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 at The University of Akron (NCCAkron) supports working dance artists as they experiment, engage in the creative process, and advocate for their work and for the field.
We're Growing
NCCAkron has voted four new members to its board of directors: Dacquiri Baptiste (Memphis, TN), Meg Booth (Houston, TX),
DeMarcus Akeem Suggs (Minneapolis, MN), and Christy Bolingbroke (Akron, OH).
In addition to expanding the board to better represent the field we serve, NCCAkron seeks to consciously model a more equitable distribution of power. As a two-year governance experiment, the board unanimously elected Bolingbroke (the person in the role) as a voting board member versus the Executive/Artistic Director (the role) as an ex-officio non-voting member.
.png)
$1.5M toward the Future of Dance
NCCAkron is excited to announce the $1.5M commitment from The Knight Foundation for the creation of the Knight Dance Award.
The Knight Dance Award is envisioned to honor a living choreographer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its artistry but also for its originality of thought and impact.
The award will celebrate the experimentation and longevity of choreographers in the United States with an eye to the future, embodying the established craft of choreography as well as new practices to shape a 21st century dance landscape.
NCCAkron hosted a National Summit Convening for Creative Administration Research (CAR) earlier in 2022.
Funded by a multi-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 19 Artist Teams from across the U.S. focus on challenging the national dance ecosystem to think beyond traditional models and “best practices.” Over three days, participants shared and compared notes from their individual journeys; moved together, physicalizing their administrative thinking; and created new shared reference experiences to inform their work moving forward.
Watch the Opening Plenary with Marc 'Bamuthi' Joseph here.
Provide space for artists to exchange knowledge and/or try something new.
Support opportunities for dance makers, writers, and artist-administrators to deepen their practice and realize their visions, at any stage of their creative process.
Elevate the voices of artists through documentation, publishing, archiving, and writing.
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.
“I would consider NCCAkron as a place where ideas can become reality. Experiments build curiosity.”
- NCCAKRON ALUMNI ARTIST
NCCAkron’s social media and its monthly digital newsletters share inspiration, opportunities and insight on what’s happening at the Center and in the field.
Photo credits: Above video contains images courtesy Dale Dong Photography; Mike Crupi; Jonny Riese