A black woman with long dreadlocks is wearing a black sleeveless dress. She is suspended in the air in a double attitude jump, with her left and right arms placed in fourth position with palms facing outward. The background is blurred with shades of green and white colors.
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Maxine Montilus has served many roles in dance--performer, choreographer, administrator, writer, and educator. I asked her to focus this podcast episode on her experience and ideas as a passionate and imaginative dance teacher across ages and levels. It was a delight to listen to her, and I hope you will enjoy this, too!
Listen to her segment on Body and Soul podcast here.
Subscribe to Body and Soul for more.
Read below to learn more about Maxine.
Eva Yaa Asantewaa
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BIO: Maxine Montilus is a dance artist from Brooklyn, New York. As an educator, Maxine is currently a Visiting Professor in the Theatre and Dance department at Indiana University. She is also a principal facilitator and teaching artist with Camille A. Brown & Dancers’ EVERY BODY MOVE Community Engagement platform, and was recently an adjunct dance professor at both Hunter College and SUNY Old Wetsbury. She has also served as a teaching artist for Haiti Cultural Exchange, Caribbean Cultural Center Africa Diaspora Institute, and Opus Dance Theatre. From 2015-2018, she was a full-time dance teacher for the New York City Department of Education. Maxine has also served as an arts administrator in arts education, coordinating programs for public schools, studios and healthcare facilities at The Juilliard School, Marquis Studios and Dancewave. www.maxinemontilus.com/
DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve, at Gibney, as Senior Director of Curation and Editorial Director. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.
My
name is Dwana Adiaha Smallwood. I was a premier dancer with the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater from 1995 - 2007. I’ve been on the cover of
Dance Magazine three times. I’ve been featured in Essence Magazine and I
have been photographed by Annie Leibowitz for Vogue Magazine. I was
also featured and danced on The Oprah Show.
I
took everything I learned over my many years as a professional and
created a dance program in South Africa at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership
Academy for Girls. The program was designed for girls who needed
validation and opportunities to harness the power within, so they too
could exceed the expectations many have of black girls around the world.
With dance, I was able to create a sacred space for them; that same
space that saved me from the noise of the world to help me reach my
goals.
I
yearned to continue that work and to create a space for the community
that saved me but almost swallowed me whole. For Bedford-Stuyvesant
(still one of the most underserved communities in Brooklyn), I wanted
so desperately to be the answer to the prayer I often heard: “I wish I had a place to grow and to feel like I can be anything, do anything.”
So
in 2013, I founded and opened the Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts
Center in Bed Stuy Brooklyn, a state of the art facility which is a
place for artistic exchange that serves to empower and mold elite
dancers and artists to develop, grow and compete on the world’s stage.
Today I am writing to let you know that due to the COVID - 19 pandemic,
in about four months, we will have to shut our doors….
I
worked hard to create the space politicians said they needed, parents
said they wanted, and children said they had to have. I could only
imagine how many more of my community members would have had better
options had they had a center like mine, to help guide them and keep
them safe and provide validation to their lives. It wasn't easy to
build. I almost closed before we opened. Each year since, I’ve struggled
to keep the doors open and continued to offer opportunities to children
and the community to thrive, but COVID-19 has hit us hard like so many
other small arts institutions, and what I so dreaded, may actually be a
reality. All that I have worked for may not survive.
I
was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and have lived here my
entire life. When I think about my upbringing, I think I had a childhood
no different than anyone else in Bed Stuy. I had a single struggling
mother mostly -- we were fatherless mostly -- and I was Black always.
Somehow,
through struggle, prayers, tears, hard work, the Creator, and the
collective work of the community I was able to live my dream and travel
the world. To most elite athletes, we would consider this to be a huge
accomplishment; to make it out of millions dancing and training and
auditioning to become one of only two elite dancers chosen that year. I
was that girl; that black, bald, skinny, struggling girl who had made it
past the expectations placed on all little dark-skinned black girls by
the world.
The
Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center has been closed since March.
Due to NYC’s guidelines, we have not been allowed to open our doors even
to rent out space. We will close for good if we don’t raise money NOW. I
always wondered how something that means so much to so many and
requires so little from each of us, will be allowed to die.
It would be among the greatest failures of our community if we close.
