About Christopher Rudd
New York, NY
Christopher Rudd (CBA ’23) is a Jamaican-born dancemaker whose work is informed by his experience as a queer Black man in dance and transverses ballet, contemporary, and circus arts. He is a 2019 Guggenheim Choreography Fellow, the inaugural New Victory LabWorks Launch Artist, the creator of the groundbreaking works TOUCHÉ and LIFTED for American Ballet Theatre, a current resident artist for both BAM and Chelsea Factory; he was named one of 2023’s 6 to watch by American Theater Magazine. In hopes of bettering the world through dance, his works blend contemporary dance, contemporary circus, and theatricality to speak to relevant issues. As founder of RudduR Dance, he is a two-time Exchange Alumni through the US State Department, having presented his works in the United States, Canada, France, Trinidad & Tobago, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, and Italy. He credits the Armour Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem’s Summer Intensives, and New World School of the Arts for his professional career, which includes Carolina Ballet, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montréal, and Cirque Du Soleil. Rudd has created works for the Alvin Ailey School, Duke University, and UNC School of the Arts and received residencies from CUNY Dance Initiative, Vendetta Mathea’s La Manufacture, Tofte Lake Center, Kaatsbaan, and STREB.
WITNESS
During his fellowship, Christopher Rudd further developed WITNESS, a dance at the intersection of art and activism. WITNESS mixes different genres of dance with contemporary circus, film, and theatricality to put America’s racial landscape into historical context, combat systematically taught racial biases, and imagine hope for a more just and equitable future. WITNESS uses a team of Black collaborators and dancers and mixes the traditionally white styles of contemporary ballet and contemporary circus to deliver an impactful Black narrative meant to open a rich dialogue on the challenging issues of race in America in three parts: YESTERDAY, TODAY, & TOMORROW. As a call to action, WITNESS invites audiences to engage in a conversation about reconciliation and their duty as bystanders.
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