The Choreographer

I have been told that I began to choreograph like many young children, making up dances to the songs on the radio. My earliest memories are at the American Dance Festival, in the Southgate dormitory on the campus of Duke University. After a long and full day of classes, workshops, and rehearsals, we would go back to the lobby of the dorm and get to work. Surely, we created some masterpieces, and often I wonder what might have become of some of those works, but what continues to become clear is that my dreams have expanded as a result of those wonderful times.

In 1993, I was blessed to meet Matthew Rushing. Not only were we immediate friends, but we instantly discovered that one of many common links between us was creating choreography. We would get together and find studio space whenever, wherever we could and explore. We both loved the classics, and we began to create to song after song until we had our first ballet. Video cameras are a wonderful thing, because of scheduling and other circumstances, it took us four years to actually see the fruit of our labor. We are still dancing together, and we continue to collaborate through these many years. In fact, we were invited to direct, choreograph, and present an evening length program of our works, that brought twelve dancers to two cities in Mexico. We also have collaborated with another great friend, Abdur-Rahim Jackson, on a work for the Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater, “Acceptance In Surrender”.

Through dreams realized and many lessons learned, I have been able to choreograph for Danco II, The Bermuda Dance Company, Ballet East, Boston Youth Moves, Dance Ad Deum, and The Minnesota Dance Theater.

As a result, I completed a residency and my first ballet, ““IN-TER-PRET””, for Dallas Black Dance Theatre and I created a ballet to an original symphony, ““A Calendar of Dances””, composed by Greg Rice for his Victory Over Parkinson’s Concert. I was given an amazing opportunity, from Judith Jamison, to collaborate with the world-renowned, Grammy Award winning a capella group Sweet Honey In The Rock, for The Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater’s 50th Anniversary Celebration and in April of 2009, PHILADANCO premiered, “"Be Ye Not"”, my first work for my former company. I have revisited Dallas Black Dance Theatre, creating ““Event-tually, Two”” and most recently, I collaborated with, and choreographed for Ali Jackson’s ““Beats of New York, A Jazz Journey through Dance, Rhythm, and Rhyme, “ ” at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.

I am so blessed to able to share all that I have been taught, and all that I continue to embrace. Expressing myself through movement that I create, like creating a language that I am able to interpret and translate to the world. If one person walks away understanding my language, then I am satisfied.

Some of My Work

Ave's View Movie Testimony View Movie Improvsolo View Movie More to come!