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Updated 3/4/2022

Tom Truss

  • Massachusetts

    MA

Institution/Business Type: Artist / Creative (Individual)

Tom Truss is a performer, creator and educator.  His thirty plus year career has included dancing, acting, choreographing and directing. Truss has worked with all ages and abilities from children, firefighters, and inmates to teens, older adults, and professional actors and dancers.  He toured with the Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange for four years, had his own dance company for ten years, was a community artist at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival for five years and taught at American Dance Festival for six years.  Truss graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Texas, obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in Choreography from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the College of Wooster.  He is an AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique.  He has been published in Dance Magazine, was a frequent contributor to OutRightRadio an award winning radio show on PRI.  Some awards he has received are Best Choreography - Austin Critics Table Awards (HAIR), Best Actor- Austin Critics Table Awards (The Idiot), Best Actor Nominee - B. Iden Payne Awards (The Idiot).  His work has been seen and he has performed at the Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow, New Zealand’s Wellington Fringe, American Dance Festival, On the Boards, Dance Place and The Foundry to name a few, as well as in parking lots, rivers, furniture stores and cars.  His current projects are: Ask Your Gay Uncle, a podcast he co-creates with his gay nephew; Behind the Tapestry a solo dance theatre work that examines how a family finds resilience when tragedy strikes ;and ReWritten a multimedia evening length duet about the love relationship between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville.

His work is physically based and is athletic, gestural and quirky.   Text is always present in his work.    The themes of his work generally fall into the categories of love, loss, justice, sex, God and greed.  It is presented through humor, silence, objects, movement metaphor, anecdotes and music.

 

 

 

 

Find Me

Tom Truss
Job Title: Actor, Dancer, Choreographer, Director, Maker
Phone: 4153429447
Address:
22 RIVER ST
Great Barrington, MA 01230-1331

Social Media:

Additional Content:

  • 5 minute video of exceprts from ReWritten

    There are two clips. The first from the site-specific iteration of ReWritten at Arrowhead (Herman Melville's home) And the second is form a work-in-progress showing of the staged version of ReWritten at Texas State University

  • Behind The Tapestry

    This was the first work-in-progress shwoing of this evening length solo piece filmed at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

1987

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

1987

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Dance - Modern / Contemporary

Activities and Services

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Businesses
  • Elders
  • Families
  • General Public
  • Immigrant Populations
  • Incarcerated (or Formerly Incarcerated) individuals
  • LGBTQ Populations
  • Native American Tribes
  • Nonprofits
  • People with Disabilities
  • School Groups
  • Teens
  • Veteran/Active Duty Military Personnel
  • Youth-At-Risk

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National
  • International

Media Gallery

Dancer Matthew Cumbie is resting his face on Tom Truss's hands as he is making the shape of  a window.  Both are looking out the window
Tom Truss cradling Matthew Cumbies head
Still of final images in ReWRitten. Matthew Cumbie gesturing with his arm across his throatin the barn with video projections on the barn door
Tom Truss as Nathaniel Hawthorne in ReWritten in a field

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Professional Associations

Professional Associations:

  • American Society of Alexander Technique Teachers
  • Equity Memebrs Candidate
  • Alpha Kapa Phi

Professional Associations

Professional Associations:

  • American Society of Alexander Technique Teachers
  • Equity Memebrs Candidate
  • Alpha Kapa Phi

Awards

Awards:

  • Best Actor - Austin Critics Table Awards (The Idiot)
  • Third Place Maryland State Choreography Competition (Phototaxis)
  • Best Choreography Austin Critics Table Awards (Hair)
  • Best Actor (nominee) B Iden Payne Awards (The Idiot)
  • Best Original Script, examiner.com (re:PSYCHE)
  • Best Featured Actor, examiner.com (re:PSYCHE)
  • Gala selection American College Dance Festival (Waiting)
  • Best Production, Austin Critics Table Awards(choreographer) (OKLAHOMA!)

Education

Education:

  • Master of Fine Arts in Acting, Univeristy of Texas at Austin
  • Master of Fine Arts in Choreography, Univeristy of Iowa
  • Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, College of Wooster

Special Designations

Special Designations:

  • NEFA Grant Recipient

Designated Arts Community:

  • Massachusetts Cultural District Member - Great Barrington Cultural District

Artist Info

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • Corporate Business
  • Healthcare Facility
  • Private Studio
  • School / University

Ages Served:

  • Pre-Kindergarten-age
  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults
  • Seniors

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Communications
  • Arts Integration - English Language / Literacy
  • Arts Integration - Health
  • Arts Integration - History and Social Science
  • Arts Integration - Mathematics
  • Arts Integration - Physical Education
  • Arts Integration - Science / Technology / Engineering
  • Dance
  • Media
  • Music
  • Theater

Certifications and Training:

  • Hammond Voice Teacher Certification
  • American Society of Alexander Technique
  • Equity Member Candidate
  • Margolis Method
  • Viewpoints

Fee range:

$85 - $250 a class/workshop

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • Corporate Business
  • Healthcare Facility
  • Private Studio
  • School / University

Ages Served:

  • Pre-Kindergarten-age
  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults
  • Seniors

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Communications
  • Arts Integration - English Language / Literacy
  • Arts Integration - Health
  • Arts Integration - History and Social Science
  • Arts Integration - Mathematics
  • Arts Integration - Physical Education
  • Arts Integration - Science / Technology / Engineering
  • Dance
  • Media
  • Music
  • Theater

Certifications and Training:

  • Hammond Voice Teacher Certification
  • American Society of Alexander Technique
  • Equity Member Candidate
  • Margolis Method
  • Viewpoints

Fee range:

$85 - $250 a class/workshop

Touring Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • It depends on what I am doing. It ranges from chairs and a space to move (inside ro out) to a full theatre with standaard lighting and fly space

Fee Range:

minimum $250 a day as a solo artist and for each additional artist $250. This does not include, travel, housing, per diem

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

8