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Lineage, Leadership, and the Future of Black Dance with Kevin Ward
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This month's guest is Kevin Ward. Mr. Ward is an acclaimed dancer, choreographer, educator, musician, and arts leader. He joined Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in 1980 and served as its Artistic Director from 1999 to 2007, helping guide one of the nation’s leading Black contemporary dance companies. After working with the National Dance Institute and New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, Ward returned to DCDC in 2022 as Senior Artistic Advisor. His honors include three Ohio Arts Council Fellowships, the OhioDance Award, and the Kennedy Center’s Masters of African American Choreography Medal.
OhioDance: A State of Dance is a six-part series coming out the fourth Friday of each month through November 2026. This podcast is driven by the OhioDance mission to secure the foothold of dance in Ohio through increasing visibility, firming viability, and elevating the position of dance in Ohio.
In 2016, a five-person team set out on a mission to capture the achievements of persons and institutions who have shaped the intricate diversity of dance history and practice within the state of Ohio and weave them together in an easily accessible digital format. This we call this the OhioDance Virtual Dance Collection. As of 2026 we have highlighted 46 individuals and institutions. The team has traveled over 5000 miles and interviewed hundreds of individuals in all five regions of Ohio. vdc.ohiodance.org
If you like what you are listening to and are not a member of OhioDance, you can go to ohiodance.org and click the membership button to join and receive the many benefits that come with your membership. You can also donate through our purple donate button.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'A State of Dance' Podcast
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to A State of Dance, sponsored by OhioDance and hosted by independent choreographer and interdisciplinary artist, Rodney Veal.
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to A State of Dance, sponsored by OhioDance and hosted by Rodney Veal. The podcast is partially based on the OhioDance Virtual Dance Collection, an interactive website that documents and preserves the achievements of individuals and institutions who shape the diversity of dance history and practice in Ohio.
Meet Kevin Ward: Artistic Journey Begins
00:00:40
Speaker
Today, I would like to welcome our guest, Kevin Ward, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company senior artistic advisor, tour manager, volunteer, and alumni coordinator, and all around amazing creative talent. Thank you for joining us today, Kevin.
00:00:57
Speaker
Thank you for having me. I'm super, super excited to have you on the podcast and we're going to dive into the questions. You trained under legends like Arthur Mitchell, Thelma Hill, James Truitt, and Maggie Black.
00:01:09
Speaker
What was it like being in the room with those giants and how did they shape who you became as a dancer and a leader? James Truitt, Mr. Truitt. I first met Jimmy when I auditioned for College Conservatory of Music, the dance program there. Mr. Truitt was this tall, imposing figure with this silver mane of hair that just know framed like a halo his face. And he was dressed all in black, very formal, and had these...
00:01:42
Speaker
hands full of rings, these gorgeous hands that he was very expressive with. And I was just like, it was so imposing, you know, I was just scared out on my wits. What is this man going to ask me to do?
00:01:55
Speaker
But he was very kind. And you know, I i was 18. I didn't know who this person was. for her I had no idea about his history with with Horton, with African-American dance. And he would soon let us know all about that history, you know, and he was a fountain of knowledge and it was so great.
00:02:15
Speaker
But the first classes with Mr. Truitt, learning Horton from this fountain of wisdom. After Lester Horton's premature death in 1950, think Truitt had over the direction of the school.
00:02:29
Speaker
jamesruwart had taken over the direction of the school And so he was responsible for codifying, writing down a lot of the exercises and putting them into a a sort of syntax where the students, you learned it from top to bottom, what he was teaching. And that's...
00:02:52
Speaker
My introduction to Truett and Horton technique and how difficult
Early Influences and Education
00:02:58
Speaker
it was. When I was at UC at the University of Cincinnati, the director of the program, David McClain, had just begun introducing the Horton technique into the school.
00:03:12
Speaker
Originally, it was designed so that James Truett and Thelma Hill would share residency. A few months out of the year, Mr. Truitt would be in residence teaching Horton technique, and then Thelma Hill would take over. And so I had a a period of time where I was studying with both James Truitt and Thelma Hill. And Thelma Hill came from a different background, but it was modern dance based. And her classes were a little bit freer and equally as difficult.
00:03:47
Speaker
But they were powerful classes. And Thelma Hill was this, she was this short, stocky, powerful dancer, powerful choreographer, powerful dancer, powerful teacher. And you worked your little liver pens off in her class. And it was just wonderful. It's a good thing that you don't know when you're young.
