GroundWorks DanceTheater, now kicking off its 23rd season, has just announced that it has named dancer/choreographer Antonio Brown its artist in residence for the 2021-22 season, its first ever AIR. The appointment will let Brown and the company expand their already-existing collaboration. In the fall of 2020, Brown and the company created a dance film called INSIDE, and re-staged the work for live performance in June 2021.
The contemporary dance company has worked to expand the boundaries and reach of dance since its founding in 1998, presenting new choreography and seeking out new audiences. It has performed new works by founder and executive artistic director David Shimotakahara, and regularly commissions work by noted national and international choreographers such as Gina Gibney, Rosie Herrera, Dianne McIntyre, Kate Weare, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett, among many others.
Brown, who founded his New York-based company Antonio Brown Dance in 2013, is a Cleveland native and alumnus of the Cleveland School of the Arts, who attended the Juilliard School in New York and danced with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company for more than a decade. He has choreographed works for companies across the country including Cleveland’s Verb Ballets. He’s also an educator who teaches classes and workshops both in New York City and elsewhere.
“Antonio brings a huge range of artistic experience and skills to GroundWorks,” says shimotakahara. “His artistry reflects his deep integrity and a truly warm personality.”
For more information, go to groundworksdance.org.