Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis began Wideman/Davis Dance in 2003. The company is a bi-located company with roots in New York, NY and Columbia, SC. Independently, Tanya and Thaddeus have had prestigious and extensive careers performing with world-renowned dance companies and have contributed to the dance field as educators and activists. Together, Wideman/Davis Dance is an undeniably dynamic and progressive collaborative force.

 

Wideman/Davis Dance has a deep commitment to revealing social and political issues thru an African American perspective. Wideman/Davis Dance makes work that is inspired by, and engaged with, current issues including: race, social class, gender and location.

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Education is an essential component to the development and sustainability of Wideman/Davis Dance. Embodying education as practice, the company connects with various communities of all ages through residencies and by increasing awareness of these social and political issues. Establishing educational residencies create environments of respect and cultivate the potential for empowerment and change. Wideman/Davis Dance works in collaboration with artists, scholars, and students alike, implicitly shifting the traditional company model and leveling hierarchical structures.
 
Wideman/Davis Dance finds their inspiration and motivation by making abstract dances that have the capacity to move the spirit. Their work cultivates sensation, feeling, emotion, memory and discovery, where there is an equal value placed on dialogue, creative writing and physical expression.  The company is a platform for their work to unfold. Together, Tanya and Thaddeus create space for new histories, rupturing silence, revealing blind spots and challenging the denial around the African American experience and dance. Wideman/Davis Dance passionately continues this necessary, relevant work with perseverance and the hope of expanding the possibilities within dance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Tanya Wideman-Davis is the Co-Artistic Director of Wideman/Davis Dance and is currently on faculty as an Assistant Professor at The University of South Carolina. Tanya has had an extensive and exciting career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Most recently, Ms. Wideman-Davis completed her Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University/ADF (2012).
 
Tanya has trained with many of the premier schools in the country including: The Academy of Movement and Music, The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, The Joffery Ballet School, The Pacific Northwest Ballet School, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Chicago City Ballet, and The Dance Theatre of Harlem. Ms. Wideman-Davis, has been noted by New York Dance Fax as “distinctive for the power of her secure pointe work and her personality.”  She has received International acclaim and was given the honor of “Best Female Dancer of 2001-2002” by Dance Europe magazine.
 
As a dancer, Ms. Wideman-Davis has worked with the following companies: Dance Theater of Harlem (1993-1998), Principal Dancer (2000-2002), Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Guest Artist (1999), The Joffery Ballet of Chicago (1990-2000), Complexions Contemporary Ballet (1998-2001), Donald Byrd: The Group, Guest Artist (2000), Dance Galaxy: Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY (200-2001), Alonzo King Lines Ballet (2002-2004), Spectrum Dance Theater (2004-2005), Guest Artist (2006), Ballet Memphis, Guest Artist (2006), Quorum Ballet, Portugal, Guest Artist (2008-2009). In addition, Ms. Wideman-Davis has taught as a guest artist at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Allen University, Mississippi School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin Peck School of the Arts, Milwaukee Ballet, University of Iowa, Steps on Broadway, Goucher College, National Ballet Dominicana (Dominican Republic), Center of Creative Arts, Spectrum Dance Theater and Aburn University.
   
Tanya and Thaddeus began Wideman/Davis Dance in 2003 and continue to create work together to date. They have collaborated in the creation of the following works: Etta and James, Balance, Voypas, Bosket Affair, Bends of Life, Based on Images, Fragmentation and Rock and My Soul.  In addition, they have created numerous works for the University of North Carolina Dance Company. Tanya has assisted Thaddeus in both the creation of new works and restaging existing works for Ballet Memphis, Phrenic New Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY, The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Reflections Dance Company, and Nevada Ballet. Community engagement is an essential component to the work, research and integrity of Wideman/Davis Dance. Bends of Life (2006-2008) toured through the public school system of the impoverished “Black Belt Region” of Alabama; sponsored by The Alabama State Council on the Arts and in Cincinnati, OH, Durham, NC, and Austin, TX sponsored by The National Performance Network. Eau Claire High School in Columbia, SC hosted The Recession and its Affect on Teenagers residency in 2010. Wideman/Davis Dance has taught movement classes at the Family Shelter of Columbia South Carolina (2009) and performed multiple lecture demonstrations at the Calhoun School (2005-2010).
 
