Education
- BFA, Boston Conservatory, United States, 2016
Biography
Ian Berg is a Boston-based tap dancer originally from Chicago, Illinois with training and performance experience in tap dance, ballet, modern dance, jazz, and contact improvisation. In high school, Ian trained at the Joffrey Academy in Chicago while also dancing with renowned Chicago based tap company MADD Rhythms. Ian is also an alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow and the Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance. Ian also has a MM from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute at Berklee College of Music. Ian is a current student of master tap dancer Dianne Walker, teacher of the Leon Collins Repertoire and has studied with master jazz musicians like Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Joe Lovano.
Ian is currently an affiliate professor at Emerson College and Mount Holyoke College as well as a guest lecturer at Tufts University teaching tap dance practice and history. He has received recognition as a choreographer from The Yard where he was named a 2019 Bessie Schonberg Fellow, The Boston Foundation where he was named a 2019 Next Steps Awardee and The Massachusetts Cultural Council who named him a 2020 Choreography Fellow. Ian has received recognition as a composer from South Arts, winning the 2025 Jazz Roads Creative Residency Fellowship.
Since founding "Subject:Matter" in 2015, the company has created and performed almost 20 different pieces in over 50 different venues across the East Coast, Midwest and Canada. Venues include: Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Inside/Out Stage at Jacob's Pillow, Joe's Pub in New York City, House of Blues Boston, Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, The Montreal Fringe Festival, Stage 773 in Chicago, Illinois and a residency at MASS MoCA. "Subject:Matter" has released two albums in 2024 and 2025 titled "Songbook" and "With Far Hand". They will release their next, yet to be titled, album in 2026.
Ian is currently an affiliate professor at Emerson College and Mount Holyoke College as well as a guest lecturer at Tufts University teaching tap dance practice and history. He has received recognition as a choreographer from The Yard where he was named a 2019 Bessie Schonberg Fellow, The Boston Foundation where he was named a 2019 Next Steps Awardee and The Massachusetts Cultural Council who named him a 2020 Choreography Fellow. Ian has received recognition as a composer from South Arts, winning the 2025 Jazz Roads Creative Residency Fellowship.
Since founding "Subject:Matter" in 2015, the company has created and performed almost 20 different pieces in over 50 different venues across the East Coast, Midwest and Canada. Venues include: Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Inside/Out Stage at Jacob's Pillow, Joe's Pub in New York City, House of Blues Boston, Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, The Montreal Fringe Festival, Stage 773 in Chicago, Illinois and a residency at MASS MoCA. "Subject:Matter" has released two albums in 2024 and 2025 titled "Songbook" and "With Far Hand". They will release their next, yet to be titled, album in 2026.