Spenser Theberge

Spenser Theberge | Photo by Jacob Jonas

Choreographer | 2023 Creative Residency

Spenser Theberge is a multi-hyphenate performer and creator, working across the fields of choreography, dance, movement direction, text, costume design, pedagogy, and installation work. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and a former company member with the Nederlands Dans Theater I & II and The Forsythe Company, as well as a guest artist with Kidd Pivot, the Goteborgs Operans Danskompani, the ARIAS Company, RGWW, and Dimitri Chamblas.

Spenser's creations are multi-disciplinary and genre-defying, continuously exploring identity, authenticity, and spectatorship. His work ranges from proscenium performance to museum installation to site-specific locations, and whether solo or ensemble creations, the conventional expectation of dance performance and audience relationship is always challenged. Spenser's independent work, as well as collaborations with partner Jermaine Spivey, have been commissioned and presented by LA Dance Project, The Broad Museum, the Philip Glass Days & Nights Festival, MOCA Geffen, REDCAT, The Korzo Theater, Springboard DanseMontreal, Place des Arts, The Juilliard School, the Queer Biennial III in LA, NAVEL, and Gothenburg Opera Danskompani with co-creator Arika Yamada. These projects have been additionally supported by Hollins University, PACT Zollverein, Nuova Officina della Danza, and the CalArts School of Dance.

As a movement director and performer, Spenser has worked with artists, brands, and organizations such as Taylor Swift, UGG, Rami Malek, Matthew Peacock, Ryan Pfluger, the Tune-yards, Seaworthy Jewelry, and the New York Times Magazine.  He has also designed costumes for Andrea Miller, the ARIAS Company, and performing artist Frances Chiaverini, and is the text writer behind Alexander Ekman's award winning "Cacti" and "Hubbub".

Spenser is on the dance faculty at California Institute of the Arts, and has been a guest teacher at The Juilliard School, USC's Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, Purchase College, Reed College, the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, and the Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst. He also teaches at workshops and intensives across North America, Europe, and Asia. Spenser is a YoungArts award winner, a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and a Princess Grace Award winner.