# Camille A. Brown

Camille A. Brown is an American dancer, choreographer, director, and dance educator. Four-time Tony Awards nominees, she started her career working as professional dancer with Ronald K. Brown's company in the early 2000s. In 2006 she founded her own dance company, the Camille A. Brown & Dancers, producing several dance productions, winning a Princess Grace Awards and a Bessie Award.
Since 2010s Brown worked on stage musical productions, including Robert O'Hara's Bella: An American Tall Tale, Michael Arden's Once On This Island and Kenny Leon's Much Ado About Nothing, winning two Audelco Award and being nominated at the Drama Desk Awards and Lucille Lortel Awards. For her choreography direction on 2019 Choir Boy, she was nominated at the Tony Award for Best Choreography.
In 2022 Brown made her musical direction debut with for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, which was praised by critics and received seven nominations at the 75th Tony Awards, including for Best Direction of a Play. In 2023 she choreographed Alicia Keys's mucial Hell's Kitchen, for which she won a Drama League Award, a Chita Rivera Award and received her fourth Tony Award nomination.
During her career Brown also worked on television special and films, including Emmy Awards winner Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. Brown also teaches dance and gives lectures to audiences at various universities such as Long Island University, Barnard College and ACDFA (University of Akron).
Brown has received awards and accolades including being a five-time Princess Grace Award recipient, Tony Award Nominee for best Choreography for Choir Boy, TED Fellow, Guggenheim Fellowship, Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, Obie Award, Dance Magazine Award Honoree, USA Jay Franke & David Herro Fellow, and a Bessie Award. She has been featured on the cover of Dance Magazine (April 2018) and Dance Teacher Magazine (August 2015).

## Life and career

Camille A. Brown was born and raised in the neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens in New York City. Since she was a child she studied dance and performing arts at the local Bernice Johnson Dance Center and at the Carolyn DeVore Dance Center. She continued her studying in high school at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts while simultaneously attending The Ailey School on scholarship. Brown earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
After her graduation, Brown danced as professional dancer of Ronald K. Brown's Evidence, A Dance Company from 2001 to 2007, and was a guest artist with Rennie Harris Puremovement and at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Between 2004 and 2005 she worked for two concert dance with Urban Bush Women. In 2006 Brown founded her company Camille A. Brown & Dancers. The group has performed works such as ink, Bessie Award winning Mr. TOL E. RAncE, Bessie Award nominated BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, City of Rain, Good & Grown, and The Groove to Nobody's Business, among others. The company has performed these works in national and international venues, including The Kennedy Center, NYU Abu Dhabi, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, The Yard, White Bird, REDCAT, and Belfast Festival at Queen's, among others.
Informed by her music background as a clarinetist, Brown creates choreography that utilizes musical composition as storytelling. Brown has choreographed for various commercial and theater projects including Choir Boy, Once On This Island, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!, NIKE/Air Jordan, BELLA: An American Tall Tale (Director: Kirsten Childs), Cabin in the Sky (musical) (Director: Ruben Santiago-Hudson), and Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire. Dance companies that have commissioned her work include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco, Urban Bush Women, Complexions, Ailey II, and Ballet Memphis. Her works have been performed at The Kennedy Center, Apollo Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Madison Square Garden, and New York City Center. She also was the choreographer for Saverio Palatella's line, Wholegarment 3D, for New York Fashion Week in 2008.
In 2018 Brown choreographed Choir Boy at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre by Trip Cullman, for which she was nominated at the Tony Award for Best Choreography.
In 2019 Brown debuted at The Public Theater as Off-Broadway musical director and choreographer with production of Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. In 2021 was announced that the production was moved to Broadway Booth Theatre, becoming the first black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway production in six decades. The musical was praised by critics, being nominated at the Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award, Lucille Lortel Awards and received seven nominations at the 75th Tony Awards, including for Best Direction of a Play and Best Choreography.
In 2023 she was involved as choreographer for Alicia Keys's Off-Broadway mucial Hell's Kitchen. In April 2024 the production move to Broadway at the Shubert Theatre, being critical acclaimed and earning thirteen nominations at the 77th Tony Awards, including for Best Choreography for Brown. She also won her first Drama League Award and Chita Rivera Award.