Currently, Tanya Wideman-Davis continues to perform, research, choreograph, collaborate and teach. Her research projects include Female Relationships: The Gender Gap in Dance (2012), The queering of a life of dance and HIV/AIDS (2011). Tanya’s MFA Thesis work REVEAL was premiered at the American Dance Festival Thesis Concert in Durham, NC in 2012. Her research interests explore and examine race, gender, femininity, identity and location. This research grounds her choreographic method and performances and challenges the traditional methodologies and ideologies of classical Ballet.

 

   

Thaddeus Davis was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He is the Co-Artistic Director of Wideman/Davis Dance and is currently on faculty as an Assistant Professor at The University of South Carolina. He began his dance studies with The Montgomery Civic Ballet, Carver Creative Performing Arts Center, and the Alabama Dance Theatre.  Following high school he studied and danced with Barbara Sullivan’s Atlanta Dance Theatre and Dyann Robinson’s Tuskegee Cultural Arts Center. Thaddeus has trained with many of the premier schools in the country including: Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Ballet, David Howard Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, Atlanta Dance, Tuskegee Cultural Arts Center, Alabama Dance Theater. Davis earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Butler University in 1993 and his Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University/ADF in 2011.


Thaddeus Davis has received multiple honors and grants for his work including: 2013 Map Fund Grant, Jerome Robins New Essential Works Grant (2011), University of South Carolina Arts Institute, Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Reading/Dance Collaboration. Balance: Homelessness Project (2009), Canvas: The Master Class (2010), Cultural Envoy to Portugal, U.S. State Department (2007), Highlight of the Arts Season, Commercial Appeal, Memphis (2006), Winner of The New American Talent Choreographers Competition, Ballet Austin (2005), Choo San Goh Award for Choreography (2004), Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” (2002), Best Premiere of the Season, Dance Europe, Once Before, Twice After (2002-03), New York Times Top ten dance Highlight of the season, Once Before, Twice After (2002) calling it “reassuring evidence of New York dance’s promising future.” Butler University, 50 under 50 (2004).
 
Thaddeus Davis’ professional performance experience includes work with the following companies: Donald Byrd/The Group (1998-2002), Creative Assistant to Donald Byrd (2000-02), Dance Theater of Harlem (1994-98), Complexions Contemporary Ballet (1995-2005), Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY Dance Galaxy (2000-02), Indianapolis Ballet (1991-93), Fukuoka City Ballet (1995), and Atlanta Dance Theater (1988). Davis has taught as a Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa (2008) and for the following professional dance companies and programs: Alley II (2012), Boston Ballet (2011), Dance Theater of Harlem (2011), Ballet Quorum, Portugal (2007), Northwest Professional Dance Project (2005-2007), COCA (2005-2007), Ballet Austin (2004-06), Ballet Classical Dominican, Dominican Republic (2004-2006), Spectrum Dance Theater (2005), Steps on Broadway (2003-2004). In addition, Thaddeus has taught as a Guest Artist at the following Universities and dance centers: North Carolina School of the Arts (2012), Florida State University (2012), Webster University (2011), Long Island University (2011), Mary Mount Manhattan (2011), University of Kansas City Missouri (2011), Goucher College (2007), Auburn University (2006), Alvin Ailey/Fordham University (2005), Butler University (2005), Arizona State University (2004), The Julliard School (2003).
 
Thaddeus and Tanya began Wideman/Davis Dance in 2003 and continue to create work together to date. They have collaborated in the creation of the following works: Etta and James, Balance, Voypas, Bosket Affair, Bends of Life, Based on Images, Fragmentation and Rock and My Soul. In addition, they have created numerous works for the University of South Carolina Dance Company, Ballet Memphis, Phrenic New Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY, The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Reflections Dance Company, and Nevada Ballet. Community engagement is an essential component to the work, research and integrity of Wideman/Davis Dance. Bends of Life (2006-2008) toured through the public school system of the impoverished “Black Belt Region” of Alabama; sponsored by The Alabama State Council on the Arts and in Cincinnati, OH, Durham, NC, and Austin, TX sponsored by The National Performance Network. Eau Claire High School in Columbia, SC hosted The Recession and its Affect on Teenagers residency in 2010. Wideman/Davis Dance has taught movement classes at the Family Shelter of Columbia South Carolina (2009) and performed multiple lecture demonstrations at the Calhoun School (2005-2010).
 
