From South Philly to Southern Spain, Megan Flynn has taken part in dance projects and performances, put bodies in motion on an assortment of stages, and taught and mentored students in dance and choreography.
At Union, she is completing her first year as the Gustave L. Davis ’59 and Susan S. Davis Director of Dance and artist in residence.
Megan Flynn at a recent performance at Dixon Place in New York City (photo by Peter Yesley).
Since coming to campus last summer, she has been involved in directing a number of student productions, including the Winter Dance Concert, the Steinmetz Dance Performance and An Intimate Afternoon with Dancers. She is also preparing students for their first appearance at Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August.
A native of Mystic, Conn., who now lives in Troy, Flynn has been dancing since was 2½.
While taking ballet at the Imperial Academy of Dance in East Lyme, she had the opportunity to perform in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, English country garden parties, town pageants, community benefits and on stage with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Band.
She holds a B.F.A. in dance from Newcomb College, Tulane University; a professional diploma in dance studies from the Trinity-Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London; and an M.F.A. in dance from the University of California, Irvine.
She is the artistic director of the Philadelphia-based Megan Flynn Dance Company and also a member of The NADINE Project, a choreographic collective.
She has performed with The Russia Project in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ekaterinburg, Russia, and in 2021, she was selected as one of 22 international choreographers for ATLAS, a choreographic residency program of the ImPulsTanz: Vienna International Dance Festival, Europe’s biggest dance festival.
“I am so fortunate to have had so many truly life-changing travel and artistic experiences in my pursuit of dance, with thanks to my family, my teacher and my mentors,” Flynn says.
Before joining the Union faculty, Flynn served as an assistant professor of dance at Muhlenberg College. Her teaching and research interests range from ballet and modern techniques to improvisational composition, somatic practices, inclusive dance pedagogy and courses such as Dance in America.
FIRST APP YOU LOOK AT IN THE MORNING:
Instagram, New York Times and/or Facebook while streaming WHYY to listen to NPR's “Morning Edition.”
ONE BOOK YOU HAVE READ MULTIPLE TIMES:
Besides texts for my classes, I will happily re-read children's books with my nieces and nephews. Some recent favorites: “Barnum's Bones,” “Polar Express” and Harry Potter.
BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED:
Be kind. You never know what other people are going through. And from my mentor in grad school: “Hands off the keyboard.”
FAVORITE SPOT ON CAMPUS:
The Henle Dance Studio is such a gift, especially on a sunny day.
GO-TO BREAKFAST:
I start every morning by making freshly ground, French press coffee with oat-seed milk. For breakfast, a scrambled egg and sautéed greens.
FAVORITE PODCAST:
Depending on my mood and the length of my commute (or hike), I alternate between Milk Street; Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!; The Moth; Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us, or Dare to Lead; We Can Do Hard Things; and Huberman Lab.
ONE SKILL YOU WISH YOU HAD:
Be more decisive, play the drums, play the cello, ski, memorize/recite lines and be fluent in multiple languages.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU:
I think people are surprised to learn that I'm fairly quiet and introverted when I'm not in the studio. But when I'm teaching, performing and/or choreographing, I'm much more expressive, expansive, energetic and loud.
3 DINNER PARTY GUESTS YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE:
Scenario #1: Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham and John Cage, Bronislava Nijinska. Scenario #2: My Grandparents, parents, siblings and their families. Scenario #3: My best friends, the dancers from my company and all of our favorite dance teachers.
FIRST CONCERT:
The Pointer Sisters. They played an outdoor summer music concert at Harkness State Park in Waterford, Conn., in 1992.