Patrick Scully

Patrick Scully, Founder of Patrick’s Cabaret. Circa 1985 – 2020. Photo courtesy of Patrick Scully.

Patrick Scully is a Minneapolis-based theater and dance artist, playwright and choreographer. Patrick’s most current project is Leaves of Grass—Illuminated, focusing on Walt Whitman. Patrick has twice received a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to take this show on tour to 24 Minnesota communities from 2017 to 2019.

Patrick is well known for work ranging from large-scale group works to solo work. Patrick’s most well-known works include a Ballet for Boats for fifty boats, done to great critical acclaim in Minneapolis (2015) and Potsdam, Germany (2010). Patrick’s highly acclaimed solo projects, more intimate and often autobiographical, have included works ranging from Too Soon Lost (1990) to Thrive! (2010).

Patrick began dancing in 1972 as a college first-year student at the University of Minnesota. In 1976 Patrick co-founded Contactworks, a Minneapolis-based dance collective focused on contact improvisation, which led to dancing with Remy Charlip and Remy’s Ten Men show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival in 1984. Patrick toured Boston, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, New York and Berkeley, CA. Eventually, Patrick returned to Minneapolis to focus on creating his work and developing Patrick’s Cabaret.

Patrick received numerous awards and special recognition as an artist, including McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowships, Minnesota State Arts Board Individual Artist Grants, the Sage Award, a special citation for lifetime contributions to dance in Minnesota, a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship, the Sally Award, the Vision in the Arts in the Twin Cities award and the Minnesota Composers’ Forum commission. In addition to his performing work, Patrick founded and was the longtime director of Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis.

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