John Pennington is the Artistic Director of the Pennington Dance Group (PDG) and A Room To Create (ARC) Pasadena. He serves as the Co-Director and reconstructor for the Lewitzky Dance Gallery and serves on the Theater and Dance faculty at Pomona College and on the dance faculty for Joffrey West, Perry-Mansfield, and Cal-State University Long Beach.
Pennington enjoyed a 14-year career with the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company as a performer and master teacher. He then went on to be a guest artist, independent choreographer and arts educator before establishing his own award-winning dance group in 2000. The PDG has presented work nationally and internationally and most recently in the United Kingdom and Germany. The PDG is planning a return trip to the U.K. in 2015 along with performances and activities in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Educated at Northwestern University, California Institute of the Arts (BFA), and Hollins University (MFA), Pennington’s dedication to education includes workshops and curriculum development for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Huntington Museum, Fowler Museum, MOCA, Armand Hammer Museum, and Fullerton Museum. He served as an Annenberg Scholar in Dance Education for Inner City Arts LA and served on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Dance Resource Center, and the Artist Committee for Dancers Responding to AIDS.
Pennington is the recipient of several grants and awards from the Princess Grace Foundation, California Community Foundation, Goethe Institute, Durfee Foundation, Dance USA, Los Angeles County Arts Program and a HOTHOUSE choreographic residency. He is honored to be the recipient of five Lester Horton Awards for achievement in dance including the award for Excellence in Teaching. He received a Backstage West Garland Award, and a L.A. Weekly Theater nomination for achievement in choreography. Most recently, his oral history essay was featured in When Men Dance: Choreographing Dance Across Borders edited by Jennifer Fisher and Anthony Shay, published by Oxford University Press. Pennington will also be highlighted in an upcoming film documentary Men Dancing.
Please visit www.penningtondancegroup.org or www.arcpasadena.org for more information.
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