CM: Talk to me a little bit about how being a dancer influences how you work as an artistic director.

CAB: Because I am a dancer as well, I am definitely in tune with how the body is taking in the material. I know what happens when you are pushed past your limit, and I really try to make sure I don’t overwork my dancers. The youngest dancer in my company is 30, and at 39 I’m the oldest, so that’s also something to consider.

Camille A. Brown grew up self-conscious of her voice.

Rattled by the timbre of her own sound, worried that it distracted others from the content of what she said, Brown spoke aloud less and less—but she always had something to say. “Movement was always a very safe space for me,” she says. “It was the vehicle that helped me express how I was feeling.”