ARTIST BIO
Tess Renaud began dancing at the age of three in the Chicagoland area. She trained at Visceral Dance Center, (VDC), with many influential teachers and was a member of Pupillo’s Visceral Studio Company. She has been a part of VDC’s scholarship program and Luna Negra Dance Theater’s summer intensive.
Tess graduated from Western Michigan University (WMU) with a Bachelor of Arts in dance, and a minor in nonprofit leadership. At WMU, she was a member of Western Dance Project, the Department of Dance’s touring ensemble under the direction of David Curwen. The ensemble performed at venues such as Dance Chicago, Michigan Dance Day, and Oakland Dance Festival. She has had the honor of performing works at WMU choreographed by Monique Haley, Carolyn Pavlik, Jackie Nowicki, and a Loïe Fuller reconstruction of “La Mer.”
Since graduating, Tess has performed the works of various Chicago choreographers including Joey Hernandez, and Harrison McEldowney. She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training and teaches multiple formats for Corepower Yoga. She also works for VIP dance competition. Tess is currently pursuing a career in teaching and choreography. She teaches and choreographs for many studios in the Chicago and Michigan areas and has held many master classes. Tess is very excited to be on faculty at Visceral Dance Center and continuously be inspired by all of her students and other faculty members.