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About Me

Carl Flink is the choreographer and artistic director of the movement theater Black Label Movement based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN (www.blacklabelmovement.com). He is also the endowed Nadine Jette Sween Professor of Dance and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

From 1992 – 1998, he was member of the New York City based Limón Dance Company, performing the works of Jose Limón, Donald McKayle, Ralph Lemon, and Daniel Nagrin among others. A short list of other dance companies and choreographers he has performed for includes Creach/Koester Men Dancing, Paul Taylor, Joanna Mendl Shaw, Paul Taylor, Janis Brenner and Shapiro & Smith Dance.

His choreography is recognized and embraced for its intense athleticism, daring risk taking and humanistic themes that often address diverse social, scientific, political and working class subjects in addition to more abstract dance approaches. Dance programs and arts institutions across the United States have presented or commissioned his choreography including the Bates Dance Festival, Minnesota Orchestra, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Stanford University, University of Iowa, Mount Holyoke College, Brigham Young University, Carleton College and Roger Williams University. His new commission "HIT" for the Chicago-based dance company premiered at The Dance Center of Columbia College of Chicago March 10, 2011. He is currently in the third year of a creative collaboration called The Moving Cell Project with biomedical engineer David Odde. He created two presentations with BLM and John Bohannon for the 2011 TEDx Brussels, including the internet hit, "A Modest Proposal."

Beyond the dance world, he graduated from Stanford Law School in 2001 and worked as a staff attorney with Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. protecting the legal rights of low-income family farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture until 2004. He also holds a B.A. in Political Science and Women Studies, summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota.

Location:
United States, Minneapolis, MN
Current organization:
Black Label Movement, University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance, The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts & The Univ
Current role:
Artistic Director, Associate Professor/Chair, Tenant, Founding B
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Choreography, Performance, Concert Dance, Farm Law, Academic Lea
I am:
Artist, Athlete, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Lawyer, Performer
Languages:
English
My website links:
Black Label Movement, U of MN Theatre Arts & Dance
Universities:
University of Minnesota, Stanford Law School
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