The 2009 Bessie Schönberg Laboratory in Composition

Under the direction of Reggie Wilson

Dance Theater Workshop’s Bessie Schönberg Laboratory in Composition provides an opportunity for experienced choreographers to investigate and share their work in a supportive, structured environment. Over the course of four weeks, a select group of artists will work to develop new material under the direction of guest choreographer Reggie Wilson. Participants are encouraged to use the time to challenge the boundaries and assumptions they bring to their creative process. The Lab will culminate in an informal showing in Dance Theater Workshop’s Bessie Schönberg Theater on March 20 at 2pm.

How to apply: Send a letter of intent, a brief biography and artist statement highlighting your background and relevant experiences. Tell us why you are interested in participating in the Lab and specify the goals you hope to accomplish during the workshop. Applications should be sent to Estelle Woodward Arnal via email at estelle@dtw.org. If you have any questions, please call (212) 691-6500 ext. 215.

Reggie Wilson Biography
Reggie Wilson (Artistic Director and performer) founded his company, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, in 1989. Wilson draws from the movement languages of the blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas and combines them with post-modern elements and his own personal movement style to create what he sometimes calls "post-African/Neo- HooDoo Modern dances." His work has been presented internationally at Linkfest and Festival e'Nkundleni (Zimbabwe), Queen's Hall (Trinidad and Tobago), Israel Museum (Israel), Dance Factory (South Africa), Danças na Cidade (Portugal), Dense Bamako Danse (Mali) and at Festival Kaay Fecc in Senegal, as well as venues throughout the U.S. including Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Wave Hill, Judson Church, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans), Dance Umbrella (Austin, TX), Swarthmore College (PA), DancePlace (DC), Sushi, (San Diego, CA) and Summerstage (NYC). Wilson has traveled extensively: to the Mississippi Delta,to research secular and religious aspects of life there; to Trinidad and Tobago, to research the Spiritual Baptists and the Shangoists; and also to Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal, to work with dance/performance groups as well as various religious communities. Wilson is a graduate of New York University, Tisch School of the Arts and has lectured, taught and conducted extended workshops for community projects throughout the US, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. He is the recipient of the Minnesota Dance Alliance's McKnight National Fellow (2000-2001). He is also a 2002 BESSIE New York Dance and Performance recipient for his work "The Tie-tongued Goat and the Lightning Bug Who Tried to Put Her Foot Down” and a 2002 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. From 1993 until 2003, Wilson was Project Director and Co-Artistic Director of, “Black Burlesque (revisited)”, a Tri-lateral collaboration of Fist & Heel (Brooklyn), Black Umfolosi (Zimbabwe), and Noble Douglas Dance Company (Trinidad and Tobago) that premiered in Oct 2003 at DTW, N.Y. and toured to seven states. Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group premiered “the TALE: NpeeNpi Nckutchie and the Tail of the Golden Dek” in Feb. 2006 at DTW and recently completed a ten-city national tour. Wilson has been an artist advisor for the National Dance Project and is a Board Member of Dance Theater Workshop.