'"Camille is a one of a kind choreographer," adds Keys. "Her work brings so much emotion to it. I like to think of myself as an emotional writer. I love that the songs that I write tug at your heartstrings. But she's going to take every lyric, and she's going to pull something out of it that even I didn't know it was supposed to feel like that."'
Read More‘“These four wonderful artists—Camille A. Brown, Kristoffer Diaz, Michael Greif, and Alicia Keys—are not only brilliant, exemplary New Yorkers, they have also given more to The Public Theater than words can express,” says Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis in a statement. “I am so lucky to work with these people, so deeply in awe of their talent, and so proud that they call The Public home.”’
Read More“New York is not only the concrete jungle where Camille A. Brown’s dreams were made; it’s also the city where they are coming true. In 2022, the Jamaica, Queens native made history as the first Black woman to choreograph and direct a play on Broadway (for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf) in over six decades. This season, she returns to the Main Stem as choreographer for the rhythm-laced Alicia Keys musical Hell's Kitchen.”
Read More“The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipient of their newly reimagined Premier Award – Camille A. Brown & Dancers (CABD). This prestigious $10,000 grant will be dedicated to the development of a remarkable new work titled “I AM.” “I AM” promises to be a vibrant celebration of life, seamlessly merging step and traditional African dance forms. Audiences can look forward to its grand debut in the summer of 2024.”
Read More“Grey’s Anatomy actor and director Debbie Allen has inspired millions of people in her 50-plus-year career, from playing no-nonsense teacher Lydia Grant on Fame to directing the landmark show A Different World to enchanting audiences through her Shondaland-produced holiday show Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. But Allen’s influence isn’t limited to the screen. Through her eponymous Debbie Allen Dance Academy, now housed in the Rhimes Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, as well as countless workshops and courses over the years, Allen has directly impacted scores of people — among them the choreographer and director Camille A. Brown, whom Allen met when Brown took part in an audition in 1991 when Brown was just 11 years old.”
Read More“Now the two come together again for Brown’s Southern California premiere, this time with Allen cheering Brown on from the audience. Allen, who is a Wallis board member, was excited when she heard Brown’s company had been programmed. When I inquired about her excitement, Allen spoke of the Wallis’ commitment to ‘ensur[ing] the integrity of artistic diversity and inclusivity’ in their programming and partnerships. As the Wallis prepares for a month-long “celebration of women and their art and their creativity,” Allen emphatically believes, there ‘couldn’t be a greater, more wonderful artist to bring [to the Wallis] as Camille Brown at this time.’”
Read More“Camille A. Brown and Debbie Allen are kindred spirits, to say the least. The two award-winning dance legends have afforded countless young, Black women with invaluable opportunities, and the tools needed for success in the arts. Allen’s career in entertainment spans over five decades, establishing herself as a true pioneer in her field. In 2022, Brown became the first first Black female to be nominated for a Tony Award as both director and choreographer for a Broadway play in almost 70 years. On January 12 & 13, the iconic duo collaborated to showcase the acclaimed production, ink, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.”
Read More“…Brown, has herself famously refused the silos of the profession, directing the 2022 Broadway revival of Shange’s for colored girls, which was nominated for seven Tonys. Brown’s staging highlighted the cultural significance of movement in drama in a way that Shange, who also trained as a dancer, would no doubt have cherished.”
Read More"Like [Debbie] Allen and [Katherine] Dunham, her trajectory is defined by a wide-ranging artistic vocabulary and a sweeping ambition to tell stories across the divide of different art forms and disciplines."
“Camille has this ability to situate a culture, a history, a vibe of Blackness into her work,” Dean Outlaw said. “There's something that's always very authentic about it. Her life would probably be easier if she went with the formulaic, repeating what has been successful in her work. But what I'm always impressed by is that her work never looks the same.” Endalyn T. Outlaw, Dean, School of Dance.
"When she looks at a work, she is looking at the time period and the social class, every notion of what it should look like. And that's why she is an amazing choreographer, because that anthropological mindset of hers can switch into gear through research.” Maleek Washington, CABD Company Dancer and frequent collaborator.
Read More“..choreography by the prodigious Camille A. Brown...”
Read More“In her trilogy, Brown addresses issues of race and identity while exploring facets of the Black experience that have been appropriated, neglected or lost. “Mr. TOL E. RAncE” (2012), which looks at minstrelsy, and “Black Girl” (2015), a joyful celebration of games, dances and chants, will be presented at the Joyce Theater Oct. 25-30. And “ink” (2017), about resilience in the Black community, will be performed at the Apollo Theater on Nov. 4 and 5.”
Read More“Artist Jim McKeon grew up in the New York and New Jersey area but now calls Durham home. His portrait of Camille A. Brown hung in Durham’s 5 Points Gallery before making it to the Met Opera.”
Read More"The Apollo Theater and The Joyce Theater join forces to present Brown's extraordinary trilogy of works--created as stand-alone dances over the past decade-- that examine perceptions of Black identity. "Mr. TOL E. RAncE," an ode to African American humor, and "BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play," a homage to the rhythmic games of Black girlhood, will run first at The Joyce (Oct. 25-30). "ink," a time-traveling celebration of movements and rituals from the African diaspora, concludes the series at the Apollo (Nov. 4-5)."
Read More“The Apollo has long been a place of dynamic energy and forward motion; this season, the theater honors that longstanding tradition through a series of performances and programs that look to the future. From ink, performed by Camille A. Brown & Dancers…to a conversation with legendary British Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful discussing his forthcoming memoir The Visible Man, this season's programming continues to center and amplify Black artists and voices from the African diaspora.”
Read More“This season, a revival debuted on Broadway, helmed by the diminutive dreadlocked dynamo that is Camille A. Brown. Relying on only projections and screens for set pieces, she focused on the cast of seven Black women. The first Black woman to both choreograph and direct a Broadway show in more than 65 years, Brown made subtle changes, switching out Martha and the Vandellas for ‘I’m So Into You’ by SWV. She added Shange’s poem ‘Ego’ from nappy edges. Like Oh God, for colored girls transmits rejuvenation.”
Read More“When choreographer Camille A. Brown is asked to describe her kind of movement, she uses an analogy from the kitchen.
‘It’s everything. It’s modern, it’s hip-hop, it’s tap, it’s jazz, it’s ballet, it’s social dance. I call it a jambalaya. You stir it up in a pot and you put your own own seasoning on it. And then when it comes out into the bowl, it’s who you are.”’
Read More“Brown spent years honing her idiosyncratic style, which includes elements of African, ballet, modern and theater. The way she weaves in her wealth of knowledge of countless social dance forms and traditions makes her dances vividly distinct. Her 2016 Ted Talk, which now has 1.5 million views, encapsulates her deep understanding of the lineage of Black social dance and her brilliance of packing a number of influences in a matter of a few moves.”
Read More"Reflecting on her own show, she said 'Having seven Black women on a Broadway stage has a lot of meaning, and speaks to the importance of sisterhood and love and Black women holding space for one another"
Read More“As Brown, with her already strong background in dance and choreography (she has founded her own dance company and previously choreographed three Broadway shows), begins to move more into the world of theatre directing, the choreopoem becomes the first perfect blending of those two worlds. And the heft of this moment—the stories of Black women being guided by and told through the lens of a Black woman—is not lost on her.”
Read More‘“I was still trying to develop what my vision was,” says Brown, nominated for her direction and choreography of “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf,” of where she was in 2020. “It gave me the opportunity to really have a process and create and vibe and build what the show [would be].”’
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