Choreography + Creative
After graduating in 2008, Hostetler received a BA in Dance from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. As a dancer, Hostetler had the opportunity to perform professionally for Prince, Motion City Soundtrack, 3rd Eye Girl, Best Buy, Target, Threads Dance Project, B96 Radio, and the MN Opera.
In more recent years, Hostetler has pursued a career in commercial choreography, having choreographed international tours for Lizzo and Har Mar Superstar as well as music videos, shows, and live events for Noah Cyrus, Remo Drive, Weird Al Yankovic, Big Cats, Dessa, Lizzo, Har Mar Superstar, Duckwrth, Afghan Whigs, Poliça, Grrrl Prty, Little Scream, and The New Pornographers. Hostetler has also received notable commissions from The Weismann Art Museum, Walker Art Center, MSP Airport, Island Records, and Bon Iver’s Eaux Claires Festival. As he shared, “While I’m so grateful for my foundation in the classical dance world, I enjoy taking dance outside of the proscenium stage and reaching diverse audiences through collaborations in the music industry. Music videos and live tours make dance accessible to people of all walks of life.”
In 2014, Hostetler spent ten months in China teaching, directing, and writing curriculum for a new dance & theatre program at Hangzhou’s most prestigious high school. As he explained, “With a clear priority on academics in China, the majority of the students in my dance program had less than two years of dance training, and for the ones that did, it was only in traditional Chinese dance forms. The language barrier was a huge hurdle as my Chinese language skills are very minimal, but it was incredible how much teaching and choreographing I was able to do without a lot of verbal communication, a true testament to the power of dance. I’m forever grateful to PiM for seeing a squirrelly teenage boy and turning him into a dance professional.”
