Welcome! We invite you to move through our site and see all the opportunities NCCAkron creates for artists to engage with one another, their communities, the city of Akron, and the national dance ecosystem.
The National Center for Choreography - Akron (NCCAkron) supports working dance artists as they experiment, engage in the creative process, and advocate for their work and for the field.
Photo credits: Above video contains images courtesy Dale Dong Photography, Mike Crupi, and Jonny Riese
2025 Knight Choreography Prize Recipients
NCCAkron announces choreographers Alice Sheppard (New York, NY/Los Altos, CA) and Laurel Lawson (Atlanta, GA) of disability arts company Kinetic Light as the latest recipients of the Knight Choreography Prize. Made possible by Knight Foundation, this award is designed to support the artistic experimentation and career longevity of choreographers in the United States.
Each year NCCAkron awards a living choreographer or artist collaborative whose body of work is distinguished not only for their artistry but also for their originality of thought and impact. The award celebrates choreographers who provide significant contributions to the dance field, expand audiences for dance, and ensure the artform has a prominent place in U.S. culture.
Image Description: A moment from DESCENT. Laurel Lawson, a white person with very short cropped hair, balances above Alice Sheppard with arms spread wide, wheelchair wheels spinning. Alice, a multiracial Black woman with coffee-colored skin and short curly hair, opens her arms wide to receive Laurel in an embrace. Photo by BRITT / Jay Newman.
Making Moves: Chicago
NCCAkron will come to Chicago to host Making Moves: Chicago on October 18th at the Walter Lab at the Goodman Theatre. Making Moves: Chicago is a free panel discussion and arts event for Artists on Creative Administration. Panelists will include Christy Bolingbroke (Akron, OH), Raja Feather Kelly (New York, NY), Julia Rhoads (Chicago, IL), and representatives from Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (Chicago, IL).
Pictured: Raja Feather Kelly, Julia Rhoads, Christy Bolingbroke
Stream Season Six of Inside the Dancer's Studio
Pictured left to right, top to bottom (photo credit): Packer and Bridgman (courtesy of the artists), KJ (Wes Klain), Roussève (courtesy of the artist), Uchizono (Matthew Murphy), Baldoz (courtesy of the artist), McIntyre (McKinley Wiley), Rea-Fisher (Lisa Keegan), Body Watani (Sabrina Hammoudeh), Staib (courtesy of Dance/USA), Xavier (Monica Chang), Bowie (courtesy of the artist), Ali (courtesy of YoungArts), Byrd (courtesy of Spectrum Dance Theater), Minor (Devin Muñoz), and BAIRA (Effy Grey).
NCCAkron has launched the sixth season of Inside the Dancer’s Studio, a podcast that brings listeners into the process of creating dance. Through interviews with choreographers from across the United States, Inside the Dancer’s Studio breaks down the mystique of dance-making into engaging, fun, and deeply human conversations about what moves artists to express their truths through creation and performance.
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Artists featured in Season 6 include Kara Jenelle (Los Angeles, CA), Body Watani (Minneapolis, MN), Joe Bowie (Evanston, IL), Reggie Wilson (Brooklyn, NY), BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY (Detroit, MI), George Staib (Atlanta, GA), Raphael Xavier (Philadelphia, PA), Bridgman | Packer Dance (Valley Cottage, NY), Hanna Ali (Miami, FL), Dianne McIntyre (Cleveland, OH), Tiffany Rea-Fisher (New York, NY), Donald Byrd (Seattle, WA), Nia-Amina Minor (Seattle, WA), Donna Uchizono (New York, NY), Kristel Baldoz (Queens, NY), and David Roussève (West Hollywood, CA).​
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​Read the press release for more information.
OUR IMPACT
NCCAkron aims to foster geographic equity and to fulfill our potential as a national center. We commit to supporting a stronger, more visibly connected network focused on research and development across the dance ecosystem.
