Thayer Jonutz performed as a full-time company member with Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) before moving to Michigan, immersing himself in both historical and contemporary works.  During the 5 seasons that Jonutz spent with RDT, some notable choreographers that he worked with were Douglass Dunn, Zvi Gotheiner, Daniel Nagrin, Bill Evans, Scott Rink, and Susan Hadley.  RDT afforded the opportunity to learn and perform choreography by seminal modern dance pioneers dating back to the mother of modern dance, Isadora Duncan.  Jonutz began his professorship position at Oakland University in 2009 and has taught modern dance technique, improvisation, composition, dance pedagogy, partnering and is the director of the student Repertory Dance Company.

Jonutz is a comprehensively trained McEntire Pilates instructor.  Since gaining this life altering knowledge in 2013, Jonutz has worked with a fascinating body of clients.  They have ranged from children to seniors, physical problems to neurological, chronic to acute pain, and novice to expert athlete.  This experience has enriched his skill as a teacher, as a creative and as an overall human.

Jonutz earned his BA in modern dance from Brigham Young University in 2003, and went on to accomplishing an MFA in Performance and Choreography from the University of Michigan in 2009.  Never satisfied, in response to the pandemic shutdown, Jonutz was inspired to fight for another University Degree.  Feeling called to become better equipped for lifelong caregiving for his Autistic twin boys, Jonutz graduated with an Oakland University Accelerated Nursing Degree December of 2022.

As an educator and artist Jonutz has been and still believes strongly in a variety of influences.  Always open to new collaborative relationships, Jonutz strives to continually stretch as well as challenge his comfort zone.  His current multiyear creative process on the solo concert Hammer and Nail has pushed Jonutz outside the typical modern dance aesthetic and has merged acting, vocalization, sound engineering and integrative props to tell his pandemic survival narrative. Since the premier of Hammer and Nail spring 2022, Jonutz has been honored to have presented his work in many different settings.  The most prestigious was being selected by Oakland University to be the first SMTD President’s Colloquium recipient, where Jonutz performed his research December 2023.   Adding to his extensive international credits, was the opportunity to translate the script of Hammer and Nail into the Spanish language and perform it in Costa Rica summer of 2024.  Hammer and Nail was a huge catalyst for Jonutz achieving the rank of Full Professor at Oakland University in 2026.

Jonutz was honored to have been selected for The Center For Latter-Day Saint Arts, The Artists Residency at the Center, September 2025 in New York, where he partially created Scorched. The final scene was profoundly inspired by the tragic LDS Grand Blanc Michigan attack that ended with human casualties and the church building burned to the ground. The premier of Scorched was utilized as a benefit concert that raised money for the Grand Blanc LDS church victims and first responders, November 2025.

His newest work Out of the Ashes, combines Hammer and Nail and Scorched into one continuous multimedia immersive work. Jonutz is honored to present Out of the Ashes as part of RDT’s 60^th anniversary March of 2026, teaming up with longtime collaborator and multimedia composer Jon Anderson.