Erica Buechner
Erica Buechner has had an extensive, professional dance career in San Diego. She has performed for many established companies, including Mojalet Dance Collective, Eveoke Dance Theatre, IMAGOmoves, Wallpaper Performance Group, The PGK Project, Patricia Sandback and Dancers, Joe Alter Dance Group, among others. In the past seven years, Erica has shifted her focus from performing, to choreographing and producing. Since 2011 she has co-produced youTurn Arts, an annual arts event that has featured several local visual artists and musicians. She has choreographed four of the seven years, including her first evening length work, The Dying Swan: Revisited/Re-envisioned in 2016. youTurn Arts has brought in guest artists Tamara Saari from NYC (2012), vîv from San Francisco (2014), Mark Haim from Seattle (2015), and Jesse Zaritt from NYC (2017). In spring 2017, Erica was invited to create a new evening length work, SHE, for the Live Arts Fest, produced by San Diego Dance Theater. Erica was also invited to co-create Feast On This! Dinner Dances at Art Produce. Previously, her work was selected to be a part of the La Jolla Music Society’s inaugural CHOREOLab and San Diego Dance Theater’s second annual Young Choreographer’s Prize in 2012. Also in 2012, Buechner presented her work in Konstanz, Germany alongside Mojalet Dance Collective and Czerner Dance. It has also been seen at many other local events around San Diego, including the Celebrate Dance Festival, San Diego Dances and the Summer Series at The Vine Theater.
She attended San Diego State University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and was named the Outstanding Graduate of the Year in Dance 2006. In 2011, she was awarded with the Alumni To Watch Award from SDSU’s School of Music and Dance. Erica obtained her MFA in Dance from Hollins University/American Dance Festival in 2013. In January of 2014, Erica was named by the San Diego Union-Tribune as an “Artist to Watch.” She was the recipient of the 2018/2019 Creative Catalyst Grant through the San Diego Foundation. After returning from grad school, Erica has been refining her aesthetic with more clarity. Recurring areas of exploration in Erica’s work include creating a visual atmosphere; bringing the audience through a variety of emotions, often including humor and intrigue; and using multiple mediums. She is notorious for saying “this might be a bad idea” while in the creative process, but it’s because she understands that through risk and curiosity, great art can emerge.
Awards
Mulliken Family-Lane Foundation Endowment for Teaching Excellence, 2020; Francis Parker School
Creative Catalyst Fund, 2018/2019; The San Diego Foundation
Artist to Watch, 2014; The San Diego Union-Tribune
Alumni to Watch, 2011; San Diego State University School of Music and Dance
Teaching Artist of the Year, 2010; Young Audiences of San Diego
Outstanding Graduate of the Year, 2006; San Diego State University School of Music and Dance
Dancer of the Year, 2001; Palomar College