In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with West Hollywood, California-based choreographer, writer, director, filmmaker, and performer David Roussève. A Guggenheim Fellow and Bessie Award winner, Roussève has toured extensively domestically and internationally with his dance/theater company REALITY. Roussève is a Distinguished Professor of Choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA and, at the time of this recording, was developing his first full-length evening solo performance in over 20 years.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with voices representing a span of 3 different generations. Dianne McIntyre, based in Cleveland, Ohio; Donald Byrd and Nia-Amina Minor, based in Seattle, Washington; and Donna Uchizono, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, and Kristel Baldoz, based in New York City. Merry Petroski, Project Manager of the Creative Aging Institute at the Akron Art Museum, also joins the conversation.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with artists who integrate technology in their work and who participated as a Dancing Lab cohort researching immersive spaces for dance. Valley Cottage, New York-based Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Raphael Xavier, and Miami, Florida-based Hanna Ali all join the conversation with technical collaborators.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with Atlanta, Georgia-based George Staib, choreographer and artistic director of staibdance. Dance Teacher Magazine has recognized Staib as one of the “top five” dance educators in the US, and he has been commissioned as a teacher and choreographer for over 25 institutions. He is currently on the dance faculty at Emory University.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with Shaina and Bryan Baira of BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY. Their New York City and Detroit, Michigan-based dance theatre company creates live performance, dance film, and immersive-virtual-reality experiences. Shaina and Bryan are recipients of the ‘Creators of Culture’ award through Culture Source Detroit and were honored as nominees for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer by the Bessie Award committee in 2023.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with Brooklyn, New York-based Reggie Wilson, Executive/Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Performer with Fist and Heel Performance Group. Wilson's work draws from the cultures of Africans in the Americas and is combined with post-modern elements to create what he calls “post-African/Neo-HooDoo Modern dances.” Wilson has lectured, taught, conducted community workshops, and has been presented nationally and internationally. He is the recipient of awards, including a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a Joyce Foundation Award.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with Evanston, Illinois-based interdisciplinary dance artist Joe Bowie. Bowie uses autoethnography to unlock narratives that layer the past, present, and future as archival choreographic methods. His creative and scholarly research convenes at the intersection of Blackness, queerness, and Black joy. Bowie danced professionally for over twenty-five years with The Paul Taylor Dance Company and The Mark Morris Dance Group before prioritizing his own work as a dance maker. Bowie received his MFA in Dance with a Graduate Minor in Queer Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke, enters the 'studio' with Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Leila and Noelle Awadallah of Body Watani. As daughters of Palestinian refugee lineage, Body Watani investigates dance rooted in Arab and SWANA movement languages. Their first evening-length work, TERRANEA, was performed at the Arab American National Museum, Hammana Artist House, Red Eye Theater, Links Halls, and Al Madina Theater.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Los Angeles, California-based Kara Jenelle, aka KJ. A choreographer, spoken word artist, and international arts educator with a global reach of over 19 million views via her YouTube channel, KJ's repertoire highlights street dance, African diaspora dance and music, and Black culture.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with four artists brought together by the work of the Dancing Wheels Company. Mary Verdi-Fletcher who is based in Cleveland, OH and is the President and Founding Artistic Director of Dancing Wheels; New York City-based choreographer, Tiffany Mills, Los Angeles, CA-based choreographer Mark Tomasic, and Miami FL - based choreographer, Alexis Diggs. On their website, Dancing Wheels posists, if dance is an expression of the human spirit, then it is best expressed by people of all abilities. That is the fundamental belief behind the Dancing Wheels Company & School. Considered one of the premier arts and disabilities organizations in the United States, Dancing Wheels is a professional, physically integrated dance company uniting the talents of dancers both with and without disabilities.