Currently, Thaddeus Davis continues to perform, research, choreograph, collaborate and teach. His current research explores the intersections of gender, class, race and technology thru an African American lens. His research unfolds thru the creation of original dance, dance theater and writing, including: Voypas: Observation, Surveillance, Voyeurism (2011), A Dissembled Life (2011), Commitment to Change, Dance Theatre of Harlem: Modernism, History, Culture (2011), Balance (2009) and Bosket Affair (2008).

 

   
  Vincent Michael Lopez began his ballet training at The School of Ballet Arizona under the direction of Kee Juan Han and Truman Finney. He received The Oprah Winfrey  Scholarship to study at The Alvin Ailey School in New York City, where he was privileged to performed choreography by Alvin Ailey, Dwight Rhoden, and David Parsons. Shortly there after, he joined Ballet Austin ll performing works by Stephen Mills, Gina Patterson, Thang Dao, and Thaddeus Davis who invited Lopez into Wideman/Davis Dance performing projects that would take him around the world. In the fall of 2008 he began dancing with Spectrum Dance Theater in Seattle Washington. Lopez continues to perform with Wideman/Davis Dance and has since guested with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and more recently with Olivier Wevers’ Whim W’Him. 
   
  Amber Nicole Mayberry of Washington, DC trained at the Washington School of Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem Residency Program and with Fabian Barnes at the Dance Institute of Washington. In 2005, she graduated cum laude from SUNY-Purchase College where she performed works by Richard Cook, Michael Blake and Sean Curran with ABT's Studio Company. She has performed with Washington Reflections Dance Company, This Woman’s Work, Elisa Monte Dance and Wideman/Davis Dance. In addition to concert dance, Ms. Mayberry has also performed with the Washington National Opera and the Baltimore Opera Company. Amber performed in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s production of On the Town in 2010. She is currently on faculty with Spectrum Dance Theater where she is in her second season.
   
  Kalin Morrow is originally from Oklahoma City, where she studied at Oklahoma City Ballet and with Kay Sandel at the Classical Ballet School.  She received her BFA, with valedictorian honors, at the University of Oklahoma in 2007.  Kalin has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Kansas City Ballet, the Northwest Dance Project: LAUNCH and Luna Negra Dance Theater.  She previously danced with Tulsa Ballet, Oklahoma Festival Ballet and Nevada Ballet Theatre from 2009-2011.  She also had the privilege of dancing for Molly Lynch’s The National Choreographers’ Initiative in 2011. She has choreographed for the University of Oklahoma, NBT and the Choreographers’ Showcase, a collaborative program with NBT and Cirque du Soleil. Kalin has worked with choreographers such as Maurice Causey, Thaddeus Davis, Matthew Neenan, Gail Gilbert, Greg Sample, James Canfield, Lauren Edson, Heather Maloy and Brian Enos.  This is her first season with Wideman/Davis Dance.
   
  Sara Paul. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Sara began her dance training in classical ballet and contemporary dance at the Peabody Preparatory. She spent her summers at renowned intensive programs at the Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theater, The School of American Ballet, and Ballet Austin. Upon her graduation in 2005, Sara spent two seasons with Ballet Austin as both a Professional Trainee and member of Ballet Austin II. In 2007, Sara became a founder member of New York-based Wideman/Davis Dance under the direction of Thaddeus Davis, with whom she performed many principle roles. In 2009, she took a hiatus from her professional dancing career to pursue a degree in Psychology (Special Honors) at the University of Texas at Austin, from which she graduated in December 2012. During her time at UT, Sara worked with David Justin’s American Repertory Ensemble and attended a summer program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, where she studied William Forsythe technique and Ohad Naharin’s Gaga technique. Sara has been teaching students of all ages extensively since 2006, when she participated in Ballet Austin pedagogy internship program. This season, Sara is dancing with Wideman/Davis dance in addition to working as a freelance dancer based out of Austin, TX.
   
