Margot Toppen
Testimonial
It was an excellent program. I wanted to let you know that afterwards, an audience member told me that it was the best program she ever saw in Town Square. We've had over 200 programs in Town Square.Allison Bies, Schaumburg Township District LibrarySample Work
Artist Discipline: Dance
Artist Bio
Margot McGraw Toppen is a dance educator, choreographer and performer who in recent years has dedicated herself to historical jazz dances as well as the many genres that fall under the umbrella of ballroom dance. She directs Dancing with Class, the youth outreach arm of May I Have This Dance, Inc. Margot has danced live on stage with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and is a featured instructor as part of the City of Chicago's SummerDance series. Her choreography has been featured twice in Dance Chicago and she has a number of screen credits including "The Road to Perdition." Margot began studying ballet and jazz at age 5 and continued her classical training through college, where she was an active member of Northwestern University's Grafitti Dancers.
Artist Statement
Dance is a basic human instinct; it's the way our bodies interpret the rhythm of the world around us. Rock musician David Byrne says, "to shake your rump is to be environmentally aware."
Indeed. My pursuit of dance is guided by a fascination with the sociological aspects of movement. I find myself insatiably curious about how and why dance exists in communities both today and throughout history. To know a dance is to speak a language, to know many dances is to be multi-lingual.
Educational Philosophy
My residencies are designed to take students on global adventures as they study current and historical dances from the United States and around the world. I generally focus on social and folk forms, emphasizing the role dance plays in society as a form of expression, release, and communication. My teaching methodology provides students an opportunity to find joy in movement while they explore new places and build relationships with one another.