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Diana Stanton


Professor, Head of the Dance Program
Director of Orchesis Dance Company

Contact Information

Areas of Expertise

Dance, Modern Dance, Choreography, Composition, Dance Film, Dance in Education, Orchesis, Body Awareness, Collaboration

About Diana Stanton

Diana Stanton (www.dianastanton.com), Professor of Dance at Cal Poly SLO, directs the Dance Program within the Theatre and Dance Department. She also directs and choreographs for The Orchesis Dance Company. She has created original choreography for Cal Poly Music department’s Cal Poly Symphony, Cal Poly Choir, and RSVP Performances. Her Dances for the Camera, “Breaking Bread,” and "State of Grace," were selected for screening at several film festivals in the US including the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Diana was one of the three Cal Poly faculty to receive the Distinguished Scholarship Award for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Diana was also the Co-Founder, and Co-Artistic Director of Variable Velocity Performance Group in San Luis Obispo, CA where she created original choreography for more than 12 years. She received an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a B.A. in Dance from the University of California, Irvine.  Her choreography has been presented professionally in venues including: UpSide Dance Company in Healdsburg, CA, Jumpbrush Pacific Dance Convergence, San Luis Obispo, CA; Choreography Under the Stars at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert; UC Irvine; CU Boulder Boulder; Jazz Dance Workshop; Dancers for Life, a benefit for AIDS at Riverside Community College; Cal Poly; Allan Hancock College; the L.A. Open Festival; and several American College Dance Festivals throughout the U.S.

In addition to teaching at Cal Poly, Diana has also taught classes and Master Classes at Riverside Community College, Allan Hancock College, PCPA, Cuesta College, CU Boulder and the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop. She was a founding member and Artist for the first Jumpbrush Pacific Dance Convergence in San Luis Obispo, CA in 2010, and again for the festival in 2012 where she was a featured performer in Joe Goode’s “Excerpts from When Things Fall Apart.” Diana focuses on released athleticism, contact improvisation and inverted techniques in her teaching and choreography.

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