Donald Byrd (choreographer) facts for kids

Donald Byrd (born 1949) is an American modern dance choreographer. He is well-known for creating dances that explore important social topics, especially those related to racism and fairness.

Donald Byrd's Dance Career

Donald Byrd has had a long and successful career in dance. For 24 years, starting in 1978, he was the main artistic director of his own dance company, called Donald Byrd/The Group. This group traveled and performed all over the country and even internationally until 2002.

Since 2002, Byrd has been the artistic director of The Spectrum Dance Theater, which is based in Seattle. He is praised for making Spectrum Dance Theater a nationally recognized dance company.

Choreographing for Others

Byrd has created more than 80 modern dance pieces. He has choreographed for his own companies and for many other famous groups. These include the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and The Philadelphia Dance Company (Phildanco). He has also worked with classical ballet companies.

Beyond dance, Byrd has choreographed for theater and opera. He has worked with groups like the New York Shakespeare Festival, the San Francisco Opera, and the New York City Opera.

Shot: A Powerful Performance

In January 2017, Spectrum Dance Theater showed Byrd's work called Shot. This performance used videos and even included a lecture in the middle of the show. It was a strong and emotional piece about the 2016 shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina. The dance also featured the words of his wife, Reykia Scott, pleading, "Stop! Please don't shoot!" and "He has no weapon!"

Greenwood: Exploring History

On December 6, 2019, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater premiered Byrd's work Greenwood. Byrd describes his work as "theater of disruption." He means it makes people think differently, especially about issues related to race.

The Greenwood dance addresses a terrible event from 1921. This was a mob attack in Tulsa, Oklahoma's segregated Greenwood District. At that time, this area was a very successful African-American community, known as "America's Black Wall Street." In the dance, Byrd uses a special storytelling method, showing three different ideas of what might have happened in a specific scene.

Dancer and Teacher

Before becoming a famous choreographer, Donald Byrd was also a dancer. In 1972, he was part of the Twyla Tharp Dance Company. Later, in 1976, he danced with Gus Solomons Jr.'s Dance Company.

Byrd also shared his knowledge by teaching dance. He was a dance instructor at the California Institute of the Arts from 1976 to 1982. He also taught at other universities, including University of California-Santa Cruz, Ohio University, and Wesleyan University.

Awards and Recognition

Donald Byrd has received several awards for his amazing work:

• Special mention at the 3rd Grand Prix International Video Dance Festival in 1990.
• The Bessie Award in 1992 for his work The Minstrel Show.
• The Emerging Dance Award from the Metropolitan Life Foundation.

Donald Byrd's Early Life

Donald Byrd was born on July 21, 1949, in New London, North Carolina. His parents were Jeter Byrd Jr. and Emmarene Clark. His parents separated shortly after he was born. Soon after, he moved with his mother to Clearwater, Florida.

When Donald was about to start fifth grade, his mother and her new husband moved to the Midwest. Donald stayed in Clearwater and was raised by his grandmother, Willie Mae Clark. He lived with her through high school, graduating in 1967 from Pinellas High. This was a school that was segregated (separated by race) at the time.

Growing up, Donald's first passion was music. He studied the classical flute and became a member of the Pinellas Youth Symphony. He was also a drum major for his high school's marching band, the Panthers. In high school, he also enjoyed theater and was on the debate team.

Discovering Dance

Donald Byrd first experienced dance when he was 16 years old. Two dancers from Balanchine's New York City Ballet, Edward Villella and Patricia McBride, gave a special presentation in Clearwater. Byrd attended this event, and the dancers made a big impression on him. However, it was a few years later before he started his formal dance training.

College Years

In 1967, Byrd started attending Yale University. He first studied philosophy, but he also thought about becoming an actor. At Yale, he watched every play put on by the drama school and local theaters. It was at Yale that Byrd first experienced direct unfair treatment because of his race. This was different from the system of segregation he grew up with in the South.

After his first year, Byrd had the chance to tour Europe as a flutist. When he returned, he decided to leave Yale and enroll in Tufts University in Boston.

At Tufts, one of his first friends was William Hurt, who later became a famous actor. Byrd had started to study acting seriously. It was from Hurt that Byrd first learned about the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Following Hurt's suggestion, Byrd went to see a performance of Ailey's famous work, Revelations. This performance was a huge moment for Byrd. For the first time, he truly understood the powerful storytelling that dance could offer.

Byrd attended Tufts University from 1968 to 1974, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also studied dance with Mia Slavenska for six years. He attended the Cambridge School of Ballet and the Harvard Summer Dance Center. In 1972, he also studied at the London School of Contemporary Dance. In 1976, he attended the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Center.

Organizations

Donald Byrd is also involved with the Donald Byrd Dance Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization established in New York in 1985.