Camille A. Brown is a rising dance-world icon. Use of gesture and theatricality, amalgamation of various stylistic influences, and a unique kind of virtuosity makes her work something of which to take true note. As a black woman, who also calls upon African-American cultural heritage and sociopolitical issues in her work, she exemplifies the kinds of artists the field could nurture and exhibit more of with greater efforts at representation and diversity. Brown is reclaiming the cultural narrative of African-American identity, with bold work that taps into both ancestral stories and contemporary culture to capture a range of deeply personal experiences.
She 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. Institutions who’ve commissioned her work include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Broadway theaters and other prominent institutions. She is founder and artistic director of Camille A. Brown and Dancers, through which she creates and presents work aligning with “her driving passion is to empower black bodies to tell their story using their own language(s) through movement and dialogue”. Here, Dance Informa speaks with Brown about her dance-making tools, her work to empower artists and youth with dance, where the dance world stands in regards to diversity and inclusion of various identities, and more.