Donald Byrd
============================
Donald Byrd, Choreographer: Making the Invisible Visible
Donald Byrd, choreographer extraordinaire and Executive Artistic Director of Seattle’s Spectrum Theater, will be sharing his thoughts about d
ance and a form he has developed called “theater of disruption”
which combines dance, text, fiction, music and voice. Byrd has created and produced more than 100 works to date, many of which consider intractable social issues. Spectrum’s 2016-17 season consists of three world premiere pieces by Byrd. Each uses theater of disruption to revisit racism, police shootings of unarmed black men, immigration, and violence against LGBTQ people, creating harmonic beauty and wrenching tragedy.
Donald Byrd has won more awards than we have space to list. A sampling: TONY nomination; Bessie Award; Masters of Choreography Award from The Kennedy Center; a Fellowship at The American Academy of Jerusalem; a James Baldwin Fellow of United States Artists; and the Mayor’s Arts Award for his sustained contributions to the City of Seattle. In addition, he has received support for his projects and productions from the Rockefeller Foundation, New England Foundation, Map Fund, Jerome Foundation, Seattle Foundation, and New York Foundation for the Arts; as well as local and national government agencies including 4Culture, The Office of Arts and Culture and The National Endowment for the Arts.