From Rural Minnesota to Global Dance Scholar: Dr. Shantel Ehrenberg (Dance 1992)

April 8, 2026

For Dr. Shantel Ehrenberg (Dance 1992), a simple flyer handed out in a small-town classroom sparked a life-changing decision.

“I just remember thinking, could I really do this?” she said, recalling her time at (the now closed) Appleton High School in west-central Minnesota. “And that was it.”

Shantel Ehrenberg (Dance 1992) photographed in 1991 in the Perpich Dance Studio, second from the right

Shantel arrived at Perpich (then Minnesota Center for Arts Education [MCAE]) as part of its second-ever class—the self-proclaimed “betas”—and quickly found herself immersed in a level of artistic training and opportunity she hadn’t previously imagined. “Without Perpich, I don’t think I would imagine myself in those spaces,” she said. “It expanded my mind about what dance was, what the arts were, and my access to it.”

Though the transition wasn’t always easy. Shantel remembers running out of an early ballet class in tears, an experience that proved transformative. “The dance training I got was just so good,” she said, pointing to the influence of Mary Harding, Dance Instructor. “She created an environment where dance was bigger than just movement. It was about connection, ideas, and being taken seriously.”

Shantel Ehrenberg (Dance 1992) (left) with Mary Harding, Perpich Dance Instructor

She credits much of that growth to Mary’s approach in the studio. “It wasn’t just about technique,” she said. “It was about connecting students to people, thinking socially and politically about dance, and being taken seriously at that age. That was really important.”

After graduating in 1992, she pursued dance at Rutgers University before completing her degree at New York University’s Gallatin School, where she designed her own interdisciplinary program. A decade in New York’s contemporary dance scene followed, marked by both creative exploration and financial challenges.

Eventually, she found renewed purpose in the emerging field of dance science. That discovery led her to advanced study in the U.S. and the U.K., including a fully funded PhD, and ultimately to a career that bridges choreography, neuroscience, health, and education. Today, she teaches and conducts research at Texas A&M University.

Her work doesn’t fit neatly into one category, and that’s by design. “I don’t fall neatly into any of those,” she said. “My background crosses dance, science, health, choreography.”

She credits her time at MCAE with laying the foundation for that interdisciplinary approach. “The arts are a form of intelligence,” she said. “We held them to the same regard as academics, and that stays with you.”

Ehrenberg (right) works with current Perpich Dance students with Mary Harding in the Perpich Dance Studio

Beyond technical training, she emphasized the school’s broader impact: fostering independence, creativity, and a willingness to take risks. “It gave me stages,” she said. “I don’t know if I would have taken that next step without it.”

Returning to the MCAE/Perpich campus in March, 2026 to work with Mary Harding’s current dance students, she was struck by both the familiarity and the continued evolution of the school. “It just brought memories back,” she said. “And I was really impressed by the space being held for students; not just as artists, but as people.”

Even now, Shantel sees echoes of that experience in her own work. “Mary’s approach to dance—balancing rigor with care and curiosity—has stayed with me,” she said. “That idea that dance is knowledge, that it matters, really shaped how I teach and research today.”

Her message to prospective students and families is simple: the value of an arts education extends far beyond the stage.

“Even if you’re not in the arts forever, you gain so much,” she said. “The way you think, the way you collaborate—that applies to everything.”

Dr. Shantel Ehrenberg poses with the visual art that was created for a dance piece she choreographed and performed in 1992. The art piece has been on display in the Perpich Dance Studio for decades.

And for her, it all started with a question, and the courage to say yes.

Dr. Shantel Ehrenberg is a dance researcher and practitioner. She is currently Assistant Professor in Dance at Texas A&M University’s College of Performance, Visualization, & Fine Arts (PVFA). She has held positions across the UK and USA, including serving as Higher Education Programme Leader at Dance City/University of Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Lecturer (B/Assistant Professor) at the University of Surrey, Guildford. She has also held positions at Trinity Laban, Bath Spa University, and the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Shantel’s career as a researcher and practitioner, working internationally and between theory and practice, has been an accumulative, impassioned pursuit.