00:04:08
Speaker
how great these people are that you're studying with, because otherwise you wouldn't take a step. You'd just stand there in awe. But they pushed. They got you moving. Also, at the same time that those first couple of years I was studying at College Conservatory Music, the dance program, Dame Alicia Makova was teaching there.
00:04:31
Speaker
Wow. And that was, I didn't know her history. Alicia Markova was one of the baby ballerinas with Ballet Russe, and she taught classes with us. And she was very special. She sat very formally in a chair. She was made up and dressed. She had little poochie scarves, these very elaborate silk printed scarves that she wore during class. And she taught from a chair. and you took direction from her. She taught technique and partnering. wow When I got to college, I had been studying dance two years.
00:05:12
Speaker
Really? And I was in those classes, and i think it was just a fun introduction to everything about dance, having those three teachers there. Filma Hill, James Truitt, and Dame Alicia Markova. We also studied with Oleg Sablin, who had been a principal dancer with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo de Cuevas.
00:05:36
Speaker
The Ballet Russe was all these directors that spun off their own little version of it, right. Little versions of the Ballet Russe. And so he was a principal with that group.
00:05:47
Speaker
And he was a wonderful teacher. It was great education. Wow. I just love the fact that you just get absorbed and I love how you vividly describe people because they do make impressions. And so this training with all these wonderful teachers at CCM, Society Conservative Music, did that lead to Arthur Mitchell and lead to Dance Theatre of Harlem?
Transition to New York and Professional Growth
00:06:09
Speaker
Yes, yes, it did. i was at the conservatory CCM for two years and I had that New York itch. Before CCM, I graduated from Interlaken Arts Academy. in Northern Michigan. I was a student there. I carried a double major, music and dance.
00:06:32
Speaker
But all my buddies, when they were graduating, they all headed to New York. And I wanted to go to New York too, but we couldn't afford that. I got a great scholarship to attend CCM, but I still had that New York itch. That New York itch.
00:06:49
Speaker
And so I said, enough of Ohio. I'm going to York. going New York again. And i went there and in New York, I studied with Maggie Black, legendary teacher, had a studio 48th Street, I think. Yeah, it was on 48th Street, a walk up.
00:07:11
Speaker
And i was there taking classes. And again, it's good you don't know what you don't know, because all the stars of American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, and guests coming in from from the Netherlands, from different companies, from Paris Opera Ballet. Michel Denard was in class. Mary Hinkson took classes. Just an impressive roster of dancers in that class and enough to make you just want to step away from the floor. But Maggie was encouraging. She insisted that you take your place at the bar with the principals and soloists with New York City Ballet and ABT. And also there were dancers there from a DTH, Dance Studio Harlem. Paul Russell regularly took those classes. And Maggie encouraged me to go and audition her. for Theater of Harlem, which I did. And I got in as an apprentice and I began sitting with not only Arthur Mitchell, but Carl Schuch, Taneke LaCleck, and Bill Mitchell. A lot of my classes were primarily with Bill Mitchell, who was He looked like a Marine Sergeant, but he was a wonderful teacher. He got a lot of chops, a lot of work done with Bill Mitchell and also the other teachers. lot of classes were with Carl Schuch, who was co-founder of DTH.
00:08:41
Speaker
Yeah. You were in the thick of it in New York. All this and is is incredible scratching of the New York
Mentorship and Development at Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
00:08:47
Speaker
itch. I love that. In 1980, you were brought in specifically developed young male dancers for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. What was that moment like? What was that invitation? Let me catch you up. and Catch me up. Absolutely. catch you up I was in New York for a while. Then I returned to Cincinnati, becoming a full member of the company.
00:09:07
Speaker
But I was beginning to have knee issues and the arthritis was starting to show in my knees. And so I had to take some time off and i came home to Dayton to recuperate for a while. My mother and father knew Geraldine. They knew about her school. Actually, my grandparents knew Geraldine's parents. So this was a a very tight knit community.
00:09:36
Speaker
that knew each other through parties, through through friends of friends. And Geraldine had known that I was dancing and she knew that it was all for a while. She said to my mother, tell them to come on by. We need a teacher. we have some young men that we want to integrate into the dance company.