## Philanthropy and community engagement

In 2014, Brown founded two initiatives: The Gathering, an annual open forum for intergenerational Black female artists to advocate for greater cultural equity and acknowledgement in the dance world; and BLACK GIRL SPECTRUM (BGS), a community engagement initiative.
On June 4, 2016, BGS had its inaugural symposium with the theme “Social Dance for Social Change” at Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre in Harlem, NY.
In 2018, Brown created a community engagement platform, Every Body Move (EBM), to serve as the umbrella for all initiatives that bring the artistic rigor of Camille A. Brown & Dancers’ beyond the stage and into communities. Every Body Move works to cultivate the creative capacity of its participants through workshops, summer intensives, artistic encounters, educational experiences, public actions, and celebrations for people of diverse abilities, identities, and ages. The initiative includes: Black Girl Spectrum (BGS); Black Men Moving (BMM); The Gathering; Creative Action Lab; Every Body Move Celebration.
In 2022 Brown partnered with Google Arts & Culture on a project for Black History Month exploring the story of Black history and culture through dance where "ink" was highlighted and filmed at Brooklyn Historical Society.

## Theatre and concert dance choreographed works
### Broadway productions

| Title | Years | Location | Notes |
| A Streetcar Named Desire | 2012 | Broadhurst Theatre | Stage musical revival; directed by Emily Mann, music by Terence Blanchard |
| Once On This Island | 2017 | Circle in the Square Theatre | Stage musical; directed by Michael Arden, music by Stephen Flaherty |
| Choir Boy | 2019 | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre | Stage musical revival; directed by Trip Cullman, music by Jason Michael Webb and Fitz Patton |
| for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | 2022 | Booth Theatre | Stage musical; directed by Camille A. Brown, music by Deah Love Harriott |
| Hell's Kitchen | 2024 | Shubert Theatre | Original stage musical; directed by Michael Greif, music by Alicia Keys |

### Off-Broadway productions

| Title | Years | Location | Notes |
| Soul Doctor | 2012 | New York Theatre Workshop | Original stage musical; directed by Daniel Wise, music by Seth Farber |
| The Fortress of Solitude | 2014 | The Joseph Papp Public Theater | Stage musical; directed by Daniel Aukin, music by Kimberly Grigsby |
| Bella: An American Tall Tale | 2017 | Delacorte Theater | Original stage musical; directed by Robert O'Hara, music by Kirsten Childs |
| This Ain't No Disco | 2018 | Linda Gross Theater | Original stage musical; directed by Darko Tresnjak, music by Stephen Trask and Pedro Yanowitz |
| Much Ado About Nothing | 2019 | Delacorte Theater | Stage musical; directed by Kenny Leon, music by Jessica Paz |
| Toni Stone | 2019 | Laura Pels Theatre | Original stage musical; directed by Pam MacKinnon, music by Broken Chord |
| for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | 2019 | The Public Theater | Stage musical; directed by Leah C. Gardiner, music by Deah Love Harriott |
| Hamlet | 2023 | Delacorte Theater | Stage musical; directed by Kenny Leon, music by Jason Michael Webb |
| Hell's Kitchen | 2023 | The Public Theater | Original stage musical; directed by Michael Greif, music by Alicia Keys |

