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Dianne McIntyre (born July 18, 1946) is an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Her notable works include ''Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Dance Adventure in Southern Blues (A Choreodrama)'', an adaptation of
Zora Neal Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo ...
's novel ''
Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work. The novel explores protagonist Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibran ...
'', as well as productions of ''why i had to dance,'' '' spell #7'', and ''
for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf #REDIRECT For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf {{R from move ...
'', with text by
Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...
. She has won numerous honors for her work including an
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
nomination, three
Bessie Awards The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...
, and a
Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They are ...
. She is a member of the
Stage Directors and Choreographers Society The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC), is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographe ...
, the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
, and the
Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. It was born in 1921 out of the Authors Guild, known then as Authors League of America, formed in 1912. M ...
.


Early life and education

McIntyre was born in Cleveland, Ohio to
Dorothy Layne McIntyre Dorothy Arlene Layne McIntyre (27 January 1917 – 30 August 2015) was an African-American aviator and educator. In 1940, she became the first African-American woman to receive a pilot's license from the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Biography ...
, the first
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
woman to be licensed by the
Civil Aeronautics Authority The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated A ...
, and Francis Benjamin McIntyre. At the age of four, McIntyre began studying ballet under the tutelage of Elaine Gibbs after seeing Janet Collins in the Metropolitan Opera Company's Cleveland production of ''
Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...
''. As a teenager, she studied modern dance with Virginia Dryansky. In 1964, McIntyre graduated from John Adams High School before attending
Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
. There, she first studied French with plans to become a linguist with the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, but she became a dance major during her third year after taking a dance history course with Shirley Wynne. McIntyre recalled, "In my third year, I said, I have to stop fooling myself. ..The dance-history courses really shifted me to say, Yes—go for it if that’s what you want to do." During her time at Ohio State, the university commissioned her to choreograph for an evening with
Lucas Hoving Lucas Hoving (September 5, 1912 – January 5, 2000) was a modern dancer, choreographer and teacher most famous for the roles he created as an original member of the José Limón Dance Company. Hoving performed opposite Limón in several of the ...
,
Doris Humphrey Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second gen ...
, and
Anna Sokolow Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910 – March 29, 2000) was an American dancer and choreographer. Sokolow's work is known for its social justice focus and theatricality. Throughout her career, Sokolow supported the development of modern dance arou ...
. In 1966, McIntyre attended the
American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...
where she would later return as a member of the faculty in the early 1990s and in 2008.


Career

While taking graduate courses at Ohio State University, the head of the dance department, Helen P. Alkire put McIntyre's name up for a position at the
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
, where McIntyre was then hired. There, she choreographed for a year before moving to New York City in 1970. In New York, McIntyre studied under
Viola Farber Viola Farber (February 25, 1931 – December 24, 1998) was an American choreographer and dancer. Biography Viola Farber was born on February 25, 1931, in Heidelberg, Germany. In Germany, Farber began dancing. However, at the age of six she was ...
and Gus Solomons Jr. among others. At a workshop with
Anna Sokolow Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910 – March 29, 2000) was an American dancer and choreographer. Sokolow's work is known for its social justice focus and theatricality. Throughout her career, Sokolow supported the development of modern dance arou ...
, the Nikolais Dance Theater, Judith Dunn, and
Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...
she found herself drawn to the connection between dance composition and
avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...
and
free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...
. She began to attend the rehearsals of jazz musicians, such as the Master Brotherhood, where she taught herself how to move to jazz. Her frequent attendance at the Master Brotherhood rehearsals earned her the nickname the "Cancer Dancer," because she was born in July. McIntyre cites "a feeling of that time in the
Black Arts Movement The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...
" as the source of her passion for combining dance and live jazz. She explained that "many of us artists who were black, in whatever our particular field, we had a consciousness about what our work was saying for the moving forward of the consciousness about our race and our place in the society." Upon moving to New York in 1970, McIntyre performed with the Gus Solomon Jr.'s dance company for 2 years. McIntyre held her first solo concert at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts. Under the mentorship of Louise Roberts, the director of the Clark Center, McIntyre founded the Harlem studio and company, Sounds in Motion, in 1972. She then held concerts at the Cubiculo Theatre and Washington Square Church while supporting her endeavors out of her own pocket.