00:09:56
Speaker
And so I came by and I began teaching these young men that when I think about that, Dwight Rodin was one of those young men in the class. Yeah. And he was, Dwight would go on to have his great career with DCDC, but also went on to ballet jazz to Montreal, Alvin Ailey, and then would found his own dance company with Desmond Richardson, Complexions Contemporary Ballet.
00:10:24
Speaker
So Dwight was part of that initial class and you know it was just getting these young men on stage fast. yeah I also mentioned Terry Morris, who would become a critic with the Dayton Daily News, was in that class.
00:10:40
Speaker
He was in that class. Okay. Yes. I know Terry. Yes. Oh, my gosh. And he would be a young dancer. And this was a way of on-the-job training for Terry. So he gets an in-depth knowledge of what he's going to be reviewing in a few years. Absolutely.
00:10:56
Speaker
And these young men were going to go on and become some of the first young men with the company, with DCDC. And it was exciting. I was discovering my teaching chops, and they were discovering... their young selves as dancers. And so it was fun.
00:11:14
Speaker
it was fun. It was illuminating. And the young men were finding their place within the company of these very talented dancers, young women dancers like Debbie Blunden Diggs, Donwood Carter, Sherry Sparkle Williams. Who else was in those groups? Tina Griggs, Thelma Smith. So they were all going to be dancing together. They were going to be supporting them.
00:11:41
Speaker
And that is a stellar crew of performers and movers. I mean, oh yeah wow, all in one concentrated place. That had to be the heady time and the possibilities. And I always saw it from afar. So it's just really neat to hear that you enjoyed the teaching aspect of it, the connecting. Yeah. I love that.
00:12:02
Speaker
Yeah, teaching was, I enjoyed it and teaching was a challenge. Geraldine was there backing me up and giving me, providing me with tips. This is what you do. This is how you do that. It was so brand new to me.
00:12:14
Speaker
love it. We're going to shift forward.
Innovative Artistic Challenges and Achievements
00:12:17
Speaker
The Ohio Arts Council commissioned you to create the Wild Blue as a Literal Award. a dance as a trophy, which I'm impressed by that just in many ways. How do you even approach a creative brief or experience like that? like dance as a trophy as in ah a way of honoring. Wow.
00:12:35
Speaker
You approach it blindly. Well, at least that's how I did it. They were doing that with their awards. In different years, they would commission an artist,
00:12:46
Speaker
to create the award. Some years it was a a musical piece that was the award. It was a graphic artwork that became the award. I got an award years later that was, it's a beautiful artwork that's done on glass that I have in my house and it's gorgeous. Wow. And I don't remember the artist's name, but... It's a beautiful piece of Native American dancing that became the award for that one year.
00:13:16
Speaker
But OAC came to me and asked me to create the work. There was a a photo that was a document of the award.
00:13:26
Speaker
I think it was Michael Milligan from Ohio Arts Council who I worked with. And he's no longer with us, but he helped me pulling together the work. and And we worked with a photographer who would document He created several photographs. The dance was a trio with Sherry Sparkle Williams and Blaine Evans and Cecil Slaughter. So it was a trio. Oh, Cecil. Oh my gosh.
00:13:56
Speaker
I remember. it Yes. Yeah, wonderful dancer. And i think Cecil is in St. Louis. He has his own company now. But that was the award. It was called Wild Blue. And first section was a solo for Sherry. It was done to Paganini variations on God Save the Queen. And then the second part was Charles Ives variations on America. And they're both the same tune.
00:14:22
Speaker
my country is at least me and that was the wild blow i love it i love it kevin it's so great to hear this fully immersed life in teaching and creativity and your history because of a lot of things i didn't know so we're going to take a brief moment but when we come back i'm going to definitely want to ask about all the other amazing things you've done in your life and where you're at today so everyone stay tuned
00:14:56
Speaker
We want to remind you that if you like what you're listening to and are not a member of OhioDance, you can go OhioDance.org and click the membership button to join and receive the many benefits that come with your membership.
00:15:08
Speaker
You can also donate through our purple donate button.
00:15:21
Speaker
Hello, everyone. We are back at our conversation with the incredible Kevin Ward. And I'm learning so much about Kevin's history. And I'm just sitting back and I'm absorbing all this incredible information.
00:15:32
Speaker
And Kevin has lived of a really storied life and continues to be impactful. And this next question is Kevin, you've sat on the panel for the NEA Pew Center, New York Foundation for the Arts, and so many others. What's one thing you wish more artists understood about how funding decisions get made? This is a really good question for people. What do they need to know?
