Andrew Merrell is a queer, thirty something, SF bay-area transplant, having originally spent time in the burb life of SoCal. He holds a BA in Dance from California State University Long Beach and a MFA in Dance Creative Practice from Saint Mary’s College. Andrew has danced professionally with Keith Johnson and Dancers, Holly Johnston’s Ledges and Bones, Rogelio Lopez and Dancers, Catherine Galasso, Abigail Hosein’s ahdanco, Nina Haft and Co, Davalos Dance, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Paufve/Dance, Rebecca Johnson and collaborators Nol Simonse and Christy Funsch. He currently teaches dance at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and at Saint Mary’s College. Andrew has presented his own work with dance collective Stranger Lover Dreamer as well as under his own name throughout the SF bay-area. He has been commissioned to choreograph works for several universities and high school/youth ensembles. His choreographic work seeks to speak the truth about the life he leads, from the everyday emotional struggles to the esoteric questions that haunt him. He attempts to play back the world he sees around him, whether they are political constructs he rails against, or the ever-pervading pop-culture nonsense of which he partakes. His work is grounded in personal inquiry in an attempt to place, discover, understand, empathize, grow, and yet hardly ever, make sense of. Andrew feels lucky and grateful to continue to live the dancer/choreographer/teacher life, collaborating/performing/creating dance art.