The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Christy Bolingbroke
Dance Magazine honors UCLA World Arts and Cultures Alumna
Christy Bolingbrook '99 (B.A., World Arts and Cultures), director of the National Center for Choreography, promotes dance scholarship to show that "what a choreographer does is not all that different from a scientist in a laboratory."
"It isn't every day—or year, or even decade—that a dedicated choreography incubator opens its doors. As founding executive/artistic director at the National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron, Christy Bolingbroke says, "I have an opportunity to locate dance in a research and development environment, and reinforce the fact that what a choreographer does is not all that different from a scientist in a laboratory."
Among the artists breaking in the center's boards are pilot residents Camille A. Brown, Carrie Hanson and John Jasperse; Netta Yerushalmy, collaborating with philosopher David Kishik; Guggenheim Fellow and Ohio native Dianne McIntyre; Stephen Petronio Company alumnus Gerald Casel; and Tere O'Connor, NCCAkron's inaugural artist in residence.
Bolingbroke's startup provides a peer, at long last, to Florida State University's Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC), directed by Carla Peterson. "Carla and I try to stay in close touch," says Bolingbroke, "and I think between the two of us, we can fill in some blanks, in terms of what dance artists need, in order to strengthen the field nationally. I don't take that responsibility lightly"— Zachary Whittenburg, Jun. 19, 2017
Read the full article at the Dance Magazine website.