In the Style of Camille A. Brown

She’s one of the hottest and most prolific Black female directors and choreographers working today. Tapping into both ancestral and contemporary stories that capture a range of not only deeply personal experiences but also embody cultural narratives of African American identity, she is Camille A. Brown. And she’s bringing her acclaimed work, “I Am,” to the Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre September 12-14 for its West Coast premiere.

Miki Michelle and Alain “Hurrikane” Lauture in “I Am” by Camille A. Brown. Photograph by Cherylynn Tsushima

Indeed, in a New York Times review of the work earlier this year, Brown was described as taking “her signature interweaving of African diasporic dance forms to new heights.” But that should come as no surprise to those who’ve been following the multi-hyphenate’s career over the years, as Brown, who was born in Queens, New York City in 1979 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, joined Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company.

A performer with the troupe from 2001-2006, Brown received her first choreographic commission in 2002 from Hubbard Street II, which was quickly followed by commissions from, among others, Urban Bush Women and Philadanco. In 2006, Brown not only founded her own troupe, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, but Judith Jamison also invited her to choreograph on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She then went on to dance in her own work, “The Groove to Nobody’s Business” as a guest artist with AADT in 2008 and set two more works on the Ailey Company.

Brown has been on a terpsichorean tear ever since: Awards include a 2014 Bessie for Outstanding Production for "Mr. Tol E. RAncE;” in 2015, she received both the Lucille Lortel “Outstanding Choreographer” Award Nominee for “Fortress of Solitude;” and a Doris Duke Artist Award. In 2016, Brown was a Guggenheim Fellow and also received a Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award.

And did somebody say Broadway? Brown has been nominated for five Tony awards including for “Choir Boy” (2018), the 2022 revival of “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf” (Direction and Choreography), “Hell’s Kitchen” (2024) with music and lyrics by Alicia Keys, and the latest revival of “Gypsy” (2024), directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Audra McDonald.

The opera stage also beckoned, with Brown becoming the first Black artist at The Metropolitan Opera to direct a mainstage production, co-directing alongside James Robinson on Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” (2021), which she also choreographed. The production was included in The New York Times “Best Dance of 2021” list. In addition, Brown made dances for “Porgy & Bess” (2019) and Blanchard’s “Champion” (2023).

Fjord Review caught up with the über-creative Brown by Zoom, with topics ranging from her latest dance work, “I Am,” and how she describes her style, to her thoughts on directing and choreographing for Broadway, and operas on the world’s grandest stage. In other words, Brown is tapped into the cultural gestalt of the moment.

Camille A. Brown. Photograph by Whitney Browne

First of all, let me say that I was sorry to hear about your father. May his memory be a blessing. Now let’s talk about “I Am.” What was its genesis?

Thank you so much. I feel like I am working in the spirit of my dad. So, thank you. “I Am” came from a piece that I had done before—“Ink”—that premiered in 2017. It’s the idea of Black joy. I wanted to take that feeling and spirit and lean even more forward into it. A lot of times, I’ve created pieces where we see the grief, the sorrow and through the journey we see the joy. I wanted to do a work that starts out with joy and also talks about the future.

When we see the future, sometimes we go in fearing, because there's so much that we don't know. What does that look like if we move with joy? What does that look like when we claim who we are, and say, “I am,” and move through with confidence and community, and funk and soul and heart and music?

In the New York production of “I Am,” you danced a solo, but unfortunately, you won’t be performing in L.A. and I’m wondering why.

As time moved on, and I got older and started getting other opportunities, particularly in commercial theater, I started performing less. In 2020, I turned 40, and I felt like it was a moment where I had started mourning my dance career, that I was feeling really down and low. It was also during Covid, so, on top of not feeling at my best, I couldn’t do anything if I wanted to.

I have had a leadership coach since 2015, and they've all been Black females. The most recent one, Tanisha Christie, I was speaking to her about where I was at 40, and she asked me, or rather challenged me, to make a solo expressing whatever I wanted it to be. And I was procrastinating. And every session, she would ask, did you do it? And I would say, “No.”

Last year we were performing for Jacob's Pillow, and I didn't know what to talk about. Normally, for my evening-length works, I set the solo that I'm going to do in the work first. But because I was talking to her, and she said, “Well, you can always put the solo in “I Am.” And I said, “Okay, I'm not sure what that looks like, but I'll think about it.”

By this time, it had already been up, and I was looking at the sections, and was thinking, “Okay, what is missing? And I thought to myself, well, this piece is inspired by an episode, “I Am,” of [the HBO series] Lovecraft Country], and even though there are depictions of joy in the work, there's really no storyline in the dance that talks about that episode specifically.

So, some of the references are from that episode, and also my journey as a performer, a director, a dancer, the challenges that I've faced, the hardships and the idea of continuing to move forward in the spirit of joy. You can be serious about your work and joyful at the same time, sure. So, that's a very long response to what made me put the solo in the show, but Courtney Ross is dancing it in L.A.

The work fuses Afro-Caribbean, hip-hop, step and street dance. How would you describe your style?

