Artist in Residence

Christopher K. Morgan is CityDance’s inaugural Artist in Residence. After having served as the professional company’s Resident Choreographer and Rehearsal Director from 2007-2011, he is thrilled that this new role will allow him to create high quality professional art in a supported environment that allows him to deeply investigate the creative process.

Morgan is a choreographer, performer, teacher and arts facilitator, whose work all stems from a belief in the urgency of live performance art in an increasingly isolating, commercial, and digital world. Said to be "charming and poignant" by The New York Times, Morgan’s choreography has been presented in 18 countries on 5 continents, in venues including The Kennedy Center (Washington DC), La Mama (New York City), Theater Artaud (San Francisco), The Maly Theatre (Moscow, Russia) the Hong Kong Cultural Center (China) and the South Lawn of the White House.   

As Rehearsal Director for CityDance Ensemble, Mr. Morgan was instrumental in the Company’s acquisition of repertory by renowned choreographers such as Kate Weare, Larry Keigwin and Paul Taylor. In addition he was responsible for maintaining the work of many famed choreographers, including Paul Taylor, Brenda Way, Doug Varone, Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow, Isabel Croxatto, Rachel Erdos, Alex Neoral, Greg Dolbashian, Loni Landon, Larry Keigwin and Kate Weare among many others. 

Photo credit: Steven Schreiber

As Resident Choreographer for CityDance, Morgan was commissioned to create 6 original works and 1 major reconstruction. His 2010 work +1/-1, was hailed as “exquisitely athletic... the kind of crooked choreography where the simple quiver of fingertips is enough to spark goose bumps” (artspost.net) and subsequently won the 2010 Dance Metro DC award for Outstanding New Work.   +1/-1 was co-commissioned by CityDance Ensemble and the Sarreyet Ramallah Dance Company to Open the 5th Annual Ramallah International Dance Festival, marking the first collaboration of its kind and the first time a US dance company opened this festival.

Morgan also continued many independent projects. In his 2010 self-produced evening Multiple Personalities, he delivered a “riveting performance... that succeeded due to the abundant raw emotion Morgan supplied” (Carmel Morgan, ballet-dance.com).  The production was both an audience and critical success. Additionally, since 2009 he has collaborated with Washington DC based Musica Aperta, choreographing their most recent production Pheasants, which premiered at the National Gallery in February of 2010. 

A skilled facilitator, Morgan has directed the Omi International Dance Collective since 2005, an annual 3-week residency for professional, international dancer/choreographers that takes place in New York.  From 2005 until 2008 he also founded and directed his New York City based pick up group, Muse.

Morgan is currently on faculty at American University in Washington DC, with previous teaching credits at numerous Universities and Conservatories in the US and abroad, including the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Shawbrook (Ireland), The Iwanson Schule (Munich), the Choreography College of Belarus, Towson University (Maryland), Stephens College (Missouri) and the University of Idaho among many others.   He has lectured for New York City Ballet’s Education Department, Dance Theater Workshop, served as a panelist to the National Endowment for the Art and adjudicated the 2010 National ACDFA Gala at the Kennedy Center. 

Photo credit: Sasha Vasiliev

Performing credits include Fabulous Beast Dance Theater (Ireland/UK), David Gordon, The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Kevin Wynn and the Collection, Shapiro & Smith, Malashock Dance, Selfish Shellfish (Germany), and as a soloist with the Washington National, Houston Grand, and New York City Operas. He was in the original Olivier nominated cast of Fabulous Beast Dance Theater’s Giselle. TV and film credits include a PBS Great Performance with Placido Domingo, and on film dancing with Kate Winslet and Christopher Walken.

Dividing his time between the Washington DC metro area and New York City, Mr. Morgan currently resides in North Bethesda, Maryland and is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council 2011 Individual Artist Award for Choreography, and support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

CityDance Artist in Residence Upcoming Projects

The primary focus of Morgan’s Residency at CityDance will be on the development of his first evening length work, Limited Visibility, which will have its World Premiere in the Spring of 2012.

Continuing to investigate work that brings intimacy to the stage, Limited Visibility will expose what one usually hides from public view. Inviting the dancers to reveal things they might only do in private, the piece will be a suite of dances connected in theme and design. The work will incorporate a sinuous, athletic movement style with unconventional lighting sources that define small, personal areas in which the dancers perform.

More information about several other exciting projects throughout the 2011-2012 season will be forthcoming, including a partnership with the CityDance Conservatory, Washington DC metro area performances and events, and residency work at several dance institutions in the area and beyond.