### Other theatre and concert dance notable productions

| Title | Years | Location | Notes |
| Awakened in Slumber | 2002-2023 | U.S. National Tour | Concert dance by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; |
| Shelter of Presence | 2004 | | Concert dance by Urban Bush Women; |
| Nahum | 2005 | Alliance of Resident Theatres (New York City) | Concert dance by Alvin Ailey American Dance; |
| New Second Line | 2006 | | Concert dance by Reflections Dance Company; |
| The Groove To Nobody's Business | 2007 | Alliance of Resident Theatres (New York City) | Concert dance by Alvin Ailey American Dance; |
* 2002 (Hubbard Street 2)
* 2004 Demetia's Serenity (Camille A. Brown)
* 2005 More Time Than Anybody (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2005 Shelter of Presence (Camille A. Brown)
* 2005 Nahum (Ailey II)
* 2006 Afro Blue (Reflections Dance Company)
* 2006 New Second Line (Reflections Dance Company)
* 2006 More Time Than Anybody (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2007 The Evolution of a Secured Feminine (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
* 2007 Here We Go...Again?! (Urban Bush Women)
* 2007 The Groove To Nobody's Business (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
* 2008 Saverio Palatella's line – Wholegarment 3D (New York Fashion Week)
* 2008 Un Festin Divin (Ballet Memphis)
* 2008 Matchstick (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2009 The Groove To Nobody's Business (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
* 2009 The Blues On Beale (Ballet Memphis)
* 2009 Good Times, Ha! (The Youth American Grand Prix)
* 2009 Those Who See Light (Philadelphia Dance Company – Philadanco!)
* 2010 Our Honeymoon Is Over (Dallas Black Dance Theater)
* 2010 Been There, Done That (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2010 City of Rain (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2010 By Way of East (Kyle Abraham & Camille A. Brown)
* 2010 The Evolution of a Secured Feminine (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
* 2012 Strum (Toni Pierce Sands and Uri Sands Dance (TU Dance))
* 2012 One Second Past the Future (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2012 Memories (Complexions Contemporary Ballet)
* 2012 Bind (The Juilliard School)
* 2012 Pins & Needles: FUREE (Director Ken Rus Schmoll)
* 2012 HOUSE (Director Saheem Ali)
* 2012 Fortress of Solitude (Director Daniel Aukin)
* 2012 A Streetcar Named Desire (Director Emily Mann)
* 2013 William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (Director Rebecca Taichman)
* 2013 MR. TOL. E RAncE (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2014 The Box: A Black Comedy (Director: Seth Bockley)
* 2014 tick, tick...BOOM! (Director: Oliver Butler)
* 2014 GALOIS (Director: Victor Maog)
* 2014 The Fortress of Solitude (The Public Theater)
* 2015 Blood Quilt (Director: Kamilah Forbes)
* 2015 Stagger Lee (Director: Patricia McGregor)
* 2015 Cabin in the Sky (musical) (Director: Ruben Santiago-Hudson)
* 2015 BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2016 BELLA: An American Tall Tale (Director: Robert O'Hara)
* 2016 NIKE/Air Jordan Web Commercial with Russell Westbrook
* 2017 ink (Camille A. Brown & Dancers)
* 2018 Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! on NBC
* 2019 Toni Stone (Roundabout Theatre, Director: Pam MacKinnon)
* 2019 Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park, Director: Kenny Leon)
* 2019 Once (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Director: J. Michael Zygo)
* 2019 Porgy & Bess (The Metropolitan Opera, Director: James Robinson)
* 2019 for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf ( The Public Theater, Director: Leah C. Gardiner)
* 2020 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix)
* 2021 Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous (Spotlight On Plays)
* 2021 Fire Shut Up in My Bones (The Metropolitan Opera)
* 2021 Toni Stone (Arena Stage)
* 2023 Hell's Kitchen (The Public Theater)

## Film and television choreographed works

* 2022 Harlem (Amazon Prime Video)

