Simon Dove will succeed Davidson at Dancing in the Streets

Simon Dove
(photo: Simon Dove)

Aviva Davidson, outgoing Executive and Artistic Director of Dancing in the Streets, has announced her successor--Simon Dove, former Director of the School of Dance at Arizona State University. Dove will take the helm of the South Bronx-based organization on January 1, 2016.

Davidson calls Dove "a visionary arts leader," one well-positioned to continue and build upon the relationships and collaborative projects she has established--such as the South Bronx Culture Trail with Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education--while forging new local and international collaborations.

Founded in 1984 by Elise Bernhardt and noted for site-specific and community-oriented projects, Dancing in the Streets moved its headquarters to the South Bronx in 2011.

“The organization has an impeccable history of creating compelling performance work in vibrant community settings around New York City, as well as providing important platforms for many of the city’s own Urban art forms," says Dove. "I look forward to broadening and deepening this work; developing new projects that can engage the diversity of New York’s communities, further artists’ creative practices in community contexts, and showcase the power, vitality and importance of urban cultures.”

Simon Dove is an experienced arts leader, curator and educator, and currently co-curator of Crossing the Line, the annual trans-disciplinary fall festival in New York City. He was Professor of Practice and Director of the School of Dance at Arizona State University from 2007 to 2012. Simon Dove was Artistic and Executive Director of Springdance, the international festival of new developments in dance and performance in the Netherlands from 2000 to 2007. Prior to that he ran one of the first National Dance Agencies in the U.K, the Yorkshire Dance Centre in Leeds, was the founder and Artistic Director of Vivarta – the first contemporary South Asian performance festival in the U.K. He contributed
to national dance policy development with the Arts Council of Great Britain, and programmed an innovative arts centre in London. He has also written for the Performance and South Asian press, devised and presented a series for BBC Radio 3 on Dance and Music, and extensively mentored students and professional artists from many countries in developing their creative practice.

For more information on Dancing in the Streets, click here.