Photo by Alexandra Chan
some biographical things
Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş is choreographer, writer, and filmmaker from Northern California currently researching the intersections of language and movement through interdisciplinary collaborations with composers, designers, animators, coders, writers, and dancers. She is currently the director of Roco Dance's award-winning youth modern dance company BodyLanguage, a writer for Dance Art Journal, coordinator of Marin's first Youth Poet Laureate Program, editor of Marin Poetry Center's High School Anthology, and teacher with CalPoets and Gallery Route One. She was recently awarded an M.A. in Dance Philosophy & History with Distinction from University of Roehampton, London, where she was commissioned by Sadlers Wells and The Place, among other theaters to conduct interviews and write reviews on cutting-edge dance companies and choreographers.
Since presenting her undergraduate thesis strikethrough, at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, it has been featured by Stance on Dance, Dance Art Journal, samfiftyfour literary, Inbtwn. Magazine, Poethesis Mag, Pinky Thinker Press, Loculus Collective, SAFEhouse Arts, Mark Foehringer Dance Project | SF, Interdisciplinary Arts Collective, Noori/TWIG Media Lab, and The Museum of Wild & Newfangled Art, and has been adapted for dance & poetry workshops at NYU Tisch, Big Sky Workshop, The Collective SF, Ellen Webb Studios, Bodies of Empowerment, Shawl Anderson Dance Center, Mill Valley Public Library, The Writers Nest, and CalPoets.
Maxine graduated magna cum laude from NYU Tisch with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Minor in English and American Literature. At NYU Tisch, she danced in the works of Sidra Bell Dance NY, Lar Lubovitch, Wayne McGregor, Trisha Brown, NUUM Collective, Aaron Samuel Davis, and Cari Ann Shim Sham*, among others. Maxine has guest performed for David Diggs, The Collective SF, Isadora Duncan Dance Company, Eclipse Dance Theatre, CALI & Co Dance/Matt El Music, Logos Dance Collective, Monsoon Dance Company, and most recently pateldanceworks, eMotion Arts, and the NETWORK project. She supplemented her training at SF Conservatory of Dance, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, performing the works of Ohad Naharin, Christian Burns Amy Seiwert, Eléonore Valère Lachky, and Vittoria De Ferrari Sapetto. Her dance films have been screened at 92NY's Future Dance Festival (USA), World Stage Design 2022 (Canada), Event/Horizons 2021 (USA), West Wave Dance Festival (USA), Cadence Video Poetry Festival (USA), TriQuarterly, SzólóDuó International Dance Festival (Hungary), FilmFest by Rogue Dancer (USA), Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema (USA), and kNOwBOX Dance Film Festival (USA/South Korea).
Maxine’s poetry has been published in Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Gallatin Review, October Hill Magazine, Literary Yard, Red Cedar Review, Variety Pack Zine, and NYU Under the Arch | Voices, and recently was awarded the Rubin Prize for Poetry by the Gallatin Writing Program for her poem, “A Series of Rogue Geographies.” She served as editor for NYU Under the Arch | Voices from 2018 to 2020, where she curated cross-disciplinary collaborations between graphic artists and writers, and as an editorial writer for Inbtwn. Magazine from 2017 to 2020, an online and print magazine aimed to increase engagement between writers and visual artists. She has also interned with literary organizations Poets House and The Writers Nest. In May 2020, she published her first novella, through Eileen with VerbalEyze Press, and in May 2022, she published her first micro-chapbook ♡-shaped-☐ with Ghost City Press, which she has shared at readings including The Lost Church and Poolside Poets. She currently collaborates with award-winning poet, Rebecca Foust.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2024 - Choreographic Resident Artist - Surel's Place
2024 - Choreographic Resident Artist - Tofte Lake Center
2024 - Dance Resident Artist - Djerassi Resident Artists Program
2024 - Choreographic Resident Artist - STAR Collaboration at the Eagle Hill School
2023 - Choreographic Resident Artist - Stapleton School for the Performing Arts
2023 - Finalist - 92NY's Future Dance Festival
2023 - Choreographic Resident Artist - Djerassi Resident Artists Program
2023 - Guest Judge - Bay Area Creative Foundation / Creative Youth Awards
2022 - Choreographer - World Stage Design 2022 / Scenofest - University of Calgary at Alberta
2021 - Guest Judge - Marin County Poetry Out Loud
2021 - Alternate - US-UK Fulbright Student Program - University of Roehampton Award in Dance
2020 - Rubin Prize for Poetry - The Gallatin Review
2020 - Best 20 Films of the Ork_Kota Platform - Szólóduó International Dance Festival
2019 - NYU Conference Grant - NYU Student Government Assembly
2019 - First Place in Choreography - Dance Prix de New York
2016 - Opening Poet for Hamilton's Daveed Diggs - San Francisco Jewish Community Center
2016 - Second Place in Choreography - Paula Levine Choreographers Contest - Hollins University