Welcome! We invite you to move through our site and see all the opportunities NCCAkron creates for artists to engage with one another, their communities, the city of Akron, and the national dance ecosystem.
The National Center for Choreography - Akron (NCCAkron) supports working dance artists as they experiment, engage in the creative process, and advocate for their work and for the field.
Photo credits: Above video contains images courtesy Dale Dong Photography, Mike Crupi, and Jonny Riese
National Book Tour for Artists on Creative Administration
NCCAkron hits the road!
Join us for Making Moves: New York City to celebrate the launch of NCCAkron’s second book – Artists on Creative Administration. The evening includes a panel discussion with regional arts leaders and national book contributors exploring themes of arts ecosystem building, generating revenue, and building community and audiences for contemporary performance.
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Making Moves: New York City
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Thursday, January 9, 2025
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5:30 – 6:30pm ET
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Rare Book Room at the Strand Book Store
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FREE!
“Whether you are an artist, creative entrepreneur, arts worker, or someone who embraces curiosity in your life and work, we hope you will join us for these conversations on evolutionary business practices and creative adaptations,” invites Christy Bolingbroke, NCCAkron Executive/Artistic Director.
Cover Art for AOCA and the Rare Book Room (courtesy of the Strand)
Meet the 2025 21st Century Dance Practices Artists
NCCAkron and The University of Akron School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration are proud to announce the sixth year of 21st Century Dance Practices, a capsule series of classes guest taught by today’s working dance artists as a part of the Ideas in Motion program.
The choreographers for this program include Shaina and Bryan Baira (Detroit, MI) of BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY, Kara Jenelle (Los Angeles, CA), and George Staib (Atlanta, GA).
Ideas in Motion is made possible with the support of The University of Akron Foundation’s Mary Schiller Myers Lecture Series in the Arts.
This year’s lineup includes artists who move individually as well as collectively beyond borders; who represent contemporary and Afro-diasporic genres; and who will come to the UA community from all corners of the country.
Pictured (clockwise from top): Bryan and Shaina Baira (photo Effy Grey), Kara Jenelle (photo Wes Klain), and George Staib (photo courtesy Dance/USA)
NCCAkron Announces 2024 Knight Choreography Prize Recipient
NCCAkron is thrilled to announce Shamel Pitts (Brooklyn, NY) as the 2024 recipient of the $50,000 Knight Choreography Prize. Pitts will receive an unrestricted cash award of $30,000, plus $20,000 in programmatic support over two years, to be co-designed with NCCAkron.
Shamel Pitts shares, “It is incredibly propelling to win a prize that is designed to recognize and uplift a choreographer's art by contributing to their life by way of unrestricted funds! I am grateful to NCCAkron for being an organization that offers such life enhancing support. I look forward to drawing closer to the NCCAkron team and using these funds to continue to invest in my arts collective TRIBE, as well as imagine what my life may now look like as I am being poured into.”
Made possible by Knight Foundation, this award is designed to support choreographers' artistic experimentation and career longevity in the United States.
Shamel Pitts (photo Itai Zwecker)
OUR IMPACT
NCCAkron aims to foster geographic equity and to fulfill our potential as a national center. We commit to supporting a stronger, more visibly connected network focused on research and development across the dance ecosystem.
