BFA Dance Capstone performance by Hannah Goebel

Young, smiling blond woman wearing a jean shirt with her hair up in a bun.

Biography

Hannah Goebel, originally from Des Moines, WA, graduated June of 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance and a Minor in Psychology. She received the Monica Gutchow scholarship her freshman year. She danced in all 4 Winter Dances shows and all 3 Dance in Concert shows (would have been 4 but due to quarantine, only 3.) She danced in 3 out of 4 BFA concerts and 2 Graffiti concerts. She worked with 2 guest artists at Western, Leslie Kraus and Brandin Steffensen and Anya Cloud. She choreographed for Winter Dances (“Human nature”), 2 Graffiti shows  ( “Fatally Feminine” collaboration with Ellie Evans and Naquoia Bautista and “Eat My Bubbles”) and half of a group piece for this years BFA show (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” still in progress; hopefully screendance coming soon!) One of her biggest accomplishments here at Western was receiving full funding for an undergraduate research grant to support her work with Wesley Ensminger. Her grant described her interest  in communicating and investigating society’s constructs around partial and full nudity through art and live performance. In her grant, she made it known that the human body is a beautiful and unique piece of art that everyone should be proud of and not scared or ashamed of. Her BFA solo shows this concept through movement choreographed by Wesley Ensminger and herself. Her plan after she graduates is to work like crazy so she can have enough money to move to California and audition for modern dance companies. She plans to take classes and create screen dances in the meantime.

young man in a t-shirt with very long, wavy hair and beard and mustache stubble

Choreographer

Wesley Ensminger, originally from Santa Cruz, CA, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from California Institute of the Arts. He has collaborated with a vast range of professional companies and choreographers as a performing artist throughout California, Arizona and New York City. His personal codified teaching practice and research within choreography and composition has allowed him to travel all around the US, Canada and Europe. Wesley’s most recent choreographic works have been presented at The Gibney Dance Theater NYC, The Dance Teacher Summit, The Joffrey Ballet School, The Roy and Edna Disney Lund Theater LA and at various other venues around New York City. He is currently on faculty at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC where he teaches Release Technique, Composition and Improvisation and can be found teaching regularly at Gibney Dance NYC.