DEBUTS
February 18-19, 2023
Edmonds Center for the Arts
Debuts presents vibrant and exciting new works by contemporary choreographers. This production features world ballet premieres by Donald Byrd, the Tony-nominated choreographer and Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater, and Arcadian Broad, the YAGP Finals Outstanding Choreographer winner and a soloist at The Sarasota Ballet.
- From the Dark Land by Donald Byrd
- “O.D.D” (Oliver Davis Dances) by Arcadian Broad
Ticket Price: $27–$40
(varies by age and seating location)
“Meet the Choreographers” Q&A Session
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Meet the choreographers after the performance for an in-person Q&A Session and ask them questions about the creative inspiration behind their works!
INTERVIEWS WITH THE CHOREOGRAPHERS
Interview with Donald Byrd, choreographer of “From the Dark Land”
A prolific choreographer for over 40 years, Donald Byrd is Byrd has frequently been referred to as a “citizen artist,” a descriptive that aligns with his personal beliefs that dance as an art form is a social/civic instrument. His new work will be premiered as part of…
Interview with Arcadian Broad, choreographer of “O.D.D.” (Oliver Davis Dances)
Arcadian Broad is not new to Olympic Ballet Theatre (OBT). A soloist at The Sarasota Ballet in Florida, he wowed audiences with his dashing guest performance as Basilio in OBT’s production of Don Quixote last May. He returned in June to choreograph and perform in… read more
Arcadian Broad
Arcadian Broad is from Titusville, Florida. He started dancing at the age of 10 in various styles, such as tap, hip-hop, and jazz. After receiving a scholarship at ADC IBC, he attended the Orlando Ballet summer program. He went on to train at the Juilliard School in New York City. At 16, Arcadian was hired as a professional company dancer with Orlando Ballet. Under the direction of Robert Hill, he became the youngest hire in the company’s history to date. In 2019, Arcadian joined the Cincinnati Ballet. In 2021, he joined The Sarasota Ballet as a demi-soloist and was promoted to soloist the following season. He has performed numerous principal roles in ballets such as Romeo & Juliet, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Swan Lake, Carmina Burana, The Firebird, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Val Caniparoli’s A Cinderella Story, Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Suite, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz, Sir Peter Wrights Summertide, Sir David Bintley’s A Comedy of Errors, and Sir Kenneth Macmillan’s Elite Syncopations.
Arcadian is also a dual Choreographer and Composer. He has created and premiered over 30 works, including two full-length ballets: Beauty & the Beast and WonderLand: Mad Tales of the Hatter. For his full-length productions, he also composed original orchestral scores. His choreography has been performed by Orlando Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Danceworks Chicago and seen on TV/streaming channels.
Arcadian was a Top 10 finisher on America’s Got Talent and has appeared on The Ellen Show and So You Think You Can Dance. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences with the next generation via summer programs and masterclasses all around the country.
Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd has been the Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater since December 2002. Formerly, he was Artistic Director of Donald Byrd/The Group, a critically acclaimed contemporary dance company, founded in Los Angeles and later based in New York, that toured both nationally and internationally. His career has been long and complex, and his choreographic and theatrical interests are broad. The New York Times describes him as “a choreographer with multiple personalities … an unabashed eclectic.” He is a Tony-nominated (The Color Purple) and Bessie Award-winning (The Minstrel Show) choreographer.
Mr. Byrd has frequently been referred to as a ‘citizen artist,’ a descriptive that perfectly aligns with an important component of Spectrum Dance Theater’s mission and Mr. Byrd’s personal beliefs – “dance as an art form and as a social/ civic instrument.”
Throughout the 40+ years of his choreographic career, Mr. Byrd has created over 100 works for his companies as well as works for many leading classical and contemporary companies. This list includes Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, The Joffrey Ballet, The Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco), Dance Theater of Harlem, and many others. He has worked extensively in theater and opera, both in America and abroad, including Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, The Israeli Opera, New York City Opera, The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, Intiman Theatre, and Baltimore Center Stage.
Mr. Byrd’s many awards, prizes, and fellowships include the Doris Duke Artist Award; Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Cornish College of the Arts; Masters of Choreography Award, The Kennedy Center; Fellow at The American Academy of Jerusalem; James Baldwin Fellow of United States Artists; Resident Fellow of The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center; Fellow at the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, Harvard University; and the Mayor’s Arts Award for his sustained contributions to the City of Seattle.
A high point of Mr. Byrd’s career was a solo museum exhibition Donald Byrd: The America That Is To Be, at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle in 2019. It was the culmination of his 2016 James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award, which was funded by the Raynier Institute & Foundation through the Frye Art Museum | Artist Trust Consortium. The award supports and advances the creative work of outstanding artists living and working in Washington State.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Funded in part by the City of Edmonds Arts Commission Tourism Promotion Fund through City of Edmonds Lodging Tax funds.
Made possible in part by assistance from the Snohomish County Hotel-Motel Tax Fund