00:15:55
Speaker
I think don't take it personal. The decisions that are made don't take it personal. And equally, a decline of your grant is nothing to take personal. And the award of your grant is not to take personal either. When we sit on those panels, we're doing it to the best of our knowledge. We're looking at applications and we see things that are appealing to us and we see things that aren't appealing to us. And we're all trying to come to a consensus. All fives, eight, 10 heads in there looking at these grants.
00:16:32
Speaker
And we also regret that there was that one grant that was just like just so great but it fell maybe one or two points outside of the systems that designed for those particular criteria so it's yeah do you think it's really helpful for artists and especially choreographers and movers to actually serve on some of these grant panels so they can get that insider kind of awareness of just how difficult the process is knowledge is power i take it Yeah.
00:17:06
Speaker
It is helpful for those reasons, but it's also helpful to be able to sit on those panels and insert your voice. That may not be for the time a voice that's often heard. Say you're coming from a very minimalist background and that's not getting heard enough. So being on a panel, You can search your knowledge, your aspect, your viewpoint and say, this is some nice minimalist application or whatever. It's important to be on those panels and being able to say from your viewpoint, this is what I see and this is what I'd like to see.
00:17:41
Speaker
i love it. I love it. so Kevin, one of things that's pretty amazing, this is an incredible honor, the Kennedy Center's master's of African American choreography medal, which you've received. What does that recognition mean to you in the context of your broader career? That's an incredible honor. Yeah, it was. And it was a very incredible honor. And it was unexpected.
00:18:03
Speaker
It's a big blingy medal with the Kennedy Center. Wow. Wow. It was a program, me think back, IABD, and International Association of Blacks in Dance. They're living legends. founders of that organization that included Geraldine. It was also Clea Parker Robinson Dance so Ensemble. It was Joan Myers Brown of Philodenko, Lula Washington at Lula Washington Dance Theater in California, and Ann Williams of Dallas Black Dance Theater.
00:18:37
Speaker
These were five ladies that were, as part of this thing, that were being honored. Geraldine, having just passed, her company is being honored with this medal as well. And so as moving into the directorship of DCDC, I received the honor as representing Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. but also with those other women that were those living legends and also founders of IABD.
00:19:07
Speaker
We're also responsible for creating work and promoting African-American dance in our communities and in the nation. And of course, other awardees that got those medals, I believe it was Bill T. Jones, Elio Palmare, Tali Beatty, B.B. Miller, Arthur Mitchell. We're all in that same class. i'm I haven't thought about it much, but saying it out loud at this time is like, oh, my God.
00:19:35
Speaker
The company we keep. that's my way I'm like, oh, wow. I'm in that that group of people. Okay. All right. Sit down. Have a drink. like Relax. Just take it in. Take it in. Just take it in. Yeah.
00:19:50
Speaker
I'm also aware that it's an award for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, for what Geraldine has built. I'm not under any illusion about the significance of the award and where it actually sits.
00:20:06
Speaker
Yeah. One thing I love about the contemporary dance company and Geraldine is the guiding force behind it. It was it's, it's about family and community. Yes. And you all still work at the same level of commitment to this excellence. so Receiving awards is a hard thing anyway. It's just a very,
00:20:23
Speaker
Okay, everybody calm down. Let me just try to get through the day. Yeah. Yeah. Now, with this in 2007, you were newly married. You left Ohio for Santa Fe and pivoted to music and teaching with the National Dance Institute and New Mexico School for the Arts.
New Horizons in Santa Fe
00:20:40
Speaker
What was it like stepping outside the world that you built this community that you built for so long?
00:20:45
Speaker
First, it was an adventure and the transition wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The first thing I did when we moved to New Mexico was i depended on my musical abilities. I had been trained as a pianist and that was my first love and first thing that I knew how to do. And i had also been for years supporting myself as an accompanist. In high school, I was accompanying dance. I was accompanying church choirs.
00:21:20
Speaker
And when I moved to New York, That's how I supported myself while I was out traipsing out trying to get jobs as a dancer or getting training as a dancer. That's how I got my bread and butter. I accompanied dance classes at the American Ballet Theater School.
00:21:37
Speaker
And... When money was scarce, there was always some accompanying job that I could do. And same thing when I moved to New Mexico. I knew what to do. So i applied and started accompanying at National Dance Institute, and I also taught a few classes there, too.
