TOM TRUSS (he/him) lives in Great Barrington and straddles the worlds of community based artist/educator, professional dancer and actor, deviser of work and cashier.  Current role with WAM: MisCast Cabaret singer. WAM Theatre: The Thanksgiving Play. Selected Performance Credits Elsewhere: Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange (‘89-’93), Tom Truss Dance Company (‘94-’01), Community Artist at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (‘94-’99), Pappa Taramuhara, Tokyo, Japan (‘03-’04).  Creative Inspiration: Tom finds the best way to deal with life and understand how it works is to make art about it, walk in nature or sit in his bathtub. Community Engagement/Activist Work: Through Berkshire Pulse, Tom teachers classes for the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts and a class called Moving Life Stories for Immigrants and their Allies in Berkshire County.  Membership/Affiliations: American Society of Alexander Technique, Phi Kappa Phi, Equity Member Candidate. Selected Training: MFA in Acting from the University of Texas, MFA in Choreography from the University of Iowa, Bachelor of Music degrees in Piano Performance from the College of Wooster, AmSAT certification from The Berkeley Alexander Educational Center.  Awards/Proudest Achievements: ongoing development of ReWritten, an evening-length multimedia work that examines the relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne; 2022 New England New Works Grant for ReWritten; surviving Covid by creating a podcast called Ask Your Gay Uncle with his nephew Ben Palacios. Final Word: If we applied the creative, kinesthetic and reflective knowledge that somatic dancers have to conflicts, world problems, the military and prison complexes, inequalities, and social injustices, our world would be massively different. Connect: @Makerbakershaker.