Rena Butler ’11

Based in New York, Rena Butler ’11 is originally from Chicago, IL.

She has danced with fellow Purchase alum Kyle Abraham’s Abraham.In.Motion (recently rebranded as simply A.I.M.), David Dorfman Dance, Mettin Movement, as a guest artist with Luna Negra Dance Theater, and for Manuel Vignoulle-M/Motions. 

Butler has been featured in FORMA magazine, “Refinery29.com,” The Dance Enthusiast, Jordan Matter’s Dancers Among Us and Dance Magazine. She began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts; she studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts.

Her choreographic work has been featured on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater School’s BFA students, The Joffrey Ballet School in New York, in the Young Choreographer’s Festival in NYC, and CHTV Stories television program in Switzerland. Rena is a dancer, artistic collaborator, and choreographer based in New York.

Butler earned a 2019 Princess Grace choreography fellowship with Hubbard Street and in 2021 was named Gibney Company’s first ever choreographic associate.

Butler returned to Purchase during the fall 2018 season as a guest artist for the Purchase Dance Company.

Read Rena Butler: The Epitome of Contemporary Cool in Dance Magazine.