The artshave
always been the answer when the healing of a nation is needed. If
and/or when this pandemic is over, the arts will be needed more than
ever to replenish, refresh and rejuvenate our communities, our children,
and their families.
The
intention of this letter is not to ask for money (although that would
be helpful and graciously accepted). I’m asking that you help me to sound the alarm.
I have reached out to media outlets, government officials and others
that I had hoped could help and some have, but in the world of fast news
cycles, this message has been lost; not just for my organization but
for many others like mine.
Please
pass this onto ANYONE you know or think can help get this message out
to the media (social, news, arts, entertainment...whatever). Any help
you can offer will be appreciated.
The collective healing of our nation is going to need the ARTS. Dance is My Oxygen!
Sincerely,
Dwana A. Smallwood Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center, Inc. dwanasmallwoodpac.org (718) 443 - 9800
******
DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve, at Gibney, as Senior Director of Artist Development and Curation and Editorial Director. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.
Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center, opened in 2014 by the former Alvin Ailey star, recently suffered a fire. No one was injured, and the intrepid Smallwood, her instructors and her students have returned to continue their essential work in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy community.
Why are dance, dance education and community important to Brooklyn and, especially, today's Bed-Stuy? Watch the above video, and read the DSPAC statement here.
And if you'd like to help Smallwood achieve her vision of owning rather than renting her space, please consider contributing to the DSPAC Building Fund. Contact DSPAC here to request information on how to donate.
Francesca Harper, the new Artistic Director
of Movement Invention Project®
(photo: Bale da Cidade)
Francesca Harper--an acclaimed multidisciplinary artist with extensive credentials in ballet, theater, film and arts education--has been named Artistic Director of Movement Invention Project® (MIP®), an immersive, contemporary dance summer program for dancers ages 18-23. Now in its tenth year, the three-week program was founded by New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble's artistic director, Nancy Turano, to support dancers in developing creative voice as well as skills in improvisation, collaboration and cutting-edge technology. Based in New York City, MIP® provides dancers with opportunities to work with a wide range of teachers, choreographers and mentors and take advantage of the resources of venues like Baryshnikov Arts Center and New York Live Arts.
(photo: Veranika Antanavich)
“I have known Francesca for 25 years, and watched her phenomenal career as a brilliant dancer, choreographer, director and mentor to countless dance artists," says Turano. "We are thrilled to welcome her as Artistic Director of MIP® 2018. She has a wealth of information to contribute, and creates a very positive and encouraging atmosphere that enables dancers to develop their own creative vision."
(photo: David Flores)
ABOUT FRANCESCA HARPER
Francesca Harper is an internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist. After being named Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performing at the White House, Francesca attended Columbia University studying philosophy and computer programming. She soon after joined the Dance Theater of Harlem’s Second Company and the main Company the following year. Francesca performed soloist roles with the company including the Hostess in Bronislova Nijinska’s Les Biches and as a Soloist in Swan Lake. She then began working with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt, where she was promoted to Principal. Performances included leading roles and pas de deux in Herman Schmerman, In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, and Loss of Small Detail, amongst others. While a member of Ballet Frankfurt, Francesca was chosen to perform with designers Issey Miyake and Gianni Versace in shows in Paris and Milan, and in Miyake’s film Dancing Pleats. As a member of Ballet Frankfurt, she choreographed her first full evening of work, Dark Violet Light Stone, commissioned by The Holland Dance Festival. A vocalist as well, Francesca was invited to record her first single, "Slow Groove," and self-produced her own album, Modo Fusion.
The vastness of her artistry and hunger soon led her to theater and film, working with Anna Deavere Smith on many projects, and to Broadway for productions including Fosse, The Producers, All Shook Up, The Frogs and the Tony nominated treasure The Color Purple. She was a featured performer in Zinnias – The Life of Clementine Hunter, directed by Robert Wilson, and toured Internationally with the production. Her TV appearances include Boardwalk Empire, David Letterman, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Francesca served as ballet consultant for the feature film Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky. Harper has choreographed works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Tanz Graz, Hubbard Street II, Dallas Black Dance Theater, and founded her own company The Francesca Harper Project in 2005.
