PHILADANCO

06.02.10
Hot 8 Brass Band to be featured in new Spike Lee film for HBO
The Hot 8 Brass Band is featured in the upcoming Spike Lee film entitled "If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise."

05.24.10
Viver Brasil wins Lester Horton Dance Award
Viver Brasil recently won the Lester Horton Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in World Dance

07.30.10
Christopher O'Riley
Caramoor International Music Festival
Spanish Courtyard- Katonah, NY

08.05.10
ETHEL
Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, NY

08.28.10
Turtle Island Quartet
Waterstage - Grand Performances
Los Angeles, CA

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Biography

Artistic Director – Joan Myers Brown

Often called an innovator and communicator, Joan Myers Brown is listed in Who’s Who in America, as a powerhouse “Philadelphia leader.”

Ms. Brown is the founder of The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO) and The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts. She serves as honorary chairperson for the International Association of Blacks in Dance, an organization she established in 1991. She is also founder of the International Conference of Black Dance Companies. She is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts, which bestowed upon her an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, and is a member of the dance faculty at Howard University in Washington, DC. She was also awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by Ursinus College and has made significant contributions to the national and international arts communities.

Joan Myers Brown has served a broad range of regional and national organizations, including NEFA’s National Dance Project, the United States Information Agency, Arts America, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Councils of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio and the National Forum for Female Executives. Locally, she has been a part of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Minority Arts Resource Council, the Philadelphia Mayor’s cultural Advisory Council, the Philadelphia Dance Alliance, The Women’s Heritage Society and the Coalition of African American Cultural Organizations, which she served as vice president.

Ms. Brown’s expertise and counsel have been sought by many organizations, including the Rockefeller Foundation’s Arts & Humanities Program. She served as a trustee of the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation and the Media Performing Arts Center. Ms. Brown was a member of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Arts & Business Council, World Dance Alliance Americas, University City Board of Directors, Dance/USA and other non-profit organizations.

She has convened four International Conferences of Black Dance Companies, facilitated the Smithsonian Institution’s Conference of Black Dance Companies and served as a consultant to East Coast Committee of Festival 2000, the San Francisco Bay Area Cultural Initiative, the NEA “Dance on Tour” ad hoc committee and the Kennedy Center Adult Education Task Force.

Ms. Brown was honored as one of the “Dance Women; Living Legends” during a four-day series sponsored by New York area presenters, in tribute to five African-American pioneer women who founded distinguished modern dance companies with deep roots in black communities around the country. She was also honored by the Kennedy Center for African American Choreographers. Most recently she received the Philadelphia Award.

The success of her seemingly unending energy has been appreciated and recognized by the numerous requests for her keen input from such notable organizations as Pennsylvania State Council of the Arts, Ohio State Arts Council, New Jersey State Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, National Association for Female Executives, Port of History Museum (Ad Hoc Committee), Media Associates (Washington, DC), Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Wade Communications, Spruce Family Planning, Minority Arts Resource Council, West Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council, Advisory Panel for NEA, Expansion Arts Program, Executive Council of the Philadelphia Dance Alliance, Arts Administration for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Women’s Heritage Society, Painted Bride and Dance/USA and the Philadelphia Arts Alliance.

Ms. Brown’s efforts on behalf of dance excellence belie a much larger contribution to the arts and the community. She remains a tireless advocate and spokesperson and is a model of tenacity, hope and discipline. She is the proud mother of daughters Marlisa and Dannielle, who teach at her schools, The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts and grandmother of six.

It must be emphasized that Joan Myers Brown’s efforts for dance excellence are only part of her contribution to society and Philadelphia in particular. She speaks out, talks back and shows up.