CAMILLE A. BROWN

Photo by Whitney Browne

Photo by Whitney Browne

Camille A. Brown is a prolific Black female choreographer reclaiming the cultural narrative of African American identity. Her bold work taps into both ancestral stories and contemporary culture to capture a range of deeply personal experiences. Ms. Brown is a four-time Princess Grace Award winner, a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award winner, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, and TED Fellow, among others. Her work has been commissioned by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Broadway theaters, and other prominent institutions.

As Artistic Director of Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Ms. Brown strives to instill curiosity and reflection in diverse audiences through her emotionally raw and thought-provoking work. Her driving passion is to empower Black bodies to tell their story using their own language(s) through movement and dialogue. Through the company, Ms. Brown provides outreach activities to students, young adults, and incarcerated women and men across the country.

Currently, Ms. Brown is performing her new work “ink,” the final installation of the company’s trilogy about culture, race and identity. “ink” follows the Bessie Award-winning “Mr. TOL E. RAncE” (2012) and Bessie-nominated “BLACK GIRL:Linguistic Play” (2015). Drawing on historic and contemporary rhythms, rituals, and gestural vocabulary of the African Diaspora, "ink" reclaims African-American narratives by showcasing their authenticity. The work examines the culture of Black life that is often appropriated, rewritten, or silenced. 

Ms. Brown is the Choreographer for the Emmy Award Winning special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert" and is the Choreographer for The Tony Award Winning Revival of "Once On This Island" on Broadway. For her work on this show, she also received Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Chita Rivera award nominations. For her choreography on "BELLA: An American Tall Tale", Ms. Brown received an AUDELCO award and Lucille Lortel nomination.

For Ms. Brown’s theater projects, her associate choreographers are Rickey Tripp (Choir Boy, Magic Mike, Once on This Island, Jesus Christ Superstar Live, BELLA: An American Tall Tale, The Wiz, Cabin in the Sky) and Mayte Natalio (Fat Boy Rules The World, The BOX, This Ain’t No Disco), and her assistant choreographers are Catherine Foster (Once On This Island, The Wiz, Cabin in the Sky, This Ain’t No Disco), Juel D. Lane (Stagger Lee), and Mayte Natalio (Jesus Christ Superstar Live, Magic Mike). 

Ms. Brown is a graduate of the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts and received a B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

HONORS

  • 2019 Arison Alumni Award (National YoungArts Foundation)

  • 2018 Chita Rivera (formerly the Fred and Adele Astaire Awards) "Outstanding Choreographer" Award Nominee (Once On This Island)

  • 2018 Drama Desk LaDuca "Outstanding Choreographer" Award Nominee (Once On This Island)

  • 2018 Outer Critics Circle "Outstanding Choreographer" Award Nominee (BELLA: An American Tall Tale)

  • 2018 Lucille Lortel "Outstanding Choreographer" Award Nominee (BELLA: An American Tall Tale)

  • 2018 Cover Girl of Dance Magazine (April)

  • 2017 Black Woman Scholar Warrior Award (Montclair State University)

  • 2017 Audelco Award for Best Choreography (BELLA: An American Tall Tale)

  • 2017 Irma P. Hall Black Theater Nomination (BELLA: An American Tall Tale)

  • 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow

  • 2016 Ms. Brown’s TED-Ed talk, A Visual History of Social Dance in 25 Moves, was chosen as one of the most notable talks of the year by TED Curator Chris Anderson; the video has over 15 million views on Facebook

  • 2016 Statue Award (Princess Grace Award)

  • 2016 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award

  • 2016 Guggenheim Fellow

  • 2016 Bessie nomination for “Outstanding Production” (BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play)

  • 2016 Choreographic Mentorship Co-Commission Award (Princess Grace Award)

  • 2015 Cover Girl of Dance Teacher Magazine (August)

  • 2015 USA Jay Franke & David Herro Fellow

  • 2015 TED Fellow

  • 2015 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient

  • 2015 Lucille Lortel “Outstanding Choreographer” Award Nominee (Fortress of Solitude)

  • 2015 NEFA’s National Dance Project: Production Grant

  • 2015 MAP Fund Grantee

  • 2015 Engaging Dance Audiences Grant

  • 2014 Joyce Award with DANCECleveland

  • 2014 Jerome Foundation 50th Anniversary Grant

  • 2014 New York City Center Choreography Fellow

  • 2014 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production for the work Mr. TOL E. RAncE (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)

  • 2013 International Association of Blacks in Dance Founders Award

  • 2013 Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award (Wesleyan University)

  • 2013 Works in Progress Residency Award (Princess Grace Award)

  • 2012 City College of New York Women & Culture Award

  • 2006 Choreography Award (Princess Grace Award)

COMMISSIONED CHOREOGRAPHY

  • Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

  • Philadanco!

  • Complexions

  • Urban Bush Women

  • Ailey II

  • Ballet Memphis

  • Hubbard Street II

THEATER CREDITS

Click here to see descriptions of Camille’s theater projects.

