Donald Byrd

Mr. Byrd, a TONY nominated (The Color Purple) and Bessie Award winning (The Minstrel Show) choreographer, became Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater in December 2002. From 1978 – 2002, he was Artistic Director of Donald Byrd/The Group, a critically acclaimed contemporary dance company, founded in Los Angeles and later based in New York, that toured extensively, both nationally and internationally. He has created numerous modern and contemporary dance works for his own groups as well as for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco), among others; has choreographed for classical companies, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Aterballetto, MaggioDanza diFirenze, and Oregon Ballet Theater.

Donald Byrd’s career has been long and complex and his choreographic and theatrical interests are broad. The New York Times describes him as “a choreographer with multiple personalities … an unabashed eclectic.” It continues, “Yet he does more than hop like a magpie from style to style, taking any subject matter and imagery he finds along the way that strike his fancy. His unruliness is accompanied by a love of order.” In the same article it states, “Mr. Byrd has repeatedly alluded to George Balanchine in his works. Balanchine was an unparalleled master of form. Yet he could also present haunting visions of chaos. Mr. Byrd, like him, is preoccupied with harmony and disruption.” To this point Donald Byrd is equally at home creating cool, abstract pure dance works such as his 2012 work LOVE set to the complete cello suites of Benjamin Britten and the 2011 Euclidean Space set to the music of Amon Tobin, virtuoso sound designer and influential electronic music artist; to his theatrical narrative driven pieces like the ‘carny’ Petrushska and storefront Miraculous Mandarin, his revisionist versions of iconic early 20th Century ballets. Yet he is also known for creating lovely valentines to 19th Century classical repertory including The Harlem Nutcracker (1996) and The Sleeping Beauty Notebook (2005). As well as imaginative choreographic tributes to jazz legends and composers including In A Different Light (2000) set to the lesser known piece of Duke Ellington, Burlesque (2002) created to early recordings of Louis Armstrong, and Jazz Train (1998) to commissioned scores by Vernon Reid, Geri Allen, and the great Max Roach. These works along with The Harlem Nutcracker with its score by Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn and David Berger were critical and audience successes and toured extensively.

His non dance-company work has been with some of the most prestigious theater and opera companies in the U.S and abroad, including The New York Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Intiman Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, Houston Grand Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Seattle Opera, Israeli Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, and the Dutch National Opera. He counts among his numerous collaborators an eclectic mix of distinguished artists including stage director Peter Sellars, writer/actor Anna Deavere Smith, and the great jazz drummer Max Roach and pianist Ramsey Lewis.

Mr. Byrd has frequently been referred to as a ‘citizen artist’ a descriptive that perfectly aligns with his personal beliefs and an important component of Spectrum Dance Theater’s mission – “dance as an art form and as a social/civic instrument.” Some of his past projects for Spectrum are a cycle of three evening-length works that sought, through dance, to stimulate dialogue around a post-9/11, globalized America: A Chekhovian Resolution (a personal, diary-like reflection on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict), Farewell: A Fantastical Contemplation on America’s Relationship with China (inspired by the novel Beijing Coma from Ma Jian and the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square), and The Mother of Us All (a dense, collage like abstract meditation on contemporary Africa). Other productions for Spectrum that align to this mission are Interrupted Narratives/War (narratives from The Iraqi War) and The Theater of Needless Talents (artists victims of the Holocaust). As testament to his commitment to art as a Credible Partner of Social Justice, recent Spectrum Seasons (2015-2022), he conceived, programmed, choreographed, and directed: #RACEish – An Exploration of America’s 240 Years of (failed) Race Relations; America – Identity, Race, Culture?; Bringing It Home – Dancing Towards A More Just and  Equitable America; WOKE???; Land of the Shucks (an all virtual, game like production that focused on the impact of a climate a disaster on surviving humans far into the future); and INSIDIOUS (a trilogy of works that considers Jim Crow and its lasting legacy).

His many awards and prizes include Doris Duke Artist Award, Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts, The James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award from Artist Trust, Masters of Choreography Award from The Kennedy Center; Dance/USA HONOR Award; Fellow at The American Academy of Jerusalem; James Baldwin Fellow of United States Artists; and the Mayor’s Arts Award for his sustained contributions to the City of Seattle.

He was recently named a Laureate of The Rainier Club which highlights a “creative artist of distinction who helps shape culture and captures and embraces the human spirit side of their field… whose works [has] some serious purpose.”

From October 12, 2019 – January 26, 2020 The Frye Museum in Seattle presented “Donald Byrd: The America That Is To Be”, Byrd’s first solo museum exhibition that covers four decades in which he has created innovative and startling dance theater works.

In addition, he has received numerous grants and awards from many national foundations to support his projects and productions including The Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, New England Foundation, Map Fund, Jerome Foundation, Seattle Foundation, and New York Foundation for the Arts; as well as local and national government agencies including 4Culture, The Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Mr. Byrd has served as a Seattle Arts Commissioner, sat on many boards including Dance/USA and Dance Theater Workshop (now New York Live Arts), as well as served on numerous panels including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Tony nominating committee. He regularly teaches around the country and has been a Cultural Envoy for The U.S. Department of State and was a fellow at the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue based at Harvard. In 2013 he and Spectrum Dance Theater toured South Asia (Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) as part of DanceMotion/USA, a joint partnership between the State Department and The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) that presents the best of American dance to international audiences. He returned for a second visit to Bangladesh where he was engaged for a month-long collaboration with SHADHONA’ – A Center for the Advancement of South Asian Culture and the US Embassy in Dhaka. Currently, in addition to his work at Spectrum he serves on Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) Diversity Task Force.

He is currently working on his memoir.

For the full press release, please click here.