← Back to Legends of Dance

Performer · Choreographer

Natalie Gotter

Dancer

2010s

Why They Matter

Gotter's integration of modern dance, screendance, and community-engaged practice offers dancers and educators a framework for understanding how embodied work can serve both artistic expression and social purpose. Her emphasis on somatic insight and identity reclamation, combined with her work as…

Known For

FilmmakerDancerChoreographerEducator
Teaching / Dance Education

Biography

Natalie Gotter is a dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, educator, and researcher whose practice links modern dance and screendance to community formation, identity, and embodied inquiry. Growing up in Apple Valley, Minnesota, she went on to earn an MFA in Modern Dance, a Screendance Certificate, and a Gender Studies Certificate from the University of Utah, alongside a BA in Communication, Music, and Dance from Luther College. Her artistic work employs dance for what she describes as liberatory community building and for reclaiming social identity, with attention to physical and somatic insight.

Gotter has developed evening-length projects including *Magazine St #22*, *LMN Mov't No. 1*, and *Last Call*, alongside commissioned and collaborative works. Her performance credits include the Alwin Nikolais Centennial. Her screendance work has been presented in festivals and received a 2018 Audience Favorite Award.

As Director of Training Programs for the Bates Dance Festival and a visiting lecturer at Bates College, Gotter brings her research-based approach into educational settings spanning both university and community contexts. She teaches courses including *Dance on Film*, extending her screendance practice into pedagogy. Her work demonstrates how choreography functions not only as stage and camera-based art, but as a model of socially engaged creative research and dance education.

Legacy & Impact

Gotter's integration of modern dance, screendance, and community-engaged practice offers dancers and educators a framework for understanding how embodied work can serve both artistic expression and social purpose. Her emphasis on somatic insight and identity reclamation, combined with her work as festival director and instructor, positions her as a model for dance professionals seeking to use movement as a tool for liberation and cultural meaning-making.

Explore More Legends

Discover the dancers, teachers, choreographers, and cultural icons who shaped how the world moves.

Keep the thread going

Dance history, technique, and the occasional rabbit hole — in your inbox. Thoughtful, infrequent, unsubscribe anytime.

Free. No spam. One click to leave.