Artistic Director

John Ollom received his MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College and his BFA in ballet from TCU where he trained under Stephanie Rand, Li Chou Cheng of Beijing Ballet and Fernando Bujones of ABT and the Royal Ballet. During his training at TCU, John was the only male chosen to dance Fernando’s original choreography in Reggio Emilia, Italy. John also trained at Colorado Ballet and with scholarship at Boston Ballet.

His dancing has taken him to such diverse areas as Europe, Africa, and China.With Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, John performed La Valse, Firebird, and Cinderella. In New Hampshire, John also danced with Granite State Ballet. He has also performed at the Kennedy Center with Infinity Dance Theater, Lincoln Center with Diane Faye Dance Theater and the Metropolitan Opera House with the Bolshoi Ballet. He has performed with Annabella Gonzalez Dance Theater for three seasons in Manhattan and at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs and on the tour of Firecracker in China with Michael Mao Dance.

In May 2004, his choreography and performance in John Ollom’s The Journey at Lincoln Center garnered a nomination for the Time Out New York’s Dance Audience Award and rave reviews. John has choreographed operas including Dido and Aeneas and Orfeo and Eurudice. In July 2005 he was chosen as one of ten artists from across the world to receive a grant from The Field and The Howard Gilman Foundation to create new works at the Baryshnikov Studio at White Oaks Plantation. In March 2006 his dance theater piece Anatomy of Woman was presented at Lincoln Center’s Clark Theater and also in Port Washington, NY. His work, The Other Species premiered at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in Denver. In 2008, a new work entitled A Man of War was presented as the keynote performance at Creativity and Thought, a Long Island University Honors Program Conference. In April 2010, the short film Karpos & Kalamos, directed and choreographed by John was presented as part of the New FilmMakers Series film festival. His work M.U.D.(Men Under Dirt) has recently toured the Tri-State area and Florida, including a presentation at the prestigious Leslie/Lohman Gallery in SoHo in May 2010. His work Internal Landscapes: Evolution was recently presented at Spool MFG in Binghamton, NY. Composition #1 was presented in Austin, Texas, The Leslie-Loman Project Space and was filmed at Soliphilia Farm in Greenwich, NY. “The Hole Project” came out of his extensive research in movement art and healing that he has been teaching across the US. Much of his findings reveal that people have been locked in prisons of shame. Looking to create art that is transformative, he focused on the condemned zones of the body. In interviews with men across the US about not only about their anatomical holes, but their “condemned behavior” men gave a voice to their authentic experiences in life that led to personal healing. He has created Art Heals© Workshops which will be held across the US in 2019.

John’s technique is founded on the alignment of ballet, but pulls off into energies that are both modern and jazz in stylistic qualities. John’s company dancers are pushed to portray their unique voice beyond the restrictions of traditional ballet. To this end, John has developed two methodologies. The Ollom Floor Series© uses increased anatomical awareness and slow strength building exercises combined with slow stretches to build a phenomenally conditioned core. Internal Landscapes© is a choreographic process where the student learns to create works of art which incorporate movement created from an authentic impulse within the dancer which integrates feelings, emotions and ideas. His goal is to motivate dancers to appreciate the unique beauty in each artist, both technically as well as emotionally. His approach is based on trust among dancers, as well as providing positive reinforcement that creates both eloquent and personal choreography.

John’s book Internal Landscapes is the culmination of fourteen years of movement research, movement technique classes and personal introspection that have created the revolutionary methodology of Internal Landscapes©.

John’s work has been the subject of numerous articles and documentary films including: “Late Bloomers” by Annette Cyr, Professor of Art at the National University in San Diego; “The Making of M.U.D.: An Exploration of the Work of John Ollom and Ollom Movement Art” by Robert Kazmayer, MA; “There’s Something About John” by Emma McCagg, About, or in, the Liminal Space: John Ollom at 954 Dance Movement Collective, in Phindie, and a Featured artist with Art As Air (see the Art as Air video here).

John has been teaching and coaching for over 19 years in New York City. Currently, he is the Ballet Master and Dance Instructor at Ripley-Grier Studios, where he teaches classes from beginner to master levels in Ballet and Jazz. He teaches the Ollom Floor Series© core conditioning classes throughout NYC. His classes range from group classes to private lessons to select dancers. John’s coaching in partnering is highly sought after and includes: professional partnering classes at the Harkness Dance Center at the 92nd St Y, master classes, partnering workshops, Juilliard students, and private coaching. His methodology has been taught at Kalani Retreat Center in Hawaii, Baruch College and Atmananda Yoga Sequence in NYC, with special workshops across the US. He has served as a professor of ballet and dance at City University of New York (CUNY) and as featured faculty member of Ollom Art’s Internal Landscapes© Program since its inception in 2002.

For more information about John and his book, classes, workshops and privates please go to www.JohnOllom.com