Michael Sokoloff

SOKOLOFF

Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 7/12/2023 at 11:49:48

Michael Sokoloff passed away, Sunday, June 25, 2023 after a short illness and a long stretch of Parkinson’s.

Michael was always thinking, imagining, creating. Growing up on the east coast, he would regularly lead the neighborhood kids off on some fantastical quest. Like the pied piper, or as the parents would say – the ringleader. For the rest of his life, he would embody that character, like Pan, Puck, or Satyr, there was always a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and he was always ready for the festivities.

He was sent off to Hackley School as a fractious teenager, where similarly his yearbook is peppered with notes from classmates and teachers alike recalling all his antics. While at Hackley he befriended the son of a famous actress, and further fueled his love of performance while scampering around backstage on Broadway. He started college the way he started everything, by orchestrating a cross-country road trip with friends to Tucson where the University of Arizona said “No”. Back in his natal state Michael formalized his love of performance as well as his love for his future wife, Carol. His grades went up and hers went down.

Returning to Iowa, baby in tow, after getting his Master’s degree in film at NYU, Michael was a member of the newly formed CNPA, Center for the New Performing Arts, and within a few years of plumping up his resumé with various gigs around the Midwest, Michael got a job at The University of Texas. It was there that he formed the Michael Sokoloff Dance Ensemble, boldly changing the local modern dance scene. However, Michael was never quite satisfied…and so after a few years he tried relocating the ensemble to San Francisco. During that time Michael began training in stage combat, which eventually led to a position at Indiana University. That move saw him nabbing a regular stint at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. It was also at Indiana, where Michael evolved his performance art, with his work entitled “A Theatre Piece” including the unforgettable song “Big boys from Indiana”.

Still restless, Michael returned to NYC, many headshots ensued. A fun time was had by all, but it was not the career-changing move he had hoped for. As an interim break he “chaperoned” his 16-year-old daughter and her 16-year-old best friend on the 1985 edition of “Girls Gone Wild” where he was reunited with both of his brothers in Spain. Fun is fleeting and reality is omnipresent, so at summer’s end it was back to Iowa.

Michael was not made for the Ivory Tower, but it enabled him to go to new cities to ply his trade. Chicago was the next stop, thanks to a position in the DePaul University Theater School. Chicago’s theater scene was still the younger sibling of NYC, but the abundance of opportunity provided a place for Michael to thrive. The storefront theater scene allowed Michael to work on interesting and alternative theater with interesting and alternative folk. Staging movement and fight scenes for productions at the Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf paid the bills. Around the time he was teaching at Roosevelt University, Michael hooked up with National Pastime Theatre. Soon he was creating piece after piece, each one more outrageous and physical than the next.

Time marches on and Michael returned to Iowa City where he entered a mutually beneficial relationship with Riverside Theatre. There he created Walking the Wire and was given the space and freedom to continue evolving his own work with late night shows. After Y2K in the early oughts, Michael started experiencing the silent symptoms of Parkinson’s, slurred speech and anosmia, coupled with a past, undiagnosed, history of REM behavior disorder, all of which led to an official diagnosis around 2006. A heavy load for a person who lived their life physically. Not surprisingly he carried it well and directed his efforts toward writing. Always still dancing, mostly still smiling, and the twinkle in his eyes never faded.

Michael was preceded in death by his parents, brother Steven, and wife Carol. He is survived by baby brother John and daughter Greta.

We will leave you with one of Michael’s many favorite poems:

Ed è subito sera by Salvatore Quasimodo, 1942.
Ognuno sta solo sul cuor della terra
trafitto da un raggio di sole:
ed è subito sera.

[Everyone stands alone at the heart of the world
pierced by a ray of sunlight:
and suddenly it is evening.]

At this time, services will be held at a later date. If you are so inclined, memorial donations can be made to United Action for Youth (https://www.unitedactionforyouth.org/donate), PS1 (http://www.publicspaceone.com/support), or CSPS (https://cspshall.org/donate) – or your favorite local theatre/performance space.

Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
 

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