Laura Dean

Laura Dean (Composer/Choreographer), internationally acclaimed both as a choreographer and a composer, has been recognized by the New York Times as ”unquestionably one of the masters of American modern dance“, creating choreography that has ” the complexity of a genius“. She has been recognized by the San Francisco Examiner as ”one of the major artists of the age.“ Ms. Dean has created thirty-five works for her company which she found in 1972. She has been commissioned to create work for many other dance companies including the following: two works for the Royal Danish Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Frankfurt Ballet, the Ohio Ballet and seven works for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, including the much-acclaimed section of Prince/BILLBOARDS. Modern companies for whom she has created work include the Bat-Dor Dance Company of Israel, Concert Dance Company of Boston, and the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. Among the awards that Laura Dean has received are The Brandeis Creative Arts Award for Extraordinary Artistic Achievement in Dance, a ”Bessie“ New York Dance Award, two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships for Choreography, the Dance Magazine Award, Harvard University's Certificate of Appreciation, and the Lester Horton Award for Music and Dance. She is a North Carolina Arts Council Choreography Fellow for 1998-99. Ms. Dean has served as a member of the dance panels for the National Endowments for the Arts. She has also served on the panels of the National Choreography Project, the National Dance Residency Program, the Business in the Arts Awards and was recently awarded a ”Millennium Grant“ from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.