Continuing to pursue her interest of technology and dance, Francesca received a Living History Award in 2013 during Black History Month from Long Island University, and the Innovation and Technology Award for her choreography for Fashion Week with designer Louis Vuitton. She also conceived, directed, choreographed, and produced the dance film M(y)ourstory: Chapter One that premiered at the Triskelion Dance Film Festival in 2017. Francesca was awarded a Fellowship at The Center for the Ballet and the Arts in 2017, as well as a Choreographic Fellowship from Urban Bush Women in 2017, supported by the Mellon Foundation. Her latest creations en pointe in 2017 for The Dance Theatre of Harlem in NYC and Bale da Cidade in Sao Paulo has received critical acclaim, being cited as “...revolutionary” by The Chicago Tribune, and possessing “...sensual beauty,” by The New York Times.
Francesca’s mother Denise Jefferson, director of The Alvin Ailey School for over 26 years and creator of the Ailey B.F.A program, served as an inspiration and mentor for Francesca’s teaching work and giving back to the community. Francesca’s one woman show based on the life of her mother, The Look of Feeling, premiered Off- Broadway in 2014 and was later performed at Impulstanze Festival, The Holland Dance Festival, and Germany’s The Colors Festival.
Harper enjoys her appointment as an adjunct professor at New York University, was an Associate Professor at Barnard College, and continues the vital role of teacher and choreographer for The Ailey School, Fordham University’s BFA Program, and the Susan Batson Studio. Francesca is a featured actress and singer in Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More each week at The McKittrick Hotel in New York City. She is grateful for the daily opportunity to do what she loves and is passionate about inspiring others to live their dreams.
No, these Barnard and Columbia dance students do not play. In several performances this weekend at New York Live Arts, they stepped up and nailed four demanding works--Sasha Waltz's Fantasie (2006), staged by Kevin Quinaou, and three world premieres by David Thomson, Joanna Kotze and Jennifer Archibald. And if yesterday's matinee left me absolutely sure I've seen enough of dancers running--Waltz, I'm looking at you in particular, though not exclusively--it also underscored the strengths of the Barnard College dance training. The quicksilver versatility, commitment and stamina of these young performers are impressive. As for the new works, I can say--again, with utmost certainty--that Archibald's Shades ruled the day. Dramatically lit by Tricia Toliver, it's the perfect hip hop video gone live at New York Live Arts, and some movement looks compelling simply because it's danced in unison, spread over and magnified by a mass of fourteen bodies. But the dancers bring everything into lasar-sharp focus. This one's worth a repeat. Presenters, I hope you're reading this! Worth a repeat.
Dance artist and educator Thelma Hill (photo courtesy of Clark Center NYC)
On Tuesday, November 17, Clark Center NYC and 651Artswill join forces at MOCADA in a symposium to honor the life and legacy of acclaimed dance educator Thelma Hill.
CCNYC Steering Committee member Jill Williams writes, "Thelma was one of the architects of Clark Center and a major influence and mentor."
Hill in the studio (photo courtesy of Clark Center NYC)
"Delores Brown who danced with Thelma in The New York Negro Ballet will moderate. She'll be joined by Otis Sallid who began studying with Thelma as a teenager and continues to work as a choreographer, producer (recently with the James Brown project, Get on the Good Foot at the Apollo Theater), Mickey Davidson who was a student of Thelma's at Clark Center and works as a dancer, choreographer and director of her own company and Kathe Sandler who will share her short documentary gem, Remembering Thelma."
For further information on the symposium and to purchase tickets, click here.
Daniel Levins teaching at Ballet Tech
(photo: Jim Varriale)
My gratitude to Audrey Ross for sharing this sad news on the passing of the multifaceted dance artist Daniel Levins.
***
DANIEL LEVINS (1953-2015)
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Daniel Levins of a lung infection on September 15, 2015 in New York City.Raised in the Adirondack Mountain area of New York State, Daniel began Irish and tap dancing lessons at age five, and initiated his performing career with a touring carnival at age nine. His dance studies continued in the Vaganova and Graham traditions at the High School of Performing Arts, and in the Cecchetti and Imperial Russian Ballet School traditions with Vincenzo Celli, Barbara Fallis, Vera Nemchinova, and Richard Thomas in NYC.
