Christopher Rudd

Born in Jamaica, Christopher Rudd began dancing at the age of 9 in Miami, FL at The Miami Conservatory, the school of The Thomas Armour Youth Ballet. Just two years later, Mr. Rudd became the first black person in the US to dance the title role in The Nutcracker, an accomplishment for which ABCʼs Peter Jennings named him Person of the Week in 1991. A graduate of the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Mr. Rudd has performed with such companies as Dance Theatre of Harlem, Maximum Dance Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Carolina Ballet, of which he was a founding member, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, where he rose to the rank of soloist. He also worked on the creation and danced for Cirque Du Soleil’s Zaia, Cirque’s first resident show in Asia. Throughout his career he worked with many different choreographers such as Shen Wei, Diddy Veldman, Christopher Wheeldon, Mauro Bigonzetti, Robert Weiss, Donald Mahler, and Tyler Walters to name a few. And has been featured in roles by George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Margo Sappington, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Jose Limon, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Jean-Christophe Maillot. He always felt the desire to create dance but he also felt the need to dedicate himself as a dancer first to dive into as many roles, experience as many styles, be exposed to as many cultures, listen to as many beliefs, see as many wonders, and to learn as much as he could. He experimented with pieces of his own, choreographing for Duke University, North Carolina School of the Arts, and a solo on a colleague for Alberta Balletʼs Workshop. Now, he feels, is the time for him to share choreographically what heʼs learned through dance. Having become a fiscally sponsored choreographer, Christopher, plans to launch his company in early 2012.