Camille A. Brown, a prolific Black choreographer whose work taps into both ancestral and contemporary stories to capture a range of deeply personal experiences and cultural narratives of African American identity, will be one of five choreographers whose work will be featured in TU Dance’s 20th Anniversary Performances at The O’Shaughnessy at Saint Catherine University this coming April 25th & 26th.

TU Dance’s Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands first met Camille in NYC when she was a dancer with Ronald K. Brown’s EVIDENCE, A Dance Company.

“I was impacted by her compelling speed, focus, and power of her movement. Watching Camille perform is like witnessing lightning crack through the sky. As a choreographer, she carries that same electrifying energy. When Camille began creating her own work, I knew I wanted her to choreograph for TU Dance. She went on to create two works for us: Strum, premiered in 2012 and Make Amends in 2013. Over the years, Camille and I have remained connected, and it has been wonderful to see her develop a powerful choreographic voice, earning numerous accolades and awards along the way. Camille A. Brown is one of the most prolific choreographers of our time, and I am deeply grateful to call her a friend. I am thrilled to have a third work by Camille for TU Dance’s 20th Anniversary season: New Second Line. This piece is inspiring, dynamic, and powerful, standing alongside equally extraordinary works in our anniversary program. I am especially excited for our Minnesota dancers to bring New Second Line to life and for audiences to come together in celebration of dance.” ~Toni Pierce-Sands

New Second Line was inspired by the events of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this work is a celebration of the spirit and culture of the people of New Orleans. Second Line is a traditional brass band parade for weddings, social events, and most notably, funerals. The people who follow the parade dancing with high energy and spirit are known as the ‘second line’.

Camille A. Brown is a prolific Black choreographer whose work taps into both ancestral and contemporary stories to capture a range of deeply personal experiences and cultural narratives of African American identity. Through the medium of dance, she is successfully balancing careers in Stage, TV, and Film. She is the Artistic Director and Choreographer for her company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers. Her trilogy on race, culture, and identity has won accolades: Mr. TOL E. RAncE (2012) was honored with a Bessie Award in 2014, and a 2003 Bessie Award nomination for Outstanding Revival; BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play (2015) was Bessie-nominated; and ink (2017) premiered at The Kennedy Center, was performed at The Apollo Theater in 2022, and has received critical acclaim.

In 2022, she made her Broadway directorial debut for the Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, making her the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway play since Katherine Dunham in 1955. The production received seven Tony Award nominations including Best Direction of a Play and Best Choreography for Brown. The New York Times proclaimed the production “triumphant.” She also received the 2023 Broadway Black Award for Best Direction. Within the same season, Brown became the first Black artist at The Metropolitan Opera to direct a mainstage production, co-directing alongside James Robinson on Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021), which she also choreographed. Fire was triumphantly brought back to the MET again this 2024 spring season. Also at The Metropolitan Opera, she choreographed Porgy & Bess and Terence Blanchard’s Champion. Brown’s first musical for theater was The Fortress of Solitude directed by Daniel Aukin, written for stage by Itamar Moses, and with music & lyrics by Michael J. Friedman. For Fortress, she received a Lortel nomination for Outstanding Choreographer. She received the Audelco Award for Choreography for Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare in the Park. Her Broadway choreography debut was with A Streetcar Named Desire, followed by the Tony Award-winning musical, Once on This Island. Brown has been nominated for four Tony awards including for Choir Boy, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, and Hell’s Kitchen – with music and Lyrics by Alicia Keys. For Hell’s Kitchen, she also received her fourth Drama Desk nomination and won The Chita Rivera Award for Outstanding Choreography and the Audelco Award for Best Choreographer.

Brown’s film and TV work includes Harlem (seasons 1 & 3, Amazon Prime), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix); Emmy award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live (NBC); New Year’s Eve in Rockefeller Center (NBC), and Google Arts & Culture (ink). Coming up, American Masters and Firelight Media will release, Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps co-directed by Michelle Parkerson and Shellée Haynesworth. Most recently, the documentary was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Short Form Documentary (Film) and will be released on PBS this year.

Brown has received numerous awards including ISPA’s Distinguished Artist, The Dance Magazine Award, Emerson Collective Fellow, Guggenheim, Doris Duke Artist, Audelco, Princess Grace Statue Award, Jacob’s Pillow Award, and New York City Center fellow, USA Jay Franke & David Herro Fellow, Emerson Fellow, TED fellow, and Kennedy Center’s Next 50. Other awards include a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship and the Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in Choreography. Most recently she was honored at the New York Dance Lab Honors and received the Transformative Award from Harlemstage.

Brown’s early training began at Bernice Johnson’s Cultural Arts Center, Devore Dance Center, and Fiorello LaGuardia High School. She received her BFA from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After graduation, she joined Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, A Dance Company, where she danced from 2001-2006.

During her time with the EVIDENCE, critics proclaimed Brown was,

“a stunner when she danced with Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE” – Fjord Review “a powerhouse dancer with expansive reach and bravura.” -Maura Keefe “the most startling discovery was Camille A. Brown, a pixie-ish powerhouse with the determined air of a high priestess.”

She was a guest artist with Dianne McIntyre in 2008 and Rennie Harris in 2009. Her first commission as a choreographer was from Hubbard Street II in 2002, followed by opportunities to share her work with Ailey II, Urban Bush Women, Philadanco, and Ballet Memphis and at the DanceNow Festival and the Harlemstage’s E-moves series among other opportunities. In 2006, Judith Jamison invited her to choreograph on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She went on to dance in her own work (The Groove to Nobody’s Business) as a guest artist in 2008 and set two more works on the Ailey company- The Evolution of a Secure Feminine in 2010 and City of Rain in 2019. In 2023, she received two honorary doctorates from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Drew University respectively.

In 2025, her company will return to The Joyce Theater with her latest work, I AM, following a successful premiere this past summer at Jacob’s Pillow, and engagements at Holy Cross University and Arizona State University.

“Set to live music, Brown’s choreography seamlessly unites various styles of the African diaspora, fusing and contrasting the intricate footwork and curving shapes of Afro-Caribbean dance, the irresistible rhythms of step dancing and body percussion, and the fluidity and daring of hip hop and street dance. All of it is infused with passion and persistence.” — Times Union

She returned to Broadway this past November for the revival of Gypsy- directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Audra McDonald. This is the first time new choreography has been done for a main stem production. Her work was hailed as “a brilliant stroke of choreography” (USA Today) and “a consistent, inventive charm.” (Daily Beast).