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Choreographer Reggie Wilson's ongoing,
in-depth field research and extensive travels is a model of
a 21st century artist working in a global context. Wilson's
travels from Zimbabwe, Senegal, and Congo-Brazzaville to Trinidad
and Tobago, and the Mississippi Delta have led him to question
accepted concepts of time, space, and dynamics, and to continued
collaborations with dancers throughout the world. This global
context helps him distill and transform ritual and social
dance and vocal forms, (such as Chicago- style Stepping, Pantsula,
the Big Apple, field hollers, shouts...), post-modern task-based
structures, contemporary movement techniques, and the movement
languages and gestures of Africans in the Diaspora, to create
what he calls "Post-African/Neo HooDoo Modern Dance."
By experimenting with the existing tension and energies between
tradition and innovation, he comes face-to-face with new methods
of mining connections and disconnections in the spread of
dance beyond the western avant-garde. Wilson sees Performance
as a site of transcendence; building and manipulating energy
in a space is a core aesthetic practice. Following a multi-year
exchange and collaboration with the Senegal-based Congolese
choreographer Andréya Ouamba, Wilson will premiere
The Good Dance-dakar/brooklyn in the fall.
 www.pentacle.org/Artist_Roster_Reggie_Wilson.htm
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Reggie Wilson, Artistic Director and Founder
1989-Present: Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group
Born Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1967
Education
1988: BFA Dance, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University |
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Selected
Choreography
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| 2009 |
The GOOD DANCE-dakar/brooklyn (upcoming) BAM Next Wave festival, New York, NY. Full evening work. Collaboration of Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group and Andréya Ouamba/Cie 1er Temps, resulting from 5 year exchange and collaboration |
| 2008 |
Kwenda Vutuka French Institute:Alliance Française (FI:AF), New York, NY. An evening of repertoire of Fist and Heel and Cie 1er Temps and a work-in-progress excerpt of “The Good Dance” |
| 2007 |
Accounting for Customs Steps of the US Customs House, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY. Site-specific Collaboration with Andréya Oumba |
| 2007 |
We Ain't Goin' Home But We Finna Get The Hell Up Outta Here Victoria Theatre, Dayton, Ohio. Dayton Contemporary Dance Company commissioned work as part of the Jacob Lawrence Project. |
| 2006 |
Left Moat-East Dancing in the Streets, A Dance Charette A site-specific performance at the fort on Governor’s Island, NYC |
| 2006 |
The Tale: Npinpee Nckutchie and the Tail of the Golden Dek Dance Theater Workshop, NYC Evening length work- Feb 2006. Hostos Community College and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors performances in NY
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| 2004 |
Big Brick - a man’s piece City Center, New York, Fall for Dance Festival
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| 2003 |
Black Burlesque (revisited) Dance Theater Workshop (premiere), New York, NY. Tri-lateral, multi-year collaboration with Black Umfolosi (Zimbabwe), and Noble Douglas Dance Company (Trinidad and Tobago) |
| 2002 |
The Tie-tongued Goat and the Lightning Bug Who Tried To Put Her Foot Down Danspace Project. An evening of dance works
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| 2000 |
Wangena--the birthday concerts Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY. An evening of dance works |
| 1999 |
Qoqoda Dance Place, Washington, DC, February 2000, LINKFEST, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, August 2000. |
| 1998 |
Rum and Salvation Queen's Hall, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. Commissioned collaborative work with Noble Douglas performed by Fist and Heel and Noble Douglas Dance Company Inc. |
| 1997 |
Africa in America Tisch Auditorium at the 92nd Street Y, New York, NY. Curated program of dance and music groups from the African Diaspora.
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| 1996 |
love Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, New York, NY. Evening-length work. Also performed at Festival e'Nkundleni, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Nov 1996. |
| 1995 |
Fête Fuh So! The BAM Majestic Theater, Brookyn, NY. A 651 World Series; Wilson curated dance program celebrating the cultures of Trinidad and Tobago.
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| 1995 |
A Black Burlesque Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY. An evening-length work |
| 1994 |
Shouting Rings Movement Research at Judson Church, New York. NY 1994 Holy Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA. An evening of works.
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| 1990 |
Kaffir Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY. An evening of dance works |
| 1989 |
N/um Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY. Fresh Tracks showcase for new work--a shared evening
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| 1988 |
Either Side of the Mountain Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Israel. Commissioned by Israel Museum-Jerusalem. Collaboration with choreographer Yin Mei; music: traditional Chinese by Chan Yuan Wang. |
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Company Touring
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| 2006-pres. |
Albuquerque, NM; Becket, MA; Chicago, IL; Hanover, NH; Helena, MT; Hudson, NY; Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Maui, Hilo, Honolulu, HI; Philadelphia, PA
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| 2003-2005 |
Chicago, IL; Albany NY; Corning, NY, Davis, CA; Hartford, CT; College Park, MD; Easton, PA; Tucson, AZ; Miami, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Dakar, Senegal; Bytom, Poland; Dusseldorf, Germany |
| 2000-2002 |
Washington, DC; Champaign/Urbana, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Gaborone, Botswana; London, United Kingdom |
| 1999-2000 |
Washington, DC; Milwaukee, WI; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis; MN; Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Gaborone, Botswana
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Cultural and Field Research
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| Oct 2008 |
Kenya, Tanzania Panels, conversations and movement workshops for choreographers, dancers, and movement artists
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| May-June 2007 |
Ivory Coast, Gabon, Cameroon, and Congo-Brazzaville Workshops, cultural investigations and conversations with Contemporary Choreographers and cultural organizers
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| 2006 |
Mali, and Cameroon - Workshops, cultural investigations and conversations with Contemporary Choreographers and cultural organizers |
| 2002-2005 |
Ghana, Senegal, Chad, Mali and Cameroon - Workshops, cultural investigations and conversations with Contemporary Choreographers and cultural organizers. Bytom, Poland-Teaching workshop |
| 1993-2000 |
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique - Workshops, cultural investigations and conversations with Contemporary Choreographers and cultural organizers
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| 1991-1998 |
Trinidad and Tobago Field research with the Spiritual Baptists and Shangoists religious practitioners. And workshops, cultural investigations and conversations with Contemporary Choreographers and cultural organizers |
| 1994-1998 |
New Orleans, LA, Memphis, TN and Mississippi, Arkansas |
| 1998-pres. |
Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL
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Awards / Fellowships / Grants
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| 2002 |
BESSIE AWARD A New York Dance and Performance Award |
| 2002 |
Guggenheim Fellowship |
| 2001, '05, '08 |
National Dance Project New England Foundation for the Arts |
| 2000, '07 |
BUILD New York Foundation for the Arts |
| 2005, '07 |
Altria |
| 2002, '06 |
National Performance Network's Creation Fund |
| 2004, '05 |
US Embassy- Chad |
| 2002, '05 |
The Greenwall Foundation |
| 1994, '97, 2004 |
New York Foundation
of the Arts —
Choreographer’s Fellowships |
| 1996, '98, 2000,
'03 |
The Fund for US
Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions -
Arts International |
| 1995, 2003 |
The Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production (MAP) Fund |
| 1996, '98, 2000,
'03 |
The Fund for US
Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions -
Arts International |
| 2000 |
Minnesota Dance Alliance McKnight National Fellowship |
| 1995, 2000 |
Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Arts Partners |
| 1992-96 |
National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s Fellowship |
| 1992 |
Gowanus Arts Exchange Resident Artist, Brooklyn, NY
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Reserved. Site design: MINKWIG
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