ASZURE BARTON

ASZURE BARTON is a prolific creator whose dance work has been equated to “watching the physical unfurling of the human psyche” by the US National Endowment for the Arts. She started tap dancing at the age of three and has been creating for as long as she can remember. Her works have been performed on stages throughout the world, including the Palais Garnier, Mariinsky Theater, The Kennedy Center, Studio 54, Lincoln Center, and Sadler’s Wells, as well as in museums and exhibits, such as the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. She has choreographed for theater, film, and opera, including Broadway, notably for the production of The Threepenny Opera. Early in her career, she founded her own project, Aszure Barton & Artists, in order to create an autonomous, interdisciplinary, and collaborative platform for process-centered creation. Aszure has worked with celebrated artists and companies including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jessica Chastaine, Misty Copeland, Alan Cumming, Cyndi Lauper, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Nederlands Dans Theater, Teatro alla Scala, American Ballet Theatre, Sydney Dance Company, English National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company, and Martha Graham Dance Company, among others. Last year, she premiered a new work (Mere Mortals) at San Francisco Ballet in collaboration with British electronic music producer/DJ Floating Points and mixed media artists Hamill Industries — the first evening-length work created by a woman in SFB’s history, curated by Artistic Director Tamara Rojo. Aszure is also delighted to be the current Resident Artist at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Her latest artistic venture is a collaboration with acclaimed trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire; the two premiered their first work titled B E N D at Kampnagel’s International Summer Festival and plan to tour it internationally over the next few years with the partnership of Pomegranate Arts. Tanz Magazine's Falk Schraiber described its "refusal of categorization" and called it "a collaborative work that also draws its appeal from the fact that two artists who are completely secure in their field playfully unsettle each other.” They also created a full-evening collaboration, Slow Burn, at Hamburg Ballett and will premiere a new collaboration (Join) with the Limón Dance Company later this month. Aszure Barton continues to be an innovator of form, having contributed to an evolution of highly specialized dance and theater companies worldwide. Over the years, she has received a myriad of accolades including a Bessie Award for her work Busk. She was the first Martha Duffy Resident Artist at Baryshnikov Arts and is a recipient of the prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the likes of Oscar Peterson, Karen Kain, and Margaret Atwood. She is also an official ambassador of contemporary choreography in Canada. As an educator, Aszure is creative partner with Boston Conservatory at Berklee College and has built a longtime working relationship with The Juilliard School.

BOB FOSSE

BOB FOSSE is one of the most internationally recognized figures in the history of the performing arts for his groundbreaking, genre-defining work as a director, choreographer, performer, and writer across various mediums on both stage and screen. In 1973, he became the first director in history to win the Oscar, Tony, and Emmy awards in a single year for his spectacular triumphs with Cabaret on film, Pippin on Broadway, and “Liza with a Z” on television. Though he got his start as a performer, Mr. Fosse’s career as a creative force on Broadway began in 1954 when he served as choreographer for the Original Broadway production of The Pajama Game, earning him the first of his nine Tony Awards. He went on to choreograph Damn Yankees, Bells Are Ringing, New Girl In Town, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and direct and choreograph Redhead, Little Me, Sweet Charity (which he also conceived), Pippin, Liza, Chicago (for which he also co-wrote the book), Dancin’, Big Deal (for which he also wrote the book), and the 1986 revival of Sweet Charity. On film, he served as director and choreographer for Sweet Charity, Cabaret, All That Jazz (also co-screenwriter), and Star 80 (also co-screenwriter), earning him an Academy Award and two additional nominations for Best Director, as well as a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. All That Jazz also won the Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. His additional film credits include choreography for The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, and The Little Prince. Born in Chicago, Mr. Fosse began dancing at age nine and made his first professional appearance at thirteen with his childhood friend Charles Grass under the name “The Riff Brothers.” After serving with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Islands during World War II, he reignited his career as a dancer, performing alongside Mary Ann Niles in Call Me Mister, Make Mine Manhattan, and Dance Me a Song. He also appeared in the MGM films Give a Girl a Break; The Affairs of Dobie Gillis; and Kiss Me, Kate. His last performing engagements were with New York City Center, dancing the title role in their revival of Pal Joey and dancing the role of The Serpent in The Little Prince on screen. Bob Fosse passed away in 1987, on the Opening Night of the National Tour of Sweet Charity. Mr. Fosse’s work constantly finds new life in productions like the long running Broadway revival of Chicago (1996), Fosse (1999), and the Broadway revival of Dancin’ (2023), as well as in the Emmy Award-winning FX series “Fosse/Verdon” (2019), and the trio of dances Sweet Gwen Suite (2021). The Verdon Fosse Legacy®, founded by his daughter, Nicole Fosse, ensures Mr. Fosse’s enduring legacy will continue to help shape the entertainment landscape for years to come. 