I describe my style as Camille. I could say, ‘It’s inspired by tap and jazz and hip hop and ballet and modern dance and contemporary.’ But no one can take your name away, and so that's why I say it's Camille. And hopefully when people see it, they see Camille's way of using these dance styles and influences.

Camille A. Brown's “ink.” Photograph by Christopher Duggan

What’s your process—idea first, steps, music?

It depends on the project. For this, the music may have come first. Jaylen [Petinaud] is one of the composers and is the drummer at times for the show. He and I always love talking and playing the music for [the film] Drumline—when they do the battle with the other drum squad. I just thought that if he was doing that and I was doing hand choreography with rhythm, this would be really great if I can make this drumline and have two majorettes leading this spiritual army through the future, through space, through time. And in that way, I think the music and the idea of wanting to talk about that came first.

Cool! It’s also very cool that you were the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway play—the revival of “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”—since Katherine Dunham in the 1950s. What was that like for you?

That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. So, there was that, and also the pressure. I think it was some 67 years since a Black woman held both roles. I definitely felt the weight of that, along with the weight that I already put on myself.

But it also gave me an opportunity, I think, that under fierce pressure, there's also the opportunity to feel liberation. And because I said, “Whether this is going to go up or down,” at least people will know my vision, and that's liberating to me.

What are your thoughts on having been asked to direct and choreograph “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” and choreograph two other operas at the Metropolitan—“Champion” and George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”

It's funny—I am asked to do these amazing things, and at first, I get very excited. “Oh, my gosh, this is amazing,” and then when I'm in the room, I'm focused on the show. That’s pretty much what happened with the Met. “Porgy” was the first thing that I did there, and I was excited. And then when we got into the house during tech rehearsal, I looked around and I was like, “Right, we're at the Met!”

I make sure that I don't allow the largeness of the space to determine my thinking. The work always has to come first and putting on a show that is clear and effective. So, I was very honored to be asked to do “Porgy,” and then I co-directed and choreographed, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” and that was a really beautiful honor.

It was also in the same year of “for colored girls,” so in one year I was experiencing that, and was the first director at the Met. Again, it's how can we find the liberation inside of the tremendous pressure that we place on ourselves and that is placed on us?

Mikhail Calliste, Miki Michelle, and SeQuoiia in “I Am” by Camille A. Brown. Photograph by Cherylynn Tsushima

Then there’s Alicia Keys and “Hell’s Kitchen,” with the New York Times’ Elizabeth Vincentelli writing that “The most exciting complement to the music is the choreography by Camille A. Brown.” What was it like for you to collaborate with Alicia?

The glorious thing about it is that it feels good to know that people trust me—Alicia and [director] Michael Greif, and [librettist] Kris Diaz, the team for “Hell's Kitchen.” They were interested in seeing how I responded to the material. They didn't come to me and say, “This has to be this way.” It wasn't like that. They really let me do my thing, which is, again, I guess, the word for this interview is liberation.

How about working with George C. Wolfe on “Gypsy?”

He wanted, and I don’t want to speak for any of the collaborators that I've worked with, but he made it clear that he was interested in my interpretation of the movement language for “Gypsy.” So, I’m thankful to him and Alicia, and everybody from “Hell's Kitchen” and “Gypsy,” for placing that kind of trust with me.

I’m wondering what kind of advice you might have for young dancers or choreographers?

I have a lot of advice. But I think what comes up today for dancers, is to work on whatever you feel like. If you want to move through modern dance, if you want to move through African and tap, do your best. But along with that, make sure that you're bringing goodness into the space. Because this collaboration between choreographers and directors and dancers is really that, and it is about how well you can do someone's movement language.

But also, are you a good person? Can I give you a note and there not be pushback? Being an open vessel can take a dancer a very long way, and in a very productive and positive space. So, I would say that for dancers, and then for choreographers, create, if you can, a small circle, and the circle could be one person or someone that you can really get feedback from. Someone that you trust, that you know, that has your best interest and someone that you can really listen to. And be brave.

Where do you see yourself in the next five to ten years?

I hope working. I mean, I want to do everything. I have some directing opportunities coming up, so I'm very excited about that, and definitely continuing to do film and television and wanting to direct film and television but just making sure that I am continuing to be me the entire way.

Victoria Looseleaf

Victoria Looseleaf is an award-winning, Los Angeles-based international arts journalist who covers music and dance festivals around the world. Among the many publications she has contributed to are the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Dance Magazine and KCET’s Artbound. In addition, she taught dance history at USC and Santa Monica College. Looseleaf’s novella-in-verse, Isn't It Rich? is available from Amazon, and and her latest book, Russ & Iggy’s Art Alphabet with illustrations by JT Steiny, was recently published by Red Sky Presents. Looseleaf can be reached through X, Facebook, Instagram and Linked In, as well as at her online arts magazine ArtNowLA.

comments

Featured

REVIEWS | Karen Greenspan

Mishima’s Muse

Japan Society’s Yukio Mishima centennial series culminated with “Mishima’s Muse – Noh Theater,” which was actually three programs of traditional noh works that Japanese author Yukio Mishima adapted into modern plays.