Sounds in Motion

During this time, she worked part-time at the
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...
in the dance collection. Upon advice from others, McIntyre began applying for grants in order to fund her project when Sounds in Motion joined the
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 ...
dance-touring program. Sounds in Motion performed at venues such as the
Joyce Theater The Joyce Theatre Foundation is a leading presenter of dance in New York City and nationally. It is runs, in part, from the Joyce Theater, a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea, Manhattan, Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in ...
,
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...
, and
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
, as well as touring in Europe. During this time, works by Sounds in Motion included '' Life's Force'' (1979), created in collaboration with
Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band. Biography He began playing the trumpet at age 13 in his native New York City. One of the first groups he performed with wa ...
while Sounds in Motion was in residency, ''Take Off From a Forced Landing'' (1984), which was based on her mother's experiences as an aviator, and a performance in 1986 based on
Zora Neal Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo ...
's 1937 novel, ''
Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work. The novel explores protagonist Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibran ...
''. During the 1970s and 1980s, Sounds in Motion was the only modern dance studio to be found in Harlem. The studio was a space where what McIntyre termed "the culture crowd," a label that included not only dancers and musicians, but scholars, activists, and artists from all fields, could gather and engage in furthering movement of Black consciousness. Many students who studied under McIntyre at the Sound in Motion studio went on to accomplish much in their own right, including
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (born December 21, 1950) is an American dancer, teacher and choreographer of modern dance. She is the founder of the Urban Bush Women dance company. Biography One of six children, she was born Willa Jo Zollar in Kansas City ...
, founder of
Urban Bush Women Urban Bush Women (UBW), founded in 1984 by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, is a Brooklyn, New York-based non-profit dance company and professional African-American women's dance company. The ensemble performs choreography by Zollar and several other chore ...
. Sixteen years after its founding, McIntyre closed Sounds in Motion in 1988 to pursue independent work. McIntyre is credited with encouraging renewed interest in the work of modern dance pioneer
Helen Tamiris Helen Tamiris (born Helen Becker; April 23, 1902 – August 4, 1966) was an American choreographer, modern dancer, and teacher. Tamiris began her studies in modern dance at the Henry Street Settlement as a child, and began her career in the fi ...
through a recreation of Tamiris' 1937 masterpiece, ''How Long, Brethren?'' in 1991. As a freelancer, McIntyre choreographed the
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
productions of ''
Mule Bone ''Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life'' is a 1930 play by American authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The process of writing the play led Hughes and Hurston, who had been close friends, to sever their relationship. ''Mule Bone'' was n ...
'' (1991), the original and revival of ''Paul Robeson'' (1988 and 1995 respectively), and ''
King Hedley II ''King Hedley II'' is a play by American playwright August Wilson, the ninth in his ten-part series, '' The Pittsburgh Cycle''. The play ran on Broadway in 2001 and was revived Off-Broadway in 2007. Productions ''King Hedley II'' premiered at ...
'' (2001).
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
, McIntyre also choreographed
Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...
winner
Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...
's '' Spell #7'' at The Public Theatre, and for London's West End, she choreographed ''King, the Musical''. Her choreography has also been featured on television in HBO's ''
Miss Evers' Boys ''Miss Evers' Boys'' is an American made-for-television drama starring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne that first aired on February 22, 1997, and is based on the true story of the four-decade-long Tuskegee Syphilis Study. It was directed by ...
'' (1997), for which she was nominated for an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for Outstanding Choreography, and in the 1998 film ''Beloved'', based on the novel of the same name by
Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...
. PBS profiled McIntyre in their 2001 three-part documentary, ''Free to Dance'', a co-production between of the
American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...
and
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
. In 2011, McIntyre acted as choreographer for the film ''
Fun Size ''Fun Size'' is a 2012 American teen comedy film directed by Josh Schwartz, written by Max Werner, and starring Victoria Justice, Thomas Mann, Jane Levy and Chelsea Handler. The film tells the story of a teenage girl's Halloween plans gone ...
''. In 2012, Sounds in Motion reunited at the American Dance Guild Festival where they performed ''Life's Force'' with
Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band. Biography He began playing the trumpet at age 13 in his native New York City. One of the first groups he performed with wa ...
. That same year, she choreographed ''Crowns'' at the
Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the ...
in Chicago. McIntyre has been a guest artist and teacher at numerous institutions including the
American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...
,
Jacob's Pillow Dance Jacob's Pillow is a Dance studio, dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The facility itself was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 2003. History The site of Jacob's Pi ...
, and the Bates Summer Dance Festival. She has also been on the faculty of
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
.