JOHAN INGER

The Swede JOHAN INGER (Stockholm, 1967) joined Nederlands Dans Theater 1 in 1990 and was a high-profile dancer of the company until 2002. His debut as choreographer (1995), also for Nederlands Dans Theater, quickly became promising with immediate recognition for his ballets Dream Play and Walking Mad. He received the Lucas Hoving Production Award in October 2001. Walking Mad was later also awarded the Danza & Danza Award 2005. Johan left Nederlands Dans Theater to take on the artistic leadership of Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm in 2003 where he created numerous works. Since 2008, Johan has worked as a freelance choreographer and creates for many companies around the globe such as GoteborgsOperan, Ballet Basel, Swedish National Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza, Aterballetto, Lyon Opera Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and of course Nederlands Dans Theater, holding the position as Associate Choreographer from 2009 to 2016. Between 2016 and 2022, Johan choreographed (i.a.) his own versions of the narrative pieces Petrushka and Sleeping Beauty (Aurora’s Nap), and full evenings such as Carmen, Peer Gynt and Don Juan. He was honoured in 2016 with the Benois de la Danse Prize for his Carmen (CNDMadrid), the piece One on One (NDT2), and with the Danza & Danza award for his piece Bliss, as well in 2020 for his Don Juan as best Italian production (Aterballetto). In 2022, Johan Inger also became artistic director of Take Off Dance, a training program for pre-professional dancers between the ages of 18 and 24 based in Sevilla.

OHAD NAHARIN

OHAD NAHARIN is a choreographer, the House Choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company, and creator of the Gaga movement language. Born in 1952 in Mizra, Israel, he joined Batsheva Dance Company in 1974 despite having little training. During his first year, guest choreographer Martha Graham invited him to join her own company in New York, where Naharin later made his choreographic debut at the Kazuko Hirabayshi studio in 1980. For the next decade he presented works in New York and abroad, including pieces for Batsheva Dance Company, the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Nederlands Dans Theater. Naharin worked closely with his first wife, Mari Kajiwara, until she died from cancer in 2001. In 1990, Naharin was appointed Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company, and in the same year, he established the company’s junior division, Batsheva – the Young Ensemble. He has since created over thirty works for both companies and set pieces on many others. He has also collaborated with musicians including The Tractor’s Revenge, Avi Balleli and Dan Makov, Ivri Lider, and Grischa Lichtenberger. Under the pseudonym Maxim Waratt, he composed, edited, and mixed many of his own soundtracks. Naharin’s work has been featured in several films, including Tomer Heymann’s Out of Focus (2007) and the Heymann Brothers’ Mr. Gaga (2015). In addition to his stagework, Naharin also developed GAGA, the innovative movement research and daily training of Batsheva’s dancers that has spread internationally among both dancers and non-dancers. A citizen of both Israel and the United States, Naharin currently lives in Israel with his wife, dancer and costume designer Eri Nakamura, and their daughter, Noga.