Tommie-Waheed Evans
2021 Guggenheim Fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans is a queer black dance maker, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, amidst racial divide, gang warfare, and earthquakes. His work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness and liberation. He began his formal training with Karen McDonald before receiving a fellowship at the Ailey School, and a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Jacksonville University. He has toured and performed nationally and internationally as a company member of Lula Washington Dance Theater, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Philadanco. Since 2004, he has created more than 50 original dance works that range widely in scope, length, tone and subject matter. waheedworks, his Philadelphia based dance company, is the primary vehicle for his creative research. The company’s mission is to create a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to the human condition. His work brings together urban street dance styles and contemporary dance vocabulary through bold and raw movements propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds. He has also been commissioned to create works for BalletX, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, PHILADANCO, Ohio Contemporary Ballet formerly Verb Ballets, Ballet Memphis, The University of the Arts, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Louisville Ballet, among others. He has received accolades and honors including Resident Fellow at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University, Princess Grace Honoraria Award in Choreography, New Music Project Grant, Howard Gilman Foundation Fellowship, Joffrey Ballet Winning Works, and recently a Dance Research Fellowship at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Dark Matter
Tommie-Waheed Evans’ relationship with Ohio Contemporary Ballet spans more than a decade and we have commissioned four works from him. Dark Matter premiered in 2013 and quickly became an audience favorite. It is a striking example of Evans’ unique artistic voice that seamlessly blends the dynamic energy of urban street dance with the fluidity of contemporary movement. The dancers embody chaos, beauty and resilience against the interplay of polyrhythmic music and mesmerizing lighting.v
This celebrated work returns to the Playhouse Square stage on the Echoes & Innovations program. With its striking energy, Echoes & Innovations showcases iconic works from the early explorations of contemporary dance juxtaposed with new 21st-century creations. Get tickets now!
Interview about the creation of Dark Matter in 2013
Excerpts from Commissions by Tommie-Waheed Evans
Surge. Capacity. Force. (2017)
Choreographed by Tommie-Waheed Evans
Commissioned by Ohio Contemporary Ballet
Dark Matter (2013)
Choreographed by Tommie-Waheed Evans
Commissioned by Ohio Contemporary Ballet
Interview from Verbiculture Magazine
Tommie-Waheed Evans talks about his commission Anti/gone (2021)
When did you start dancing?
I started dancing at 15 years old at a small family studio called Dance Connection in Los Angeles. A couple months later I joined the dance department at Alexander Hamilton High School.
How did your experience dancing at PHILADANCO! impact your journey to be a choreographer?
My time at PHILADANCO! was very important because I got to work with so many choreographers—learning about process, composition, structure, and coaching. Every year we would have a weekend of shows called “Danco on Danco” where we would get the chance to choreograph.After one particular year, the founder, Joan Myers Brown, told me I had a great future as a choreographer and encouraged me to take it more seriously. Having that space and such high-quality dancers who believed in me was invaluable.
In three words describe your choreographic style:
Driving, Physical, Moving, Emotional, Freeing, Spiritual. I said more than three!
What was the first work of art that really mattered to you?
My first self-produced concert for my company Waheedworks, Meetings Along the Edge.
How many pieces have you choreographed for the company?
This production will be the fourth I have created on the of Verb.
Every morning I have to _________ before I start my day:
Listen to music loudly and have a cup of coffee or tea.
What community do you call home?
Of course, my family in Los Angeles. But also all the organizations I work with regularly including University of the Arts, PHILADANCO!, and Verb.
Who are some of your major influences?
Alonzo King, Rennie Harris, Dwight Rhoden, Ronald K. Brown, Kanye West, Carrie Mae Weems, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaker.
What is your favorite book or magazine?
All About Love by Bell Hooks and Last Night on Earth by Bill T. Jones.
