taryn
Santeramo
Dancer | Educator | Advocate
About Taryn
Taryn Santeramo started training in dance at the age of four at Jenny’s Dance Dynamics under Jenny Frank. Her training became more rigorous in 2011 when she joined the studio’s competition team, traveling to several competitions in different states and conventions in Colorado such as West Coast Dance Explosion, Radix, and Fluid Dance. She found a deeper passion for dance when Tristan Grant started teaching at the studio. The fluidity of his movement and contemporary style inspired Taryn to train even harder. In high school, Taryn also danced for the Roosevelt High School Dance Team, performing at pep rallies, sports events, and Colorado High School Activities Association state finals. At the beginning of Taryn’s high school career, she held the position as the marching band's color guard captain and choreographed dances for the guard team and the marching band.
Taryn received a BFA in Dance from Colorado State University in May 2021. Classes she took at CSU include modern and ballet technique, history, choreography, and pedagogy classes as well as repertory and outreach courses. At CSU, she danced in several professor, student, and senior capstone pieces. A few of Taryn’s most significant roles include 5AM by Hannah Finnegan, Letters to Theo by Judy Bejarano, turn of mind, a dance film, by Payton Lauer-Duarte and, Senza Fretta by Salvatore Aiello restaged by Jerri Kumery. Taryn has taken masterclasses from the Martha Graham Company, Parsons Dance, Ballet Trockadero, and André Megerdichian. Taryn was also one of the six dancers selected to go to the American College Dance Association Northwestern conference in the spring of 2019. Taryn’s most significant choreography includes Pendulum, a dance film featuring 5 dancers, Authenticity, a solo she choreographed for herself, and connected polarities, a co-choreographed duet.
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Specific courses, such as pedagogy, outreach, and creative movement kept Taryn’s
teaching experience growing, from when she first started teaching dance in high school. Taryn taught at her hometown studio, Dance Dynamics, during the summer while in college. She also had the opportunity to do an independent study for college credit at Dance Dynamics for her choreography I class, setting choreography on the students and solo work on herself. Taryn has also been involved in the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) by attending the fall conference in 2019. She had the honor to write and submit an Associated Students of Colorado State University travel grant, which was accepted and put $1000 towards the trip to NDEO. Taryn has had many other achievements and honors. She was awarded five departmental dance scholarships and the Grace and Dwight Harris scholarship during her college career. She manages to maintain a GPA above 3.8 and was awarded a spot on the dean's list each semester. Taryn was involved in the student organization through CSU called the Dance Student Advisory Committee, being elected Vice President and Financial Advisor her senior year. Through this organization, the CSU dance student handbook was created, a student lead showcase was developed, secured funds for a water bottle filling station to be installed in the dance wing of the University Center for Arts, and several other positive changes and additions have been made to the dance program.
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After college, Taryn plans on auditioning for companies and continuing her performance career. She wants to take on as many opportunities as she can. Continuing to teach is also an ambition for Taryn, as well as learning how to teach other movement-related fitness classes such as yoga and pilates. Being an advocate for dance education and engagement activities throughout the country is important for Taryn to continue and dive even deeper into. When it comes to a career in dance, Taryn often says that she wants to do it all and experience everything she possibly can!
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