In the Spotlight | Katie Bruckbauer — Central Cass

In our mission to support Central Cass students in the arts, our “In the Spotlight” series aims to showcase alumni deserving recognition.

Katie (Bresnahan) Bruckbauer | Central Cass Class of 1976
Dancer, Choreographer, Poet

For nearly 50 years, Katie Bruckbauer has secured an established career as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. Integrating many of the arts, Bruckbauer took inspiration from the visual and literary arts and musical styles from all over the world.

“I love encouraging and bringing forth the creativity in my students as we explore the elements and building blocks of dance—body, energy, space, and time.”

In addition to dance, Katie has always loved to write poetry. She recalls keeping a journal in Mrs. Olson’s 9th grade English class at Central Cass, something she found inspirational and enjoyable. She wrote countless skits, raps, and tributes to family and friends over the years. In reflection, Katie shared, "I think my background in dance has a direct influence on my writing. I love to play with the symbols and sounds, rhythm and rhyme, subtleties and surprises of word in verse form. As I have aged, I have found poetry to be a healing avenue for exploring the complexities, questions, hardships, joys and beauty of life.”

In 2024, Bruckbauer published her first book of poetry, Time to Soar: Word Dances and Bird Songs for Every Season. This book was a collaboration with her cousin and Central Cass alum, Mary Jo (Sinner) Savageau, of Bismarck. Mary Jo illustrated the book and also was the technical brains behind it all—formatting the book for printing and designing the website. Bruckbauer’s book is available on Amazon.com and WordDances.com.

As an extension to the book, Katie created a dance performance with another cousin and Central Cass alum, Barb (Sinner) Wieland, that features choreography set to select poems from the book. Word Dances: Poetry in Motion has been performed in several cities in North Dakota and Minnesota. The literary and dance program is available for hire. See WordDances.com for more information.

At the age of 10, Katie began taking dance lessons from Renee Moos, in her small garage in Casselton. “Renee was my first dance teacher, and I am grateful to her for instilling the love of dance within me.” She was also instrumental in assisting Katie and Barb with teaching dance while they were in high school. “I remember going to track practice and then running a few blocks away to Mitzi Moos's home to teach dance to children. We spent a good deal of time planning lessons, choreographing dances and creating costumes.”

According to Katie, she was quite active in sports in high school—basketball, cheerleading and track. At the time, she didn't feel like she had the time for choir or band, but regrets it now. She participated in the visual arts and theater and took piano lessons from Vi Ratchenski. She admits that piano recitals were very nerve wracking!

“I wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity while I had it to develop those skills and gain greater musical knowledge and confidence in high school.” Katie also enjoyed performing in the junior and senior plays and choreographing and dancing for the variety shows in the spring. She enjoyed creating and participating in elaborate skits for the homecoming coronation.

“While I value the time spent in sports, the arts are what have really stayed with me and continue to feed me.”

“While I value the time spent in sports, the arts are what have really stayed with me and continue to feed me. I encourage every student to take advantage of what is offered in high school and then to keep enriching your life with the arts beyond high school, whether you make a career of it or not. The arts bring beauty, connection, and meaning to our lives and to our souls. They are not an addition to life. They are an essential!”

Bruckbauer graduated from the College of St. Benedict in 1980 with a degree in Liberal Studies and a Modern Dance Emphasis. Following graduation, she joined Mahkahta Dance Theatre in Fargo, ND where she was a modern dance performer and instructor of modern dance and creative movement. In 1990, Bruckbauer opened 8th Street Studio of Dance along with partners Barb Wieland and Leah Fujimoto. She taught there for over 20 years.

Katie has led a small music group at church for over 40 years—playing guitar, conga drums and singing. She always connected her dance to her spirituality and faith by incorporating dance into liturgical services at church for many years. She continues to work with school children at Nativity School in Fargo, choreographing dances for their school Advent program.

For 43+ years, Katie has been married to Mike Bruckbauer. They have three adult children who have all incorporated the arts into their lives—Kellie sings, plays guitar for church and teaches preschool; Philip plays guitar and sings in King Sage, an indie/folk duo in Fargo. He also taught guitar in Casselton for 5th quarter classes; Danny is a potter and singer/songwriter in LA. Katie and Mike live next door to their three grandchildren and are excited to be a part of their sporting and artistic endeavors for many years to come!