In 1969, at age fifteen, Levins became a charter member of Eliot Feld's American Ballet Company for its debut at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He joined American Ballet Theatre in 1971, where his versatility actuated leading roles in works by Tudor, Balanchine, de Mille, Robbins, Fokine, Ailey, Neumier and others, as well as the classics. Noted for his performances within the dramatic repertory, Mr. Levins rose to the rank of Principal Dancer at age eighteen.
Joining New York City Ballet in 1975, Levins danced under Balanchine and Robbins until a chronic knee condition forced his retirement from the ballet stage one year later.
Mr. Levins also appeared in films, TV and stage productions, including Turning Point, Grease, Red Badge of Courage, Goodbye Girl, The Waltons, and Street Scene with New York City Opera. He choreographed musical theater productions of Miss Liberty and Bloomer Girl for Goodspeed Opera House, Brimstone for Stockbridge Theater and the workshops of Hal Prince and Musical Theater Works, and directed and choreographed productions for the Smithsonian Institute, the King Cole Loves Broadway series at the St. Regis hotel as well as Off-Broadway productions of Oh Boy!, The Gorey Details and Amphigorey, which received an Obie nomination for best musical. His ballets have appeared in the repertories of American Ballet Theater, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Universal Ballet, Seoul Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, and Ballet's Galaxy of Stars.
Mr. Levins began his teaching career in 1974 at Barbara Fallis and Richard Thomas' New York School of Ballet, and has taught and coached for ballet companies and schools, universities and colleges, as well as Broadway music theatre productions. He was a longtime master teacher at Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech, which remarked that "he imbued generations of students with his passion for the rigor, technique, epaulement, elegance and continuity of classical ballet. Yes, part of him goes on in those he trained."
Choreography by LeeSaar The Company, Blood (2015) (photo: Jaqlin Medlock)
Applications are now being accepted for the newMFA in Dance at Rutgers University--a program full of vision, goals and flexible scheduling, including off-campus thesis research. First required audition will take place in Philadelphia on Sunday, October 25, 2015.
Arguably one of the most influential of the "ethnic" dance forms, Afro-Haitian dance has had a profound impact on hip hop, commercial dance, and a variety of modern dance forms. Join award-winning choreographer, ethnographer, dancer, teacher, and all-around powerhouse, Adia Tamar Whitaker, and musicians from her award-winning dance company, Àṣẹ Dance Theatre Collective, for two intense, joyful days immersed in Afro-Haitian dance and music.
Limited to 30 dancers. Tuition: $135 for the 8-hour intensive. Payment plans available. Low-cost housing for out-of-town participants available.
TIPDI (The International Partner Dance Intensive) is a series of workshop weekends and extended dance camps for adult dancers, based in New York City. Our full TIPDI program is a cross-training intensive, where dancers 18 and older take daily, leveled classes in all six dance forms offered--Argentine Tango, Ballet, West Coast Swing, Modern, Salsa, and Afro-Haitian dance, taught by world-class instructors. Over the course of our first three years, we've welcomed dancers from 12 states and 11 countries, ranging in age from 20-70.
The Dance Program at Sarah Lawrence College is seeking a new Director who is an accomplished teacher for our distinguished program in Dance. The successful candidate will be a prominent and active dance artist with proven achievement in choreography and performance, an established teaching practice and administrative experience. An advanced degree in the field is desired, or its professional equivalent. Familiarity with dance in a liberal arts curriculum for both undergraduate and graduate students is essential. Possibility of early tenure review. Starting date August 2016. Applicants should include the following: a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, and a brief personal statement addressing their approach to teaching and artistic practice, with relevant materials. To apply for the position, please go to: https://slc.simplehire.com/applicants/Central?quickFind=50777 Application review will begin September 15, 2015. The position will remain open until filled. Sarah Lawrence College is a small liberal arts college twenty miles from New York City with a unique pedagogy based on small classes, individual tutorials, interdisciplinary study and a strong commitment to the arts. For information on Sarah Lawrence College, our curriculum, teaching methods, and philosophy of education, please see our Web site at: http://www.slc.edu. SLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to achieving a racially and culturally diverse community.
An afternoon well spent at Barnard College with Sydnie Mosley and her lucky group of Dance in the City students! (photo: Christine Jowers)
Many thanks to the resourceful artist/educator Sydnie Mosley and all the students from her Dance in the City 2015 summer program at Barnard College for a warm welcome, interesting questions and discussion of issues and strategies in dance criticism and advocacy with my treasured colleagues, Marissa Perel and Christine Jowers!
