Bio

Molly Strom graduated from Columbia College Chicago, Magna Cum Laude, with a BA in Dance with a concentration in pedagogy and performance.  ​

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She trained with Robert McKee from Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Emily Stein, Paige Cunningham-Caldarella, Dardi McGinley, Carrie Hanson, Sarah Schafer, Joanna Rosenthal-Read and Michael Snipe Jr.  She performed works by Lisa Gonzales, Debra Levasseur-Lottman, Teena Marie Custer, Fara Tolno and a restaging of Charles Weidman’s Lynch Town under the direction of Gail Corbin in 2013.  

 

Since graduating, Molly traveled to Barcelona, Spain to work with local artists including Nadine Gerspacher, Emilio Gutierrez and Bene Carrat. Her performances include works by Rachel Vogeney, Kaitlyn Dessoffy, Lydia Feuerhelm, Mags Bouffard and Cattywampus Dance. 

 

In 2014, she became a company member of Zephyr Dance.  Some of her performances include aMID Festival at Link’s Hall, Word Movement Action at Defibrillator Gallery, Propositional Worlds, 9X22 Dance Lab in Minneapolis, Minnesota, LinkSircus; Celebrating 40 years of Link’s Hall, Recurrences, Elevate Dance Chicago, On the Cusp, Not Dead Yet and S45. With evening length works including Valise 13, Shadows Across Their Eyes and On Notice. 

 

In 2023, Molly performed in a restaging of Merce Cunningham’s iconic 1956 work Suite For Five directed by Paige Cunningham-Caldarella. Most recently, she performed in the first annual 3320 dance series at Dovetail Studios. 

 

Teaching has become an integral part of Molly’s career, “When you share your experiences with other people, you help take away their fears,” (Rick Warren). With her passion for sharing the art form, Molly takes pride in the work she does with students in the evenings and on weekends. 

 

She is thrilled be in her third year with the Joffrey Ballet Academy Children’s program “Joffrey for All.” Her studio work expands into curriculum leader at Viking Gymnastics and Dance where she can support her students and fellow faculty with safe and smart approaches to teaching a love for dance.

 

Molly educational expertise goes beyond the studio walls.  Her work includes teaching arts integration programs that engages students’ academic learning through movement and choreography.  With Zephyr, she has had the privilege of partnering with Pulaski International School of Chicago in Bucktown and Roger’s Park Elementary. Molly is also a teaching artist with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where she continues fulfilling the gap between arts education and academia in schools througout the Chicagoland area.