BEN NEEDHAM-WOOD

Ben Needham-Wood is an Emmy Award-winning choreographer based in San Francisco. His works have been presented nationally by professional companies, TV networks, commercial airlines, film festivals, and galas.

In 2018 Ben co-created the dance film, BaseBallet: Into the Game, which was awarded 4 regional Emmy Awards and recognized by film festivals across the country. This feature was preceded by the short film, BaseBallet, which was also recognized with a regional Emmy Award and was later exhibited at the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Ben is an Artistic Fellow with Amy Seiwert's Imagery, as well as the founder of Redirecting Dance, which uses dance to raise awareness and increase education around critical social issues.

Ben received a Satellite Residency to research dance on camera with filmmaker Lindsay Gauthier in 2021. Ben is also the second annual Community Commissioning Residency (CCR) Artist. The CCR program is the annual fall phase of an initiative called Ideas in Motion, jointly supported by NCCAkron, The University of Akron, The University of Akron Foundation, and the Mary Schiller Myers Lecture Series in the Arts. Needham-Wood was invited to apply through a nomination process by The University of Akron faculty. NCCAkron team members, faculty, and students served on the selection committee, who ultimately chose Needham-Wood based, in part, for his proposed focus on mental health in his choreographic research.