David Roussève

David Roussève (Choreographer) is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University (Politics, Theater and Dance, and Africa Studies) and a 2004 Guggenheim Fellow. Roussève is Artistic Director/Choreographer for David Roussève/REALITY, a dance/theater company of seven performers that has toured extensively throughout the US. Europe, and South America, including three commissions for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. In addition to the Guggenheim, David’s awards include the Cal Arts/Alpert Award in Dance, “First Place Screen Choreography” at the IMZ Int’l Dance Film Festival, a Creative Capital Fellowship, a New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award, three L.A. Horton (dance) Awards, two Irvine Fellowships in Dance, a California Arts Council Choreography Fellowship, seven consecutive fellowships from the NEA, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Association of Black Princeton Alumni. In 1996 David Roussève joined UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. David served as Department Chair 2003-6 and is currently Professor of Choreography.

Roussève’s work links the brutal treatment of enslaved people who wed in defiance of anti-marriage laws with the current difficulties faced by same-sex couples seeking marriage as well.

Source: 651ARTS_GeselMasonProgramFinal.pdf