Transcendence: Delight, Serenity, Exuberance

Tobin James is an adjunct professor of modern dance for the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). She holds a BFA in modern dance from the University of the Arts, an MA in higher education administration from UMKC, and a training certification from the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. Tobin is a former member of the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO), the Martha Graham Ensemble (Graham 2), and formerly a principal dancer and associate artistic director of Störling Dance Theater. She has performed works by notable choreographers Gene Hill Sagan, Louis Johnson, Yung Yung Tsuai, Pearl Lang, Mona Störling-Enna, Randall Flinn, Steve Rooks, and Martha Graham. She toured the U.S. for five seasons as the choreographer/featured dance artist with The Young Messiah and Emmanuel Tours, appeared in concert and video productions for gospel artists Ron Kenoly, Lynda Randle, and Cece Winans. Tobin is credited as co-choreographer and associate producer for Störling Dance Theater’s Underground, and has choreographed for Philadanco, Sight and Sound Theaters, Ballet Magnificat, Störling Dance Theater, Kansas City Youth Ballet, and the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. She has taught for the Kansas City Ballet School, The Culture House Academy of the Performing Arts and as a guest Teacher for Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. In 2020 Tobin launched The Pendleton Dance Project–a social issues-based dance initiative, and is a contributing author to the Journal of Dance Education’s Special Issue on Race and Dance Education.