Billbob received his BFA in dance from Arizona State, and his MA in Dance History from the University of New Mexico. He was most recently the Chair of the School of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, a leading tertiary institution in Asia, in 2015, before relocating to Tucson, Arizona, his current home.  Before that he was the Director of the Dance Program of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a part of the Five College Dance Department, where he was stationed for 22 years.  He was the chair of the Massachusetts Dance Festival, which brings dance companies from around the U.S. to perform together in various locations in New England, and helped create many, many cross-disciplinary collaborations. He was on the regional board of directors of the American College Dance Conference, and hosted a highly successful ACDA conference at UMass in 2013.  He has a career-long reputation for creating and performing works that are funny, emotionally engaging, physically demanding, visually exciting, and thoughtful.

 

He has choreographed on many dance companies throughout the country, and been an artist-in-residence at hundreds of institutions at the K-12 and secondary education level, including Harvard University, Roger Williams University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Colby-Sawyer College, Springfield College, Western Wyoming Community College, Western Illinois University, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, and many, many others.

 

He has choreographed and performed in TV work and commercials for the Chicago Cubs, Molson Canadian Beer, Disney Studios, and ABC-TV, which have received numerous international awards, including Addies and awards for best media and production/design. He has toured nationally and internationally with various dance companies including the acclaimed Bill Evans Dance Company, and has taught dance and performed in various languages and countries, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Switzerland, England, and Mexico. He has created and directed several successful dance companies, with which he still works, including Desert Dance Theatre in Phoenix, now in its 37th year (and with whom he still choreographs); his company Chaos Theory Dance (for 14 years), which specializes in video/voice/movement combined with ideas from science and physics/astronomy; and Buen Viaje Dancers, a group of people with disabilities, with whom he produced the Emmy-award winning video, “Opening Doors,” which was seen across the U.S. on PBS stations for a number of years. He has written, directed, and choreographed shows for the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival.

 

Billbob’s teaching and choreography emphasize spatial and energetic awareness, community and social connectivity, through humor, serious topics, and digital arts.  His approach is a global, multicultural one which honors the diversity of our traditions and the complexity of our universe.  Billbob is a gifted community leader and builder, and a successful engager of audiences; he has collaborated with scientists, historians, writers, musicians, orchestras, and artists. He makes the magic of dance happen.

SPECIAL SUBJECT AREAS:

Dance History: Rennaisance/Baroque era; jazz era; Dance in the Movies; modern dance developments; Laban history; East-West connections; Dance as Protest; Dance and Gender; Contemporary Dance in the World Today; Digital Developments.

 

Writing for Dance: Dance criticism; presentational skills; thesis development; aesthetics.

 

Creativity: All levels of Composition and Improvisation; Performing Skills; Creative Thinking Skills; Digital Design (Photoshop, InDesign, Video Design, Isadora, Illustrator, Poster and Program Design).

 

Technique: Evans-based technique ad other eclectic modern, contemporary, jazz, and Hip-Hop techniques; Luigi technique; Mattox technique; Upside-Down Classes; Gaga-esque improvisational techniques including Chaos Theory; Men's Dance; Strength & Conditioning Class.

 

Dance Education: Teaching children's dance; dance in the K-12 curriculum; building lecture-demonstrations; dance advocacy; building teaching tools and skills; working with people with disabilities.

 

Choreography: for professional dancers in all styles (Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Chinese Dance, Percussive Dance) and creative boundary-pushing aesthetics, from Avant-garde to commercial.   Student-level work in all styles for all ages; community involvement, work with people with disabilities, site-specific work, and improvisational structures.

 

Physical Fitness: Group fitness, fitness for seniors, injury prevention, alignment and form for exercise, upper-body strengthening techniques, mind-body connection, visualisation techniques, nutrition, anatomy and kinesiology.

Copyright 2016 Billbob Brown

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