  Kevin Guy began dancing in Debbie Allen’s and Imagination Celebration production of Pepito’s Story commissioned for the 25th anniversary of The Kennedy Center and later received his BFA from University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Contemporary Dance. He has performed with SLIPPAGE: Performance| Culture| Technology, Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Universal Dance Movement, Genesis Dance Company,The Nannette Bearden Contemporary Dance Company and Dance Alloy Theater. Mr. Guy was a featured dancer in the motion picture Across the Universe directed by Julie Taymor, Spreadin Rhythm Around: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Luther Henderson directed by George C. Wolfe, Soulful Noel a multicultural community theater production that involved over 5000 children from the Orange County Public School System and the City of Orlando with The Nannette Bearden Contemporary Dance Company, The Black Nativity with The North Carolina Black Repertory Company, Dance From the Heart Gala to Benefit Dancers Responding to Aids and Saverio Palatella’s Line-Whole Garment 3D for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week with Camille A. Brown. His choreography has been performed for Memphis National Dance Week Celebration with New Ballet Ensemble, Ailey/Camp Washington Heights, Ailey/Camp Newark Inaugural Final Performance, Studio A.I.R. and in Japan. Mr. Guy has taught for Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ailey Camp/Newark, C.A.S./ Ailey Camp Washington Heights, Ballet Hispanico’s General and Arts in Education Program, Revelations: An Interdisciplinary Approach curriculum and for the 2013 Regional ACDFA Conference in Greensboro. He recently completed his MFA from Hollins University/American Dance Festival High-Residency Program in 2013. Kevin has had the honor of working with B.J. Sullivan, Louis Johnson, Mabel Robinson, Walter Rutledge, Daniel Ezralow, Stephen Koester, David Shimotakahara, Brice D. Vick and Thomas F. DeFrantz.
 
Production Director, Set Design
  Eric Morris is a teacher, designer, painter and a writer. Born and raised in Augusta, GA, he is a graduate of Augusta College and earned his MFA in Stage Design from Western Illinois University. He has assisted, designed and produced for trade shows, ballet, opera, regional theatre, Off-Broadway and Broadway. As a young designer he assisted Tom Skelton, Michael Phillippi, Kevin Rigdon, Brian MacDevitt, Natasha Katz and others at venues such as The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory and Great Lakes Theatre Festival. For almost twelve years he served as the resident scenic and lighting designer for Lexington Children’s Theatre in Lexington KY, where he produced work seen by hundreds of thousands of Kentucky children and adults. His teaching includes classes and workshops for colleges, universities and professional training programs such as Illinois Wesleyan University, University of Kentucky and The Hotchkiss School Summer Program. In 1991 he was one of six national candidates granted a TCG/National Endowment for the Arts Young Designer Fellowship. His articles and stories have appeared in Painter’s Journal, Business Lexington, Sandhills Magazine, and others. He is currently on faculty with University of South Carolina, and the Designer/Production Manager for USC Dance. Eric’s latest work includes design and production management for Wideman-Davis Dance Company. In his spare time he writes fiction and makes original music with his band Classes of Dynamo.
   
Director, Dramaturges, Designer, Scholar
  Thomas F. DeFrantz is Professor of African and African American Studies, Dance, and Theater Studies at Duke University, and President of the Society of Dance History Scholars, an international organization that advances the field of dance studies through research, publication, performance, and outreach to audiences across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. He is also the director of SLIPPAGE: Performance, Culture, Technology, a research group that explores emerging technology in live performance applications. His books include the edited volume Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African American Dance (University of Wisconsin Press, 2002, winner of the CHOICE Award for Outstanding Academic Publication and the Errol Hill Award presented by the American Society for Theater Research) and Dancing Revelations Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of African American Culture (Oxford University Press, 2004, winner of the de la Torre Bueno Prize for Outstanding Publication in Dance).  A director and writer, his creative works include Queer Theory! An Academic Travesty commissioned by the Theater Offensive of Boston and the Flynn Center for the Arts. In 2005 he worked with DonnaFaye Burchfield to design the American Dance Festival/Hollins University MFA Program in dance. He has taught at NYU, Stanford, Hampshire College, MIT, the University of Nice, and Yale; has presented his research by invitation in Australia, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, and Sweden; and performed in Botswana, France, India, Ireland, and South Africa. Current research imperatives include explorations of black social dance, and the development of live-processing interfaces for performance. 
   
