Rebecca Huntman

BIO

Rebecca Huntman is a dancer, artist, writer and photographer whose work in these media are continually intersecting in new ways. For over twenty-five years she has dedicated herself to Latin dance, developing a career as a performer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer. To develop the authenticity of her craft she has traveled throughout Latin America to study and collaborate with master choreographers Lourdes Tamayo (Cuba); Paolo Araujo (Brazil); and Pablo Naveira, Mora Godoy, and Cristina Cortes (Argentina).

Her work in dance has been featured in Latina Magazine, Chicago Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Metromix the TV show, Fox News, ABC News, Borders Books, Transitions Bookplace, and the Chicago Women's Entrepreneurial Conference. Latina Magazine calls her Latin Cardio Boot camp the "best Latin-themed workout", and Chicago Magazine named her studio one of Chicago's "top 101 things to do".

Fueled by an interest in exploring relationships between Latin, African, Middle Eastern and contemporary dance forms, in 2002 Huntman founded the award-winning Danza Viva Center for World Dance, Art and Music and its resident professional world dance company One World Dance Theater. Her producing credits include What Moves You? and Deep Draw, both performed at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre, and Dance Chicago's Dance Everywhere series. Huntman studied journalism and creative writing at Northwestern University, received a Master's in Education from Columbia College, and continues to investigate her interest in fine art and photography at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In addition to her work in the arts, Huntman has taught for almost twenty years in the Chicago Public Schools, and has worked as a writing consultant to develop educational materials for Bill Kurtis, the Chicago Board of Education, and the Mexican Fine Arts Museum. She currently offers a variety of dance programs for elementary, middle and high schools in the Chicago area.