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Miami FL-based choreographer and dancer, Pioneer Winter. Recognized in Dance Magazine's 2019 “25 to Watch," he directs Pioneer Winter Collective, a contemporary dance and physical theater company of allied bodies, who democratize performance in public spaces, museums, stages, and films. He develops work through local engagement practices with emerging LGBT+ artists and intergenerational labs and social activities with Lambda Living, a service program for LGBT elders. Outside of his company, Winter teaches in areas of social justice and art, epistemology, and dance at Florida International University.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Portland, OR and Boston, MA- based multidisciplinary artist and choreographer, Takahiro Yamamoto. His current conceptual investigations revolve around the phenomenological effects of time, the embodied approach to the presence of nothingness, and the social/emotional implications of visibility. His performance and visual art works have been presented at Portland Art Museum, Diverseworks, and GoDown Arts Centre Nairobi, among others. Yamamoto, is currently a visiting professor at Studio for Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Chicago IL-based dancemaker J'Sun Howard. Howard received the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events’ Esteemed Artist Award and was recognized as an Asian Cultural Council Fellow. His works have been showcased nationally and internationally and he has received commissions from Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago, World Dance Alliance, and The Art Institute of Chicago.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with New York City-based choreographer John Heginbotham. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Heginbotham graduated from The Juilliard School, was a member of Mark Morris Dance Group. In 2011, he founded Dance Heginbotham and has received a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2014 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. Other awards include fellowships at New York City Center and at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Montréal, Québec and New York City-based Hélène Simoneau and Chicago IL-based dancer and collaborator, Connie Shiau. In addition to working with Simoneau, Shiau was recognized in Dance Magazine’s “25 To Watch” in 2018. Hélène Simoneau explores themes of intimacy, agency, identity, sexuality, and power in her work and has been commissioned by Oregon Ballet Theatre, The Juilliard School, and BalletX, among others. She was recently a Choreography Fellow at New York City Center and received a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with New York City-based Visually Impaired choreographer, Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez. Núñez has been awarded Fellowships by Princeton University, The Jerome Foundation, Dance/USA and Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. His performances have been presented in New York by The Joyce Theater, The Brooklyn Museum, and The Kitchen, among others. While he received his American Citizenship in 2023, Núñez continues to be an advocate for the rights of undocumented disabled immigrants.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Tucson Arizona based flamenco movement artist Angelina Ramirez. Ramirez explores what it means to be a queer, latinx flamenca practicing in a traditional Roma/Gitano form of dance. As a teaching artist she is interested in the intersections of art and healing, focusing on work with elders of all abilities and integrated flamenco for neurodivergent participants. She has toured the world with renowned companies like Noche Flamenca and continues to produce events and festivals throughout Arizona.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Chicago Illinois-based, The Era Footwork Crew members Sterling “Steelo” Lofton and Brandon “Chief Manny” Calhoun. The Era Footwork Crew are pioneers of the battle dance known as Chicago footwork. They have performed from Japan to Peru, performing and choreographing alongside leading artists such as Chance the Rapper, DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, and Theaster Gates. The Era's work has been in short documentaries by VICE, the Canadian Broadcast Company, and the Chicago Tribune.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Phoenix, Arizona-based artist and activist Ruby Morales. Morales describes her work as that of a ‘dance artivist,’ where she investigates culturally informed teaching methods, circular leadership models, and her relationship with movement as a bgirl and in Mexican style cumbia. She is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, most recently, she was honored by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals with the Spark of Change Award.

This special edition of Inside The Dancer’s Studio podcast features content from the Creative Administration Research (CAR) Summit Convening and was recorded at the Akron Art Museum. CAR is made possible through a multi-year grant from the Mellon Foundation. We join Christy Bolingbroke, our Executive / Artistic Director, in dialogue with Chicago, IL-based multidisciplinary, Kenyan-Indian, Canadian-American artist Brendan Fernandes and Akron Art Museum Curator Dr. Jeff Katzin. The trio foreground their conversation titled, “Against All Odds: Moving In Museums,” with visual artist, Keith Haring's work, which was on exhibit at the time. Using this common ground, they explore how visual artists and choreographers are dancing in and around museum spaces today.