  • Once on The Island (Broadway)

  • A Streetcar Named Desire (Broadway)

  • Fortress of Solitude (The Public Theater)

  • Stagger Lee (DTC)

  • BELLA: An American Tall Tale (DTC, Playwrights Horizons)

  • Katori Hall’s BLOOD QUILT (Arena Stage)

  • Cabin in the Sky (NY City Center Encores!)

  • Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM! starring Lin-Manuel Miranda (NY City Center Encores! Off-Center)

  • Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (Regional)

  • Marcus Gardley’s The BOX: A Black Comedy

OTHER EXPERIENCE

Photo by Ryan Lash

Photo by Ryan Lash

  • In 2016, Ms. Brown’s TED-Ed talk, “A Visual History of Social Dance in 25 Moves,” was chosen as one of the most notable talks of the year by TED Curator Chris Anderson; the video has over 15 million views on Facebook

  • Co-Directed The Social Dances: Jazz to Hip-Hop Program with Moncell Durden at The Jacob’s Pillow School

  • Given talks at both TEDxBeaconStreet and TEDx Estée Lauder

  • In 2016, Ms. Brown performed as a guest artist in the world premiere of "And Still You Must Swing" with tap artists Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Derick K. Grant, and Jason Samuels Smith at Jacob’s Pillow

  • In 2015, Ms. Brown performed at the TED Conference in Vancouver

  • In 2011, Ms. Brown was a guest artist with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

  • In 2008, Ms. Brown was a guest artist with Rennie Harris’ Puremovement

  • From 2001-2007, Ms. Brown was a member of Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, A Dance Company

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

As a choreographer, I am interested in that space between dance and theater where interdisciplinary work defies category and takes flight. Music and rhythm are the main driving forces of my work.  Informed by my music background as a clarinetist, I create choreography that utilizes musical composition as storytelling. I am interested in telling stories – historical and personally based – and am fascinated with tying history to my personal experiences and bringing those things to life.

By creating a vocabulary that fuses African, Hip- Hop, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Ballet, Theater, original music compositions and African-American social dances, my work often provides a platform to educate people about their origins while also exploring universal themes through movement. My company and I aim to present authentic performances that foster cultural and educational dialogues among audiences and local communities while instilling a sense of curiosity and appreciation for the live arts experience in a social and aesthetic context. We strive to build young and scholarly advocates who will help build appreciation for the field of contemporary dance within communities of color and develop our sphere of influence for cultural dialogue and reflection. Through our work we seek to speak to people, make them feel good, provoke, engage, and inspire.

Let’s begin!

 
Photo by Whitney Browne

Photo by Whitney Browne

 

INTERESTED IN BOOKING CAMILLE?

Speaking Inquiries
Contact Indira Goodwine at igoodwine@camilleabrown.org

Booking And Fee Information
Pam Green, PMG Arts Management pam@pmgartsmgt.com
(919) 813-6092 (Office)
(919) 908-8200 (Fax)
www.pmgartsmgt.com  

Commercial Choreography Inquires
Michael Moore, Michael Moore Agency
michael@michaelmooreagency.com
(212) 221-0400 (Office)
www.michaelmooreagency.com

“this petite dancer mixed athleticism and sensuousness into an amazing personal brew. She was WOMAN, the un-Kardashian, the un-Helen Gurley Brown.”
— The Berkshire Eagle

“Ms. Brown is an assured performer…magisterial.”
— The New York Times

“Watching Camille A. Brown dance in person for the first time is like observing a hummingbird in nature for the first time… Brown is a storyteller, with many tales to tell”
— The Boston Globe

“Camille A. Brown is a student of history and a raconteur. Her dances tell stories of historical moments and of ordinary lives in a particular place in time…the effect is both dynamic and eloquent”
— The Winsted Journal

“Brown herself is a vibrant performer—believable… She’s a mistress of the melting gesture that’s betrayed by a storm of little staccato ones.”
— The Village Voice

“Gutsy. Wild. Smart. Original…Camille [A.] Brown has expert comic timing that’s Broadway-worthy.”
— Wendy Perron

“impressive is the message of empowerment that streams from the stage with every work the petite Camille A. Brown puts out. Brown takes the high ground and claims it for pride, spirit, and the sheer git to survive.”
— The Berkshire Eagle

“Brown creates intriguing, dense patterns with very physical movement that seems to define the comfortable limits of what today’s performers should be capable of doing. And which they clearly relish doing.”
— Sunday Arts/THIRTEEN

“Brown’s combination of dance styles, precision and fluidity, and remarkable musicality were enthralling.”
— Pittsbrugh Tribune

“…her personal physical style, with all its focused bursts of energy and frozen positions that explode into motion, colors her group works…she uses this stop-and-go dynamic to continuously change the configurations of synchronized group movement to sophisticated effect.”
— The New York Times

“Camille A. Brown…grabbed the audience from the moment she stepped onto the stage…One could only describe her as simply breathtaking.”
— Pittsburgh Dance Examiner

“When you spend the evening with Camille A. Brown, you leave feeling that you are one of her closest friends… She hides no idiosyncrasies, but rather delves into her uniqueness to find its source.”
— Dance Pulp

“Camille opens the eyes and ears of the audience as she vividly reads us a story about her grandmother through dance. Bravo Camille for a beautiful performance and for waking up the spirit of your grandmother on stage.”
— iDANZ