Cameron McKinney

Primary Academic Program: Dance

Biography:

Cameron McKinney is a New York City–based choreographer, educator, and artistic director of Kizuna Dance, which he founded in 2014 with the mission of creating works that merge his passions for the Japanese language and culture and American and Japanese dance forms. He was selected as U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission Creative Artist Fellow to collaborate with renowned Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki on a work to be showcased at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Honors include the 2020 Ann and Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow, Alvin Ailey Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab Fellowship, and Asian Cultural Council Individual grantee. Through Kizuna Dance, McKinney has presented work and taught in 15 states and in Japan, Mexico, France, and the United Kingdom. He is currently working on Nagare Technique, a training module that blends street dance styles and contemporary floorwork. Through Kizuna Dance’s new Culture Commissions program, he also directly supports emerging artists through commissions for new works created through research-oriented explorations into the Japanese culture. 

McKinney, a Memphis native who earned his BA at Middlebury College, where he was a joint Japanese and dance major, has been commissioned for new works by, among others, Princeton University, Dance Gallery Festival, Joffrey Ballet School, SpectorDance, and Let’s Dance International Frontiers Festival (UK). He has presented choreographic work at prestigious festivals and institutions nationally and internationally, including the Japan Society in New York, the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Tokyo; Boston Contemporary Dance Festival; Performática, Mexico; Charlotte Ballet; 92nd Street Y; and Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater. He was awarded the audience choice award at Seattle’s 2017 Men in Dance Festival. He has served as an adjunct lecturer at Princeton and has led master classes and workshops at Brooklyn College, the Ailey School, Joffrey Dance Center, Cleveland State University, and Purdue University, among others. He has been on the faculty of Gibney Dance since 2016.

Contact:

Website: https://cameronmckinneydance.com
E-mail: