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Black Dance Stories

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ABDEL R. SALAAM

Artistic Director / Choreographer

Abdel R. Salaam is the Executive Artistic Director/Co-Founder of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre (FONDT) founded in 1981. Born in Harlem, New York, Abdel, is a critically acclaimed choreographer and in the past, served as a dancer, teacher and/or performing artist in five continents throughout his 49 year career in the Dance World. He has...

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Alice Sheppard

Dancer / Artist

Alice Sheppard took her first dance class in order to make good on a dare; she loved moving so much that she resigned her academic professorship in order to begin a career in dance. She studied ballet and modern with Kitty Lunn and made her debut with Infinity Dance Theater. After an apprenticeship, Alice joined AXIS Dance Company where...

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Amaniyea Payne

Freelance Artists / Former Artistic Director

Amaniyea (Pamela) Payne for over fifty years have built an impressive career and is a viable artistic force in the field of dance and is recognized for her many talents in the global dance communities as dancer, singer, consultant, researcher, director, mentor, producer, choreographer, arts educator, costume designer, healer and...

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Amy Hall Garner

Choreographer

is a native of Huntsville, Alabama, and a graduate of The Juilliard School. Her work has been praised internationally and commissioned by Ailey II, ABT Studio Company, Collage Dance Collective, The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, Barnard College, The University of the Arts, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Point Park University, and...

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Angie Pittman

Dance Artist / Dance Maker / Dance Educator

Angie Pittman is a New York based Bessie award-winning dance artist, dance maker, and dance educator. Her choreographic work has been performed at The Kitchen, Gibney Dance, BAAD! (BlaktinX Performance Series), Movement Research at Judson Church, Triskelion Arts, STooPS, The Domestic Performance Agency, The KnockDown Center(Sunday...

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Ann Williams

Founder

Ann M. Williams founded Dallas Black Dance Theatre in 1976. She is a founding member of the Dance Council of North Texas, the Advisory Board of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and The International Association of Blacks in Dance.

She received her early dance training under Barbara Hollis...

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Archie Burnett

Dancer / Ambassador / Teacher

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Bebe Miller

Dancer, CEO

Bebe Miller first performed her choreography at Dance Theater Workshop NYC in 1978. In 1985 she formed Bebe Miller Company to pursue her interest in finding a physical language for the human condition. She has collaborated with artists, composers, writers and designers along with the dancers who share her studio practice and from whom she...

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Bill T Jones

Artistic Director, Co-Founder, Choreographer

BILL T. JONES (Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Choreographer: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; Artistic Director: New York Live Arts) is the Associate Artist of the 2020 Holland Festival and recipient of the 2014 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award; the 2013 National Medal of Arts; the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors; a 2010 Tony Award for Best...

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Brooke Rucker

Artist | Arts Administrator

Brooke Rucker is a Brooklyn-based artist and arts administrator, specializing in dance. She began her arts training in her hometown Cartersville, GA and went on to earn her BFA in Dance at Florida State University in 2018. She has performed with Charles Anderson’s dance theatre X (2018-2019) and Gaspard & Dancers (2019) as a company...

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Camille A Brown

Director, Choreographer, Educator

Camille A. Brown is the 2020 Obie Award winner for Sustained Excellence in Choreography. She is a prolific Black female choreographer, who is reclaiming the cultural narratives of African American identity. Her bold work taps into both ancestral stories and contemporary culture to capture a range of deeply personal experiences. She is a...

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Chanon Judson Johnson

Artistic Director

Chanon Judson’s been growing with the acclaimed Urban Bush Women (UBW) since 2001, as performer and now Co-Artistic Director and Coordinator for BOLD, UBW’s facilitation network. She’s a director’s fellow with New Perspective Theatre and Chicago Director’s Lab. Projects include “The Invention of Tragedy” (choreographer,...

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Christal Brown

Mother | Artist | Educator | Disciple | Coach

CHRISTAL BROWN is the Founder of INSPIRIT, Project: BECOMING, the creator of the Liquid Strength training module for dance, an Associate Professor of Dance at Middlebury College, and the CVO of Steps and Stages, LLC. Brown is a native of Kinston, North Carolina, where she remembers accompanying her mother to NAACP meetings and performing...

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Cleo Parker Robinson

Founder | Artistic Director

CLEO PARKER ROBINSON is Founder and Artistic Director of the nearly 51-year-old Denver based CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE. As a master teacher/choreographer and cultural ambassador to both the national and international community, she leads an organization that encompasses the renowned Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, as well as Cleo II...

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Coco Killingsworth

Educator, Dancer, Organizer

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Colleen Jennings-Roggensack

Arts Leader | Visionary | Vice President

Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, arts leader and visionary is Vice President for Cultural Affairs for Arizona State University and Executive Director of ASU Gammage. She has artistic, fiscal and administrative responsibility for the historic Frank Lloyd Wright designed ASU Gammage, ASU Kerr Cultural Center, with responsibility for Sun Devil...

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Cortney Taylor Key

Dancer | Trainer | Teacher

CORTNEY TAYLOR KEY is a native of Charlotte, NC. Just shy of 3 years old Miss Key started taking ballet, tap and Jazz at Miss Donna’s school of Dance. Her training expanded under the instruction of Susan Thorsland Plaza Kim Hotchner and Chandra McCloud at The Northwest School of the Performing Arts middle and high school. She graduated...

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Cynthia Oliver

Choreographer,and Performance Artist

Cynthia Oliver is a Bronx born, Virgin Island reared, award-winning choreographer,and performance artist. Her ongoing research is in the areas of intersection between contemporary dance, feminism, black popular culture,and the expressive performances of Africans in the diaspora, with an emphasis on the performance in the Anglophone...

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Danelle Morgan

Professional Dancer

Danelle Morgan, a Highland Park, New Jersey native, is the AssistantChoreographer and Dance Caption for the Radio City Rockettes. She hasperformed as a Rockette for over 14 years in the Christmas SpectacularStarring the Radio City Rockettes. Other productions include the New YorkSpring Spectacular, choreographed by Tony Award winner,...

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Danni Gee

Dance Curator | Producer | Founder

Danni Gee has over 35 years of experience in the Arts and Entertainment industry. She has toured as a principal dancer with PHILADANCO! The Philadelphia Dance Company, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As a vocalist, she has performed with artists such as Kathy Sledge, of Sister Sledge fame, Gloria Gaynor, and Cher as well...

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Darrell Grand Moultire

Choreographer

A recipient of the Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award, Darrell Grand Moultrie has established himself as one of the most diverse and sought-after choreographers and master teachers. This past fall, American Ballet Theatre premiered Moultrie’s piece “Indestructible Light” as part of their ABT: Future Starts Now program....

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Davalois Victoria Fearon

Founder, Artistic Director, Executive Director

Davalois Fearon, is a critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, and educator. Born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx, Fearon founded Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD) in 2016 with the mission to push artistic and social boundaries. Her choreography, said to reflect a “tenacious virtuosity,” has been presented nationally and...

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David Rousseve

Artistic Director

DAVID ROUSSÈVE, is a choreographer/writer/director/performer, a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and a Guggenheim Fellow. His dance/theater company REALITY has performed throughout the UK, Europe, S. America, and the U.S including three commissions for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. Commissions...

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