Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell is the Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Linda-Denise ascended to this role in 2021, after an extraordinary career as a professional dance artist and educator.

Linda-Denise was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and began her dance training at the Baltimore School for the Arts under the guidance of Sylvester Campbell and Stephanie Powell. She was an apprentice with the Capitol Ballet in Washington D.C. and a full fellowship student at The Ailey School. While a student at The Juilliard School, she was invited by Hubbard Street founder Lou Conte to join the main company at the age of 19, thus beginning her professional dance career.

After three seasons with Hubbard Street, Linda-Denise became a Principal Dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, under the direction of Judith Jamison. During her 13-year tenure with the company, Linda-Denise performed all over the world and was featured in the works of Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, Talley Beatty, Ron K. Brown, John Butler, Donald Byrd, Ulysses Dove, George Faison, Rennie Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Judith Jamison, Louis Johnson, Alonzo King, Lar Lubovitch, Donald McKayle, Elisa Monte, Jennifer Muller, David Parsons, and Dwight Rhoden.

Linda-Denise was invited to give a number of special performances throughout her career, including the White House State Dinner in honor of the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, and the 12th Annual Kennedy Center Gala with Nancy Wilson and Liza Minelli.

Linda-Denise has led a distinguished career as a dance educator in her hometown of Baltimore where, since 2005, she has been a Professor of Dance at Towson University and has served on the faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts. Her research and scholarship in continuing the Ailey legacy within the Towson University and Greater Baltimore community has resulted in the Ailey II residencies from 2011-2019 hosted by Towson University and the establishment of AileyCamp Baltimore at Towson University in 2014 where she served as Director. Ms. Fisher-Harrell holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in dance from Hollins University and is an ABT® Certified Teacher. As a scholar, her entry "Alvin Ailey" has been published by the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism

Linda-Denise and her husband have three children.

Artist and choreographer Aszure Barton has collaborated with celebrated dancers and companies including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Misty Copeland, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, Sydney Dance Company, and Teatro alla Scala, among many others. She is a Bessie Award Honoree and has received numerous honors including the prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the ranks of Oscar Peterson, Karen Kain, and Margaret Atwood. She was the first Martha Duffy resident artist at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and is an official ambassador of contemporary dance in Canada. She is the founder of Aszure Barton & Artists, an inter-disciplinary international dance project.

Tarell Alvin McCraney is an acclaimed writer, actor, and educator. He currently leads Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles serving as Artistic Director.

His script IN MOONLIGHT BLACK BOYS LOOK BLUE is the basis for the Oscar-winning film MOONLIGHT directed by Barry Jenkins, for which McCraney and Jenkins won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. McCraney created on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, the critically-acclaimed drama DAVID MAKES MAN, for which the first season received a Peabody Award and was executive produced Michael B. Jordan and Oprah Winfrey. McCraney also wrote the film HIGH FLYING BIRD which premiered on Netflix directed by Steven Soderbergh.

McCraney’s plays include MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT (co-written with Tina Landau), THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS trilogy, HEAD OF PASSES, WIG OUT! , and CHOIR BOY which was nominated for four Tony Awards.

McCraney is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant, the Joyce Award, the Whiting Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, the Evening Standard Award, the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Windham Campbell Award, and a USA Artist Award.

He is a lecturer in Playwriting at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, an associate artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company, UK, an ensemble member at Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago, and a member of Teo Castellanos/D-Projects, Miami.

Photo by Justin Bettman