David Roussève is an American
choreographer
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...
, writer, director and filmmaker. He founded his company, David Roussève/REALITY in 1988
and has since choreographed, written and directed 14 evening-length works
for the group. His latest work for REALITY, ''Halfway to Dawn''
premiered in October 2018 at
REDCAT
Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts center for innovative visual, performing and media arts in downtown Los Angeles, California, located inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. Named for ...
in Los Angeles before touring nationally and internationally.
His work addresses issues of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Roussève has commissioned work for a plethora of renowned companies including
Ballet Hispanico,
Dancing Wheels Company,
Houston Ballet
Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company consists of 59 dancers and produces over 85 performances per year. It is the 5th largest ballet company in the United ...
,
Atlanta Ballet
Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the longest continuously performing ballet company in the United States and the State Ballet of Georgia.
History
Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929 by Dorothy Alexander as ...
,
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater,
Dance Alloy,
Ilkhom Theatre
Ilkhom Theatre (Ильхом Театр Марка Вайля) is a theatre company based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Founded by Mark Weil (Марк Яковлевич Вайль) in 1976, it was the first independent theatre in the Soviet Union, an ...
Company of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, among others.
In 2017, he choreographed “
Lost in the Stars
''Lost in the Stars'' is a musical theatre, musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway in 19 ...
” (
Kurt Weil) for
SITI
Siti or SITI may also refer to:
People
* Siti (given name), a common female given name of Arabic origin.
* Siti Kassim (born 1961), Comorian politician
* Siti Mwinyi (born 1932), Tanzanian first lady
* Beáta Siti (born 1973), Hungarian hand ...
Company and
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) is an American chamber orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. LACO presents its Orchestral Series concerts at two venues, the Alex Theatre in Glendale and UCLA's Royce Hall.
History
James Arkatov, ...
.
Roussève’s work “Enough?” a 2016 commission for San Francisco’s RAWDance, was performed at LA’s Ford Theater by
Lula Washington Dance Theatre in 2018.
Roussève graduated magna cum laude
from
Princeton
Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
in 1981
as a Guggenheim Fellow for Creative Arts.
Awards he has received include a Bessie
seven consecutive
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
Fellowships, three LA Horton awards, the Cal Arts/Alpert Award in Dance, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Association of Black Princeton Alumni, a Creative Capital Fellowship and two Irvine Fellowships in Dance.
In 1996, Roussève joined the faculty of UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, where he is currently Distinguished Professor of Choreography.
He has also served as Associate Dean (2014-2015),
Acting Dean (2015) and Interim Dean (2015-2017) for the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.
Personal life
Roussève was raised in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
and participated in
ACT UP
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...
protests while living in New York in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He is married to Steven Rubenstein.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rousseve, David
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American choreographers
Princeton University alumni
Bessie Award winners
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
American university and college faculty deans