Meet our Founding Artistic Director

Megan Brandel comes from a family of kind, creative, motorcycle riding welders.  She does with dance what her mom does with acrylic and watercolor paints - and what her grandmas did with wit, poetry, bread dough, and potato lefsa.  These facts remain the best explanations for her creative tendencies and relational instincts. Megan believes everyone’s creative voice matters and she values meaningful human connections.  She first developed her love of dance with Kathy Lee and she has deep gratitude for every teacher, colleague, and collaborator - continuing today, who helps her nurture this love.

Megan earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Modern Dance choreography and performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005, graduating with distinction and studying under recently awarded Guggenheim Fellow, Michelle Ellsworth.  She has also trained extensively in tap, jazz, ballet, and Integrated Dance, studied Elementary and Special Education and is a certified yoga instructor.  

As an artist, Megan is the recipient of an Alexa Rose Foundation grant supporting her year-long study with Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute (2020/21) and was an Artist in Residence at Surel’s Place (October 2020). To enrich her teaching of all dancers, including those with disabilities, Megan has trained in Brain-Compatible Dance Education with Anne Green Gilbert (2012), Integrated Dance with Jurg Koch (2013), the Dance for Parkinson's Disease program (2014), the AXIS Dance Company Integrated Dance Summer Intensive (2016), and an adaptive dance teacher training in Sun Valley led by Boston Ballet (2019).  

Through teaching creative movement, modern dance, and choreography at schools and community centers around Boise, Megan is strongly committed to reaching populations not typically involved in dance and helping them move in ways that are joyful, empowering, collaborative, and community building.  In 2008, funded by a grant from the Boise City Department of Arts and History, she founded Open Arms Dance Project, which is an expression of all she believes in as a person and artist – everyone deserves to create, connect with others, and be seen. Learn more about the origin of Megan’s beliefs and philosophies in this Creators, Makers, & Doers blog, with interview and photos by Brooke Burton.   

Megan has performed professionally with Idaho Dance Theatre, 3rd Law Dance/Theater (CO), Speaking of Dance (CO), and the University of Colorado Legacies project.  As a part of the Legacies project, Megan was honored to dance in the choreography of Martha Graham and Trisha Brown and perform these pieces in New York City.  Her own choreography was featured at the American College Dance Festival in March 2005.  Megan has also choreographed for University of Colorado Opera, Eagle Performing Arts Center, Balance Dance Company, and Open Arms Dance Project.