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Year | Category | Work/Nominee | Result |
| Antonyo Awards | 2020 | Best Choreography | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Won |
| Antonyo Awards | 2020 | Best Quarantine Content | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Antonyo Awards | 2022 | Best Direction (Broadway) | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Antonyo Awards | 2022 | Best Direction (Broadway) | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Won |
| Audelco Award | 2017 | Best Choreography | Bella: An American Tall Tale | Won |
| Audelco Award | 2019 | Best Choreography | Much Ado About Nothing | Won |
| Audelco Award | 2019 | Best Choreography | Toni Stone | Nominated |
| Bessie Awards | 2011 | Outstanding Performance | The Evolution of A Secured Feminine | Nominated |
| Bessie Awards | 2014 | Outstanding Performance | Mr. Tolerance | Won |
| Bessie Awards | 2016 | Outstanding Performance | BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play | Nominated |
| Bessie Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Performance | Fire Shut Up in My Bones | Nominated |
| Black Theatre Alliance Awards | 2006 | Best Choreography | The Groove To Nobody's Business | Nominated |
| Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography | 2018 | Outstanding Choreographer | Once On This Island | Nominated |
| Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography | 2022 | Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography | 2024 | Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show | Hell's Kitchen | Won |
| Callaway Award | 2020 | SDCF Award | Much Ado About Nothing | Finalist |
| Doris Duke Performing Artist Award | 2015 | Sperical Honor | Herself | Won |
| Drama Desk Award | 2018 | Outstanding Choreography | Once On This Island | Nominated |
| Drama Desk Award | 2019 | Outstanding Choreography | Choir Boy | Nominated |
| Drama Desk Award | 2020 | Outstanding Choreography | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Drama Desk Award | 2024 | Outstanding Choreography | Hell's Kitchen | Pending |
| Drama League Award | 2022 | Outstanding Direction of a Play | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Drama League Award | 2024 | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Hell's Kitchen | Won |
| International Association of Blacks in Dance | 2013 | The Founder's Award | Herself | Won |
| Lucille Lortel Awards | 2015 | Outstanding Choreographer | Fortress of Solitude | Nominated |
| Lucille Lortel Awards | 2018 | Outstanding Choreographer | Bella: An American Tall Tale | Nominated |
| Lucille Lortel Awards | 2020 | Outstanding Choreographer | Toni Stone | Nominated |
| Lucille Lortel Awards | 2020 | Outstanding Choreographer | For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf | Nominated |
| Lucille Lortel Awards | 2024 | Outstanding Choreographer | Hell's Kitchen | Pending |
| Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Awards | 2012 | College Women and Culture Award | Herself | Won |
| Obie Award | 2020 | Sustained Excellence in Choreography | Herself | Won |
| Outer Critics Circle Award | 2018 | Outstanding Choreographer | Once On This Island | Nominated |
| Outer Critics Circle Award | 2022 | Outstanding Choreographer | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Outer Critics Circle Award | 2022 | Outstanding Director of a Play | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Princess Grace Awards | 2006 | Choreography Award | Here We Go...Again?! | Won |
| Princess Grace Awards | 2016 | Choreographic Mentorship Co-Commission Award | Herself | Won |
| Princess Grace Awards | 2016 | Statue Award | Herself | Won |
| Tony Award | 2019 | Best Choreography | Choir Boy | Nominated |
| Tony Award | 2022 | Best Direction of a Play | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Tony Award | 2022 | Best Choreography | for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf | Nominated |
| Tony Award | 2024 | Best Choreography | Hell's Kitchen | Nominated |

### Other awards and honors

* 1997 - The Helen Tamiris Award – Performance
* 1997 - Young Artist's Award – Performance
* 1997 - Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award – Dance Performance; Young Artist's Award – Performance; The Helen Tamiris Award – Performance
* 2013 - Princess Grace Works in Progress Residency
* 2015 - USA Jay Franke & David Herro Fellow
* 2015 - TED Fellow
* 2016 - Jacob's Pillow Dance Award
* 2016 - Guggenheim Fellowship
* 2017 - Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow
* 2017 - Irma P. Hall Black Theater Nomination (BELLA: An American Tall Tale)
* 2017 - Black Woman Scholar Warrior Award (Montclair State University)
* 2018 - Cover Girl of Dance Magazine (April)
* 2019 - Choreography Mentorship Co-Commission (CMCC) Award (Princess Grace Award)
* 2020 - Dance Magazine Award Honoree
* 2020 - Emerson Collective Fellow
* 2021 - ISPA Distinguished Artist Award
* 2022- Kennedy Center Next 50
* 2024- Dance Lab New York Honoree