There’s something about Sean Bankhead‘s choreography that moves you to your feet. Through intricate footwork, a twerk moment or a groove typical to Atlanta dance styles, he makes the lyrics, the melody and every instrument playing come alive. “He wants you to feel the music exactly how he hears it in his head,” says JaQuel […]

Lately I’ve been having recurring dreams: I’m in an audition and I can’t remember the combination. Or, I’m rehearsing for an upcoming show, onstage, and I don’t know what comes next. Each time I wake up relieved that it was only a dream. However, this is the reality of how I often felt throughout my […]

Nine years ago, Del Mak decided he was done performing for artists like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and One Direction. “I’d done everything I wanted to, and I was tired of the rat race,” he says. “My body was starting to hurt.” The next obvious step? Choreography. Though “obvious” doesn’t mean “easy.” For commercial dancers looking […]

Jamar Roberts stands still, all six feet and four inches of him, arms quietly at his sides. As a man’s voice is heard—the first two words of text are “Black is”—Roberts steps into a wide stance, arms held out to their fullest wingspan. He fills every inch of the stage with his presence. Then he […]

Brinda Guha is a master mixer. With a deep background in kathak and training in other forms of Indian classical dance, including Manipuri, she began seriously training in flamenco during a monthlong workshop in Spain in 2007. Upon returning to New York City, Guha continued studying the form while also expanding her movement vocabulary with […]

The word “prosthesis” refers to an artificial, supplemental device that attempts to return a disabled body to a state of “normalcy.” A prosthetic hand resembles and functions as a “normal” hand; a prosthetic foot resembles and functions as a “normal” foot. Such technologies are laden with political expectations, namely, the insistence that there is such […]

American Ballet Theatre soloist Gabe Stone Shayer’s latest project will inspire some serious travel envy. From March to April of this year, Shayer has been an artist in residence at Palm Heights Grand Cayman—a resort in the Cayman Islands—where he is choreographing an African-themed narrative ballet, performing solos that will become part of the upcoming […]

In much of the dance world, the process of becoming successful as a choreographer can seem frustratingly oblique. On Broadway, however, that path is surprisingly linear and well defined. Most people end up following a sequence of positions that includes becoming dance captain of a show, then assistant choreographer, then associate choreographer and, finally, main […]