Collaboration with Ntozake Shange

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...
first met McIntyre as a student and performer at McIntyre's dance company, Sounds in Motion. Since then, the two of them have collaborated on a number of works including The Public Theatre's 1979 production of Shange's '' Spell #7'', in the 2007 New Federal Theatre's festival ''Ntozake Shange: A Retrospective'', Shange's one-act play, ''It Hasn't Always Been This Way'', and in 2012, Shange's choreopoem, and ''why i had to dance'', produced by Oberlin College and Cleveland’s PlayhouseSquare. Before the premiere of ''why i had to dance'', McIntyre joined Shange in her talk at Oberlin discussing Shange's 2011 work, ''lost in language & sound: or how I found my way to the arts''. In 2013,
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
's Africana Studies Program and Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Studies hosted a two-day conference titled ''The Worlds of Ntozake Shange''. At the event, McIntyre and Shange discussed their work together and the legacy of their collaboration. In 2014, McIntyre returned to Barnard to hold a movement workshop for a course on Ntozake Shange's work and influence. In 2014, McIntyre choreographed a new choreopoem by Shange which premiered at the Brooklyn and Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


Selected works

* ''Life's Force'' (1979) * '' spell #7'' (1979) * ''
for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf #REDIRECT For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf {{R from move ...
'' (1982) * ''Take Off From a Forced Landing'' (1984) * ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' (1986) * ''Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper'' (1988) * ''How Long, Brethren?'' (1991) * ''
Miss Evers' Boys ''Miss Evers' Boys'' is an American made-for-television drama starring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne that first aired on February 22, 1997, and is based on the true story of the four-decade-long Tuskegee Syphilis Study. It was directed by ...
'' (1997) * ''Beloved'' (1998) * ''It Hasn't Always Been This Way'' (2007) * ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' (2009) * ''Just Yesterday'' (2010) * ''Open the Door Virginia!'' (2005) * ''Front Porch Lies and Other Conversations'' (2007) * ''Daughter of a Buffalo Soldier'' (2005) * ''why i had to dance'' (2012)


Awards and recognition

* 1989, 1997, 2006
Bessie Awards The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...
* 1993, 1996 Helen Hayes Awards Resident Design * 1997
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for Outstanding Choreography * 2006 Cleveland Arts Prize Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance * 2007 John S. Guggenheim Fellowship * 2008 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Chair for Distinguished Teaching * 2009 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from
State University of New York Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...
* 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award
Doris Duke Performing Artist Award The Doris Duke Artist Award is undertaken by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and designed to "empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering multi-year, unrestricted funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique t ...
* 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award
Doris Duke Performing Artist Award The Doris Duke Artist Award is undertaken by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and designed to "empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering multi-year, unrestricted funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique t ...


See also

*
Black Arts Movement The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...
* Choreopoem *
for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf #REDIRECT For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf {{R from move ...
*
Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance compan ...
*
Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...
*
Zora Neal Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Dianne American choreographers American modern dancers African-American female dancers African-American dancers African-American choreographers American female dancers Dancers from Ohio