Coffee @ 10: Screendance and the School of Ballet Video Crew with Finley Van Patten

Finley started dancing with the School of Ballet in 2008 and presently works as the Assistant to the Artistic Director and instructs Dance Fusion and the School of Ballet Video Crew.

Upon graduating from high school, Finley attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, pursuing a BFA in dance. They presented their choreographic work in collaboration with the School of Ballet dancers at the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival’s Youth Performance in 2018, 2020 and 2021. During the summer of 2021, Finley held an internship with Bates Dance Festival, performing technical production duties for the festival’s performances. The following fall, they studied screendance one on one with the legendary Peter Sparling, learning the techniques of creating choreography for the camera. Finley completed the Pilobolus teacher training workshop through Pilobolus' summer intensive in 2023. Finley’s teachings include a variety of contemporary and modern dance techniques, contact improvisation and screendance.