Gwen Hunter Ritchie holds a BA cum laude in Dance from the University of South Florida, attended SUNY Purchase, and an MFA in dance and somatics from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has danced professionally with various contemporary dance companies/choreographers including: Malashock Dance & Company, Liz Lerman and the Dance Exchange, Lower Left Dance, Dance Alloy, PearlArts, and The Kevin Wynn Collection. She directed her own repertory dance company, LABCO Dance in Pittsburgh from 2002-2009. Her research interests include ensemble improvisation, contact improvisation, the intersection of dance and disability, interdisciplinary collaboration and disrupting hierarchical structures in dance. Gwen is currently teaching a somatic approach to contact improvisation, contemporary dance, and dance ensemble at Naropa University and a somatic approach to dance for children with autism at The Joshua School Boulder.
