'Lion King' Choreographer Garth Fagan October 2

Story posted September 17, 2009

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Garth Fagan has been called "a true original," "a genuine leader," and "one of the great reformers of American dance." As another critic put it, "in the genealogy of modern dance, he's started a whole new branch of the family tree."

Fagan, the acclaimed Tony Award-winning choreographer of Broadway's The Lion King, will present a lecture demonstration at Bowdoin College at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 2, 2009, in Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall.

The event is open to the public. Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available at the David Saul Smith Union information desk on campus weekdays between 8:45 a.m. and 7:45 p.m. For ticket information call 207-725-3375.

Garth Fagan's singular dance language draws on many sources: the sense of weight in modern dance, the torso-centered movement and energy of Afro-Caribbean, the speed and precision of ballet, and the rule-breaking experimentation of the post-moderns. His Bowdoin presentation, which will introduce the audience to his revelatory technique, will include a lecture combined with dance excerpts from his works.

His achievements—the creation of the internationally acclaimed Garth Fagan Dance, the company that fulfills his vision, and work as choreographer, most recently and notably for Walt Disney's The Lion King—have been recognized by a host of awards and honors.

For his path-breaking choreography for The Lion King, Fagan was awarded the 1998 Tony Award for Best Choreography. He also received the 1998 Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Astaire Award, 2000 Laurence Olivier Award, 2001 Ovation Award, and 2004 Helpmann Award.

Fagan's distinguished work in the theater also includes the first fully staged production of the Duke Ellington street opera, Queenie Pie, at the Kennedy Center in 1986 and the opening production of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare Marathon: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1988), set in Brazil and directed by A.J. Antoon.

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Fagan choreographs primarily for Garth Fagan Dance, whose dancers are renowned for their individuality, unmannered approach, and virtuosity. But he has also produced commissions for a number of leading companies, including his first work en pointe, Footprints Dressed in Red, for the Dance Theatre of Harlem; a solo for Judith Jamison, Scene Seen for the debut of the Jamison Project; Jukebox for Alvin for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Never No Lament for the Jose Limon Company; and Ellington Elation, part of a triad of pieces commissioned by New York City Ballet in honor of Duke Ellington's centenary and New York City Ballet's 50th anniversary.

In 2001, Fagan, a native of Jamaica, was presented with the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander: a national honor bestowed upon him by the Jamaican government. In 1998, he received that country's Special Gold Musgrave Medal, for his "Contribution to the World of Dance and Dance Theater."

Fagan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the State University of New York, taught for over three decades at the State University of New York at Brockport. In 1996 he was one of only 25 American scholars, artists, professionals and public figures to receive the title Fulbright 50th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow. He is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the prestigious three-year Choreography Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Fagan has received the Dance Magazine Award for "significant contributions to dance during a distinguished career" and the "Bessie" Award (New York Dance and Performance Award) for Sustained Achievement.

Fagan began his career when he toured Latin America with Ivy Baxter and her national dance company from Jamaica. Baxter and two other famed dance teachers from the Caribbean—Pearl Primus and Lavinia Williams—were major influences on him. In New York City, Fagan studied with Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Mary Hinkson, and Alvin Ailey, who were all key to his development. Fagan was director of Detroit's All-City Dance Company, and principal soloist and choreographer for Detroit Contemporary Dance Company and Dance Theatre of Detroit.

Fagan's Bowdoin appearance is presented by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and the Department of Theater and Dance. It is sponsored by the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs, in conjunction with an exhibition of the works of Romare Bearden at the Museum of Art, as part of the celebration of 40 years of Africana Studies at the College.

For more information call the Office of Events and Summer Programs at 207-725-3433.

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