David Rousseve

David Roussève is Artistic Director of David Roussève/REALITY, a dance/theater company that has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America. For REALITY Roussève has written, directed, and choreographed 13 full evening works since 1988, including three commissions for the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. REALITY’s most recent work- 2014’s Stardust- is a coming of age story for the twitter generation that follows the plight of a gay African American teen as told through dance, music, and a series of projected text messages. Stardust was commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (University of Maryland), Peak Performances (Montclair State University), and the Krannert Center for the Arts (University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana) and has toured throughout the U.S including to the venerable Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

Roussève has created 11 commissions for other companies including Ballet Hispanico (one in collaboration with Eddie Palmieri), Dancing Wheels, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater, Atlanta Ballet (with a live performance by the 100-member Morehouse College Glee Club), Houston Ballet, Dance Alloy (in collaboration with Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock), and Ilkhom Theater Company of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. David has created three short films including 2012’s Two Seconds After Laughter for which he served as director, writer, and co-choreographer. Shot in Java Indonesia, Two Seconds has screened at festivals in the U.S., India, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Indonesia, Brazil, Portugal, and Canada. The film has won or been a finalist for 13 festival awards including five for best short.

In addition to a Guggenheim Fellowship Roussève’s awards include a “Bessie” (N.Y. Dance and Performance Award), three LA Horton Awards, the Cal Arts/Alpert Award in Dance, 7 consecutive Fellowships from the NEA, and First Place Screen Choreography award at the IMZ International Dance Film Festival. As a writer David Roussève was twice a Fellow in the Sundance Feature Film Development programs Screenwriter’s Lab. His writing was also published in Bantam Press’ Rants and Raves from Today’s Top Performance Artists, and Rutledge Press’ Envisioning dance on Film.

Among others David has served on the faculty at Princeton University, Columbia College, and Randolph Macon College. In 1996 he joined UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance where he is Professor of Choreography and former Department Chair. In July 2014 David began serving as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the School of the Arts and Architecture.

Biography Provided by: David Rousseve

Stardust (2013) Choreographed by David Rousseve