Brenna Monroe-Cook
Brenna Monroe-Cook is a Lecturer in the CSULB Department of Dance. She teaches Modern and Ballet for both majors and non-majors, Modern Pedagogy and Composition.
Monroe-Cook holds a BFA from The Juilliard School and an MFA from the University of Washington with a focus on Educational Psychology in Dance Pedagogy.
Her early dance training was in Oak Park, Illinois at The Academy of Movement and Music under the direction of Stephanie Clemens. As a student, she performed extensively with the affiliated MOMENTA Performing Arts Company dancing in reconstructions of historical works by Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, Marius Petipa and Ruth St. Denis.
She received further training at the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance, the Boston Ballet School and the Joffrey Ballet School. In addition to her training in Modern, Ballet and Jazz, she has studied Flamenco and Argentine Tango.
Monroe-Cook was a principle dancer with the Limón Dance Company for ten years. With the Limón Company she toured internationally, performing and teaching the works of José Limón and Doris Humphrey along with repertoire by Rosie Herrera, Adam Hougland, Jiří Kylián, Susanne Linke, Lar Lubovitch, Donald McKayle, Kate Weare and others.
She has also performed in New York and Seattle with Angier Performance Works, Ashani Dances, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Catherine Cabeen and Company, Riedel Dance Theater, Seattle Dance Project, Subtle Changes, Inc., Thang Dao Dance Company and the University of Washington’s Chamber Dance Company.
In addition to teaching in the CSULB Department of Dance since 2019, Monroe-Cook has served on the faculties of Cornish College of the Arts, Cornish Preparatory Dance Program, Dance Fremont, Gibney Dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Peridance Center, University of Washington and Velocity Dance Center.
She has been a guest teacher at Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Lou Conte Dance Studio, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, North Carolina School of the Arts, Southeast Missouri State University, University of Florida, University of North Texas and Yale University.
Monroe-Cook has been a teacher and répétiteur for the Limón Institute for over seventeen years. Working across the US, Canada, Europe and Africa, she teaches Limón technique, lectures on the history of José Limón, reconstructs and stages Limón’s choreographic works and coaches dancers in performance technique.
She is a certified Pilates teacher through the Kane School of Core Integration and has taught as a licensed GYROKINESIS® instructor.