I wish the students continued fun and revelations as they complete their stay in New York City. Please feel free to keep in touch!
For information on Dance in the City's multifaceted residency program, click here.
Ana Nery Fragoso and students in PS DANCE! (photo: Christopher Duggan)
Movement unlocks the body and heightens the spirit. -- Paula Zahn
Documentary filmmaker Nel Shelby has crafted a love letter to the power of dance and the power of learning with her new film, PS DANCE!
Narrated by veteran TV journalist Paula Zahn, the hour-long film takes viewers inside several New York City public schools (K-12) that incorporate dance programs into their educational vision--still a rarity in US schools.
We meet a host of lucky students and their gifted teachers--among them, Patricia Dye of Brooklyn's Science Skills High School for Science, Technology and the Creative Arts and Catherine Gallant of Lower Manhattan's PS 89--who make a persuasive case for the value of dance in the curriculum, with clear benefits far beyond the boosting of academic performance. Yes, teachers can use creative movement to reinforce class material students need to learn, but dance also enhances imagination, body awareness and wellness, confidence, the ability to give and take respectful feedback and to collaborate with others as dance artists do. Students need not aim for professional careers in dance to acquire habits and skills that will serve them well in all aspects of life.
Watch PS DANCE!
THIRTEEN -- May 15, 10:30pm
WLIW21 -- May 17, 3:30pm and 10pm
NJTV -- May 26, 10pm
Click here
for more information about PS DANCE!
And join the movement to bring quality dance education
to every student nationwide:
Click here.
Davalois Fearon, left, with Gino Grenek and Nicholas Sciscione,
members of the Stephen Petronio Dance Company
(photo: Sarah Silver)
The 30th anniversary of the Stephen Petronio Dance Companyhappens to coincide with another notable anniversary for this renowned and stylish troupe. Dancer and Education Coordinator Davalois Fearon is marking ten years working with Petronio. She's excited to be part of the launch of the company's five-year Bloodlines project which will pair classics of postmodern dance with Petronio's repertory. This season, the troupe will present Merce Cunningham's RainForest (1968) alongside the world premiere of Petronio’s Locomotor/Non Locomotor at The Joyce Theater (April 7-12).
A native of Jamaica, Fearon was raised in the South Bronx from the age of four with her siblings. She remembers her immediate surroundings as "not the safest neighborhood."
"But my parents did a good job of sheltering us," she says. "I had no idea that I was in Crack Central. We would go to school and then come straight back. When I was at home, it was like going back to Jamaica. I had a very Jamaican upbringing."
She's been dancing, she says, "since I was out of the womb" and would force her older sister--"quiet and more like a bookworm but always supporting me"--to put on shows for the family gatherings.
"Jamaicans love to dance, and it would be rooted in reggae with a gymnastic influence. As I got older, I got exposed to pop, hip hop and salsa. I would always be performing for anyone who would look!"
In eighth grade, she took part in an eight-week Alvin Ailey outreach program where she had her first exposure to ballet, studying with Ron Alexander. Her parents, like many Caribbean immigrants, foresaw a secure career path--perhaps medicine or law--and did not support the idea that their daughter might choose dance instead.
"In their minds, they had the big American dream, and they wanted that for us."
Money was tight, too.
"I auditioned in socks, because I didn't have ballet shoes and didn't know where to get them," she recalls, marveling that she made it into the school anyway. In fact, Fearon had to sit out her first class at Ailey, lacking the proper attire for class--a school requirement. "My first pair of ballet shoes, tights and leotard were from the lost-and-found." But dance was, for her, "like a calling, something I had to do."
Today, in her role as a dance teacher, she looks for similar desire and focus in her young students.
"You have to want it so bad that you're looking for every little detail that the teacher is giving you. I have this one student, about five years old. In her first class, she didn't know anything--didn't know a plié, didn't know first position. Now she knows the whole class by heart--there, right in the front, in first position, ready to go before anyone else. 'I know what's coming!' It's beautiful, really beautiful."
With role models like Ailey, Denise Jefferson and Judith Jamison--"the pride they brought to the work"--Fearon made steady and accelerated progress up the levels of Ailey training.
