Martha Graham (1894–1991) was a groundbreaking dancer and choreographer who transformed modern dance by creating a new movement language and redefining stage design, music, and performance aesthetics. Born in Pittsburgh, she moved to California as a teenager, where seeing a performance by Ruth St. Denis inspired her to pursue dance. She later trained at the Denishawn School under St. Denis and Ted Shawn before leaving in 1923 to develop her own artistic voice. In 1926, Graham began teaching and debuted her first concert in New York. She founded the Martha Graham School in 1927, creating works that often addressed social and political themes. During the 1930s, she produced minimalist yet powerful pieces and took a notable political stand by refusing to perform at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Her later works explored mythology and psychology, including collaborations with artists like Isamu Noguchi. Major works such as Appalachian Spring solidified her legacy. She also collaborated with influential dancers like Merce Cunningham. Though she stopped performing at 76, Graham continued choreographing nearly until her death, completing over 190 works. Widely regarded as a pioneer of modern dance, her influence continues to shape contemporary performance worldwide.
Ronald K. Brown, raised in Brooklyn, New York, is the founder and artistic director of the Ronald K. Brown and EVIDENCE Dance Company. He is the recent recipient of the Martha Hill Mid-Career Achievement Award (2024), American Dance Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (2024), and a Dance Teacher Award of Distinction (2024). Other awards include the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award (2020), as well as a Dance Magazine Award (2018) and Samuel H. Scripps/ADF Award (2018). Brown has also received an AUDELCO Award for his choreography in Regina Taylor’s award-winning play Crowns, as well as two Black Theater Alliance Awards, and a Fred and Adele Astaire Award for Outstanding Choreography in the Tony Award–winning Broadway and national touring production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, adapted by Suzan Lori Parks. Brown has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Jeune Ballet d’Afrique Noire, Ko-Thi Dance Company, Philadanco, Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago, Ballet Hispánico, TU Dance, and Malpaso Dance Company. He has collaborated with such artists as composer/designer Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya, the late writer Craig G. Harris, director Ernie McClintock’s Jazz Actors Theater, choreographers Patricia Hoffbauer and Rokiya Kone, and composers Jason Moran, Arturo O’Farrill, Meshell Ndegeocello, Robert Een, Oliver Lake, Bernadette Speech, David Simons, and Don Meissner. He has performed with Mary Anthony Dance Theater sndJennifer Muller/The Works, as well as other choreographers and artists. Brown was named Def Dance Jam Workshop 2000 Mentor of the Year and has received the Doris Duke Artist Award, NYC City Center Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, United States Artists Fellowship, a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award, and the Ailey Apex Award. Brown is co–artistic director of the Billie Holiday Theatre’s Youth Arts Academy Pre-Professional Program, and is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Aszure Barton has created choreography that’s been performed on stages worldwide as well as in museums and exhibits. She has also choreographed for film, opera, and theater, and has collaborated with a multitude of dance companies and artists around the world. Early in her career, she founded Aszure Barton & Artists in order to create a collaborative platform for process-centered creation. Barton is a Bessie Award recipient, current resident artist at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and a creative partner with Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Dance Division.
Bob Fosse became, in 1973, the first director in history to win the Oscar, Tony, and Emmy awards in a single year for his spectacular triumphs in the film version of Cabaret, the Broadway musical Pippin and the television special Liza with a Z. Fosse won the first of his eight Tony Awards as choreographer for Pajama Game, followed by such Broadway credits as the direction and choreography of Redhead, Little Me, Sweet Charity (on stage and film), Chicago, and Dancin’. He also created the choreography for Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. During rehearsals for Little Me, Fosse withheld his services in support of the SSD&C (now known as the SDC, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society). For the screen, he choreographed My Sister Eileen, Pajama Game, and Damn Yankees, and was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director for Lenny and All That Jazz (which won the Cannes Film Festival), and directed Star 80 for the screen as well. Fosse’s writing credits include the book for Chicago with Fred Ebb (Tony nomination), the screenplay for All That Jazz with Robert Alan Arthur (Academy Award nomination), and the screenplay for Star 80. Fosse directed and choreographed the revival of Sweet Charity starring Debbie Allen, which joined Big Deal on Broadway in April 1986.
