studios, a Registered Yoga School (RYS) with Yoga Alliance, and an EBAS Level I Teaching Certificate from Scott Putman, Founder of the Elemental Body Alignment System. Holly is interested in movements, both physical and political, as embodied experiences and teaches dance, yoga, and somatics in an effort to further share and gain knowledge with this lens.