Stephen Koester in motion.

Sometimes the most important thing to know about a job is when to leave it. Stephen Koester not only understands that concept, but he also knows when to return.

Faculty member and director of graduate studies in the Department of Modern Dance at University of Utah, Koester picked up his sweats again after leaving dance in 1996. At 54, he is a revered teacher who also maintains a thriving non-academic career. Last season he received a national choreographic competition award from Utah's Repertory Dance Theatre and he has accepted commissions in places as exotic as Taipei.

But Koester's story really begins in New York City where, in 1980, he and fellow dancer Terry Creach were taking an eclectic mix of modern classes and performing with James Cunningham's Acme Dance Company. The two men decided to "put on a show" of their own, which fomented the 16-year collaboration, Creach/Koester. The all-male company mined the social, political, and physical implications of men dancing together. Frequently hard-hitting, at times tender, the priority was to explore movement and not exploit the sentiment.

Koester says he quit because "16 years of doing anything is a long time." Additionally, as co-director of the company, he felt the heavy burden of responsibility for other peoples' livelihoods. But more central to his dissatisfaction was realizing that the artistic collaboration with Creach was no longer working.

So, he and life-partner Bill Wagner (also a dancer who teaches ballet in the modern department at University of Utah) retired from dance to travel the world, finally settling in Montana to open a bed & breakfast. It wasn't long before Koester and Wagner recognized that their skill set didn't include running a service-oriented business--and they needed money. Fate intervened when they bumped into Phyllis Haskell in Bozeman. Haskell, chair of the dance department at the University of Utah, offered Koester a guest residency. That was in 1998, and by 2003 Koester became an associate professor of modern dance.

"I came back with a different perspective," Koester said. "I felt freer. As a single artist, I could more directly feel the effect of what I had to offer. I developed a more mature relationship with the art--an understanding that there is not an 'end all' success or failure."

"So in composition class I teach 'working,' " Koester says. "I don't teach 'How you make a dance,' but to ask 'What is a dance?' "

Even in technique class Koester doesn't teach a specific style. Instead, he gives a way to approach movement. "I teach what interests me. I teach who I am," he says. "Understanding the 'whys' of movement choices allows one style to be applied to any technique."

Dancer/choreographer Sofia Gorder graduated from the university in 2001 and continues to take Koester's professional classes in Salt Lake City. She describes his classes as a place where both student and teacher "treat the moment with careful delicacy." And yet, she says Koester doesn't hold the process sacred. "You are sure to laugh a little, feel silly or confused," she says. And whether you succeed or fail, "You'll think for a long time afterward."

"Technique class is a daily investigation," Koester says. "I come in with movement that I may not have all the answers about, that is new movement I create for myself every day. So I am studying my own technique. And the same goes for choreography and composition class. To those who are dancing with me, I show the struggle."