Millennium Magazine_6th Ed

44 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine D r. Venetia Stifler says she pursued a career in dance because it has been her single greatest passion. She received a BA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1983 and an MFA equivalency from the Union Institute in Cincinnati in 1987. In 1992, Dr. Stifler obtained a PhD from the Union Institute. The artistic and executive director of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, she has also been a modern dance, jazz and ballet teacher at Venetia Stifler & Concert Dance, Inc., in Chicago since 1978. Likewise, she has been an assistant professor and chair of the dance program at Northeastern Illinois University since 1987. She was named professor emerita in 2014. In 1977, Dr. Stifler was a teacher of workshops at Urban Gateways in Chicago. Until 1984, she was also a teacher at the Chicago Dance Center, Smith College and Wilson College, and a guest teacher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1987, she was a teacher of choreography workshops at Bell Elementary School, and from 1982 to 1990, she served as a teacher and artist-in-residence at Mundelein College. Additionally, shewas amodern technique teacher at Southern Illinois University. An Emmy-nominated choreographer and director, Dr. Stifler has produced numerous creative works. She developed numerous dance routines, including “Choreographer Between Us,” “Magic Spaces,” “Fugues,” “Corporate Cases,” “Private Places,” “Bell School Scrimmage,” “Blessings” and “Don’t Dance with Your Back to the Moon.” Additional routines have included “Imagery and Concept in the Dances of Venetia Stifler,” “Rhymes,” “Pulse,” “Haiku,” Mundelein Madness,” Solo Crane” and “Tales of a Winter’s Night.” Furthermore, she produced “Jackson Park-Howard,” “Chicago Sketches” and more. For her unique and artistic work, Dr. Stifler received a creative grant from the Poetry Foundation and was the recipient of the Ruth Page Award. In 1985, she was awarded for Outstanding Artistic Achievement by the Chicago Dance Coalition. She is a member of the Water Tower Cultural District, See Chicago Dance and the Magnificent Mile. VENETIA STIFLER ARTISTIC AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ruth Page Center for the Arts Chicago, IL ARTS, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT