Laja Field Dance Showing

Laja Field is an international dance-theater creator, educator and performer whose work spans 17 countries worldwide. Originally from Salt Lake City, UT, Laja began her professional career with Johannes Wieland at Staatstheater Kassel, Germany in 2012, the same year she received her BFA from the University of Utah. After close to four years of performing and creating her first work, Laja relocated to NYC as a founding member and rehearsal director with Vim Vigor. In a desire for a new platform, LajaMartin was co-founded with Martin Durov in 2017. The two toured their work internationally and debuted their final collaboration,The Bunker, on RirieWoodbury Dance Company in 2022. Since then, Laja has been creating independently across the U.S, Canada and most recently on the Second Avenue Company at NYU | Tisch where she has been an adjunct professor. Laja teaches annually in NYC, LA, and the b12 festival in Berlin.

Sage Cowles Land Grant Chair

Since 1987, through the generosity of Sage and John Cowles, University of Minnesota Dance has annually hosted four to six dance professionals of international renown in residencies ranging from one to ten weeks. The guests teach, choreograph new dance work, rehearse repertory, and lecture in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, and the twin cities community at large.

The Cowles Land Grant Chair connects nationally and internationally recognized artists and scholars with dance students, exposing them to contemporary artistry, masterwork and new thinking in dance studies. University of Minnesota Dance is unique for its extensive use of renowned professional artists in the education and training of students.