User:Dansbyrd

Donald Byrd (choreographer) is Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater (Seattle). Is an award winning (Bessie) and Tony Award nominated choreographer for his work on Broadway’s The Color Purple. He recently recreated his work on that show for two national tours. His recent work with Spectrum includes an acclaimed new production of his provocative The Beast. Other productions of note are A Chekhovian Resolution (2009); Farewell: a fantastical contemplation on America’s relationship with China (2010); and The Mother of Us All (2011) a triptych for Spectrum’s innovative three-year programming initiative PAMU (Beyond Dance: Promoting Awareness and Mutual Understanding), which produces dance/theatre works that promote dialogue around geo-political themes. To many he is probably best known for The Harlem Nutcracker (1996), a reworking of the Christmas classic that toured nationally for five years and after a 15-year hiatus is returning to the stage in 2012. He has worked at many leading American theatres including, The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Centerstage (Baltimore), and La Jolla Playhouse; choreographed for Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dutch National Opera and New York City Opera and collaborated with the great American Theatre artists Anna Deavere Smith and Peter Sellars as well as with the late jazz great Max Roach. His work has been seen in many modern dance and classical repertory companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet, MaggioDanza diFiernze, Oregon Ballet Theater, Aterballetto and The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, to name a few. He is 2011 Mayor’s Arts Award recipient, an inaugural fellow of The American Academy in Jerusalem (2011), and a 2011 USA Fellowship winner. He was a Fellow at Harvard’s Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue for three years, served three terms as a commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs (Seattle Arts Commission) and has served on the Boards of Dance/USA and Dance Theater Workshop in New York. .