about/charles o. anderson

originally from richmond, virginia, artistic director charles o. anderson began his professional dance training at cornell university in 1991 and received his ba from cornell in 1994.  since then he has performed and choreographed professionally throughout new york and the mid-atlantic region.  he received his early training as a three-time full-tuition scholarship student at the american dance festival from 1992-94.  it was there that he began studying with ronald k. brown, artistic director of evidence, talley beatty and donald mckayle.  he continued training professionally with mr. brown in nyc and became a pick-up member of the dance company for the premiere of better days at dance theater workshop in 1998.  he also apprenticed with jennifer muller/the works from 1994-95.  anderson continued learning from - and performing with - such noted choreographers as jim self, mark dendy, sean curran, joy kellman, miguel gutierrez, and tamieca mccloud.

in 2002, anderson earned his mfa with honors from temple university where he had the distinction of being a future faculty fellow specializing in choreography and africanist dance aesthetics and history.  since establishing dance theatre X in 2001, he has presented his work nationally and internationally through such organizations as the philadelphia live arts festival; danceboom! at the wilma theatre; the international festival for modern dance in kaunas, lithuania; mulberry street theatre; danspace at st. mark's church; dixon place; cornell university; and the thelma hill performing arts center, among others.  he has received numerous grants to support his work, including dance advance (sponsored by the pew charitable trusts), the philadelphia cultural fund, the independence foundation, and the puffin foundation.  in june 2007, he was named one of 12 recipients of the prestigious pew fellowship in the arts, which aims to identify outstanding philadelphia artists at critical career junctures, awarding them grants of $50,000 each.  currently, anderson is an assistant professor of dance and head of the african-american studies program at muhlenberg college.