"They saw something in me that I didn't know that I had, and that helped build my confidence."
She won a scholarship to Purchase College Conservatory of Dance, where she earned her BFA in 2005. In a way, even her parents' resistance helped strengthen her resolve even as she was forced to take numerous jobs to support her pursuit.
"Junior year, I thought about auditioning. I had to show my parents that I can do this. You don't have to worry about me."
She auditioned for Petronio and spent her senior year as an apprentice to the troupe.
Today, her parents could not be more proud, her mother remembering being able to buy Fearon at least one crucial item--a pair of pointe shoes.
Davalois Fearon
in Petronio's Beauty and the Brut
(photo: Sarah Silver)
So, what's most interesting, challenging and eye-opening about dancing for a maverick like Stephen Petronio?
"Stephen is an incredible mover," she says. "He started late as a dancer, and that speaks to me. I started with reggae and hip hop and salsa and then started training.
"We were in rehearsal, and Stephen was working with Joshua Tuason on a solo, and he did a syncopated move that reminded me of something African that I knew from my Ailey training. And here is Stephen, you know, tall, white, bald man doing that and doing figure eights a lot like salsa dancing. The freedom and choices that he comes up with I love because I have that wide background, too. I can do that, too. I can move into a moonwalk one minute and a so de chat the next. His range of movement is all over the place--a lot of fun!"
But, at first, the work was just different enough from what she'd seen of conventional ballet and modern dance training to be a challenge. Remembering, her initial efforts to enter Petronio's philosophy and approach to movement, Fearon took a proposal to him. She wanted to write a syllabus as a guide for other company members and future recruits.
"I would see new dancers come into the company and go through the same struggles. 'You know what? I don't get it.' It was a need I saw not only for our dancers but for our outside teaching work, decoding what he would do in a way that, say, a first-year Juilliard student could understand."
Interviewing students gave her insight into what they needed from the company, and she was able to convince Petronio to create an education department.
Besides performing and teaching, Fearon has been developing her own voice as a choreographer. One upcoming project--Consider Water, her first full-length piece--was inspired by a talk with a UN ambassador working on issues of water-related disasters and scarcity of safe drinking water in many regions of the world. He happened to read about Fearon in a New York Times article and reached out to her. She told him of water shortages in Jamaica and how her family paid to get water shipped to her grandmother's house. The ambassador simply challenged her, "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
"I was thinking, Wow, I don't have much money. I can't save the world. But I have dance."
Excerpts from Consider Water,
a work in progress choreographed by Davalois Fearon
with music by Mike McGinnis
Fearon began work on Consider Water as a way to raise awareness of water-related concerns. The project has taken off, connecting her to supporters and collaborators such as the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) and the Bronx River Alliance, a respected local environmental organization. Through the BCA, which awarded her a 2014 BRIO fellowship, she will present excerpts of Consider Water at the Andrew Freedman Home, an arts-related community center, on May 1, and at the Bronx River Alliance Fish Festival on June 6. She plans to preview the finished piece in September at BAAD! (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance).
To learn more about Fearon and her Consider Water project, visit her Web site here. See the Stephen Petronio Dance Company at The Joyce Theater, April 7–12. For complete schedule and ticketing information, click here.
******
Davalois Fearon is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer born in Jamaica and raised in The Bronx, New York. In 2005, Fearon received a BFA from the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance program and has since performed and taught around the world with Stephen Petronio Company, staged its repertory, assisted as rehearsal director, and is currently its Education Coordinator. As a choreographer, she is a recipient of the 2014 Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO fellowship and a member of The Joyce Theater’s Prestigious Young Leaders Circle Artists’ Committee. Her choreography has been presented throughout New York City, including at Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, Bronx Art Space, Roulette, The Vasquez, the Inception to Exhibition Dance Festival, The Warwick Summer Arts Festival, as well as at the Light Box, Portland OR and Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Fearon has created work in collaboration with internationally renowned poet Patricia Smith, multi-reedist Mike McGinnis, and fashion photographer Nigel HoSang. In addition, she has performed with Daniel Ezralow, Forces of Nature, Ballet Noir, Darrell Robinson, and Ballet International Africans. She is proud to be celebrating her tenth year with the company.
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