Video and Set Designer
  Eto Otitigbe is a polymedia artist who combines sculpture, video, installation, and performance to create illusions, sensitive spaces, and dynamic actions. His recent work questions involves the embodiment of loss prevention as ritual and cultural artifact.
Since 2003, Eto has been exhibiting his own work and contributing to various new media projects around the world.  In 2005, Eto designed several video installations for James Luna’s, Emendatio, at the 51st Venice Biennale. In 2008, Eto was the co-curator of “Now You See It, Now You Don’t” a simulated exhibition at Superfront Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y. that coincided with the annual Race and New Media Conference at the New York City College of Technology.  Also in 2008, Eto collaborated with architect John Stuart on the TimeZone Project, an exploration of design, technology, and interactive communication between New York and Lima, Peru sponsored by the Van Alen Institute.
From 2007 to 2009 Eto was the founder and director of es ORO Gallery & Polymedia Projects; a non-profit artist run project space in Jersey City, NJ.  There he curated and organized numerous exhibitions that included work from an international pool of emerging and established media artists.
In 2009 Eto along with the Slippage performance group presented “Monk’s Mood” at the Joyce SOHO in New York.  More recently Eto has been sharing his own performance work in New York at venues such as Monkey Town, The Tank, and Grace Exhibition Space.
Eto holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Joint Program in Design at Stanford. He is an M.F.A candidate at the Transart Institute. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
http://www.etosoro.com
   
Sound Design
  Jamie Keesecker writes music across a broad range of styles for various ensembles, large and small. In recent years, his music has been performed by a number of wonderfully talented groups, including The Wet Ink Ensemble, The Atlanta Chamber Players, Quadre, Las Tubas de Tucson, Percussia, Sospiro, and the Duke New Music Ensemble, of which he is a regularly performing member. In 2010, he was featured as a composer in residence at the Monadnock Music Festival in southern New Hampshire. His music is among the works appearing on the Quardre album, Our Time, released in 2011.
Jamie currently resides in Durham, North Carolina, where he is a James B. Duke Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. at Duke University, studying with composers Stephen Jaffe, Scott Lindroth, and John Supko. He holds a Master's of Music Degree in composition from the University of Oregon (2009) where he studied with composers David Crumb and Robert Kyr, and a B.Mus in composition from the University of Arizona (2006) where he studied with Daniel Asia, Pamela Decker, and Craig Walsh. In 2008 he had the pleasure of working with composers Robert Livingston Aldridge and Kevin Puts at the Brevard Music Center, where he also served as the coordinator of the festival's new music ensemble.
Jamie is a hornist and aspiring bassist, performing regularly in and around the Durham area. He also enjoys playing the slide whistle, although performance opportunities are much less common. In recent years, he has become a user of the SuperCollider programming environment, and is increasingly interested in the possibilities afforded through the combination of live performers and computer music.
http://www.jamiekeeseckercomposer.com 
   
Costume Design
  Born in Dover, Delaware and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Charles Heightchew is Boston Ballet's Manager of Costumes and Wardrobe. Before coming to Boston, Heightchew was a draper at various opera and theater companies including the Santa Fe Opera, The Virginia Opera, Stage One Children’s Theater, and The Louisville Ballet. Prior to working in theater he served as Production Manager and Location Staging Manager for ShowTech, Inc., a multi-image production company.  Heightchew's designs for Boston Ballet include the Golden Idol from La Bayadere and many costumes for Boston Ballet's 2004 production of The Nutcracker.  Heightchew also designed the Arabian costumes for The Nutcracker in 2003 and oversaw the builds of Christopher Wheeldon's Four Seasons and Daniel Pelzig's Resurrection. Heightchew has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisville. This is his eighth season with Boston Ballet.
   
 
Special Projects 
  Independent choreographer Gina Kohler presents her work in New York City and abroad and is co-director for the Brooklyn Arts Exchange Youth Dance Company. Her project dream [factories] has been performed in the U.S. and Austria and is in development as both a live art event and a book.