00:21:54
Speaker
But the thing about NDI, National Dance Institute, was they do these wonderful shows with the kids, which they bring in live music for those programs. And there's often a pit band, a pit orchestra. And that's the first time I've ah played with a pit orchestra and a pit band. And we're in there and then I'm playing the music from Chicago or Annie.
00:22:21
Speaker
My goodness. Yeah. And I'm working with Anne Reinking is coming in to set Annie, and she's working with the dancers on that, and she's also working with some of the Chicago things.
00:22:33
Speaker
And Jacques Demboise comes in. He's wanting to to set us a ballet to some Stravinsky, so I'm playing that music for him, and I'm playing for Anne Reinking.
00:22:44
Speaker
And I'm thinking to myself, I would never have thought I would have had another career as a musician performing in a band. I would never have thought that. And I recall thinking back to my father's advice from years ago and when all this started, make sure you have a backup career. When I was dancing, make sure you have a backup career.
00:23:06
Speaker
And who knew that the backup career would be music. Make sure you have a backup career as a musician, being an accountant, right? And so I was doing that, and it was wonderful. The other musicians, NDI has a large stable of musicians. They have a school in Santa Fe, and they also have a school in Albuquerque. And we're just playing music all over the state. It was wonderful experience and and also was teaching as well. When I first got there, it was just working with NDI, the National Dance Institute. The New Mexico School of the Arts wasn't formed yet. Then maybe about 2012 was when New Mexico School of the Arts. And so I joined that faculty as a it's an accompanist, as a musician.
00:23:54
Speaker
And then i also was teaching a few classes, substituting in some classes, teaching dance technique. And also then I was on the faculty as a modern dance teacher at NDI as well.
00:24:10
Speaker
So in many ways, it's like the music was the principle and then you're adding the dance onto it. Yeah. Yeah. Coming from that great experience in Santa Fe, New Mexico area, you came back to DCDC in 2022 in a completely different role.
Return to Dayton and Future of African-American Dance
00:24:26
Speaker
Yeah. Senior artistic advisor, tour manager, volunteer and alumni coordinator. I got to ask the question, what drew you back? What does it feel like to serve a company you once led?
00:24:37
Speaker
Mm-hmm. What drew me back was one thing and I'm getting older and I have family getting older and I'm losing family and i wanted to be around brothers, uncles, aunts and I wanted to to see those people.
00:24:51
Speaker
wanted to be around them again. But also, Debbie had contacted me back at 18, and this was about heading an alumni group we had. And so that's what brought me back initially. First, I did that work from New Mexico, and we were arranging to do some work with Dirty Dozen Brass Band. So I was kind of like the point person working with them. And this was for the company's 50th anniversary. And then Debbie also asked me to do some choreography, do a piece with the orchestra, with Dayton Philharmonic. And at first, because I hadn't done anything like that, i hadn't choreographed in years. And I was very hesitant. I was scared. What will I do? I haven't touched that part of my skill set. Yeah. But Debbie trusted me. And after a few weeks of searching inside, can I do this? I said, OK, yeah, I can choreograph. I'll try it. So that Debbie brought me in to work with alumni group to be the point person with Dirty Dozen Brass Band and also to set this new piece.
00:26:04
Speaker
So that's how I got back involved. And how does it feel to serve in a company that I used to lead? That question is weird because even when I was artistic director, when I took over from Geraldine after she passed, even then I felt like I was in service to the company. I was in service to the idea And so i I never felt like I was just, I'm the leader of the company, do what I say. I always felt that there was a mission, an important mission that was bigger than me that I was involved in. And I was asked to step up to the plate and this is what you need to do now.
00:26:46
Speaker
So that's how I saw it anyway. So this new position of coming in as senior advisor was just more of an extension of that. and Earlier I talked about i know it's a cliche and it's a trope to call it a family, but I think it's the mission. I think what you articulated is the mission is in service of something bigger than all of you and all of us as a community. And I think that's what resonates. And that's why it's worth the work and to yeah to do what you do. I think it's pretty amazing. and And contemporary dance companies, especially those rooted in African-American artistic traditions, are facing some real pressures today. What gives you hope for the future of companies like DCDC, especially considering the mission?
00:27:30
Speaker
What gives me hope? That there are young African-American dancers, artists, creatives that continue to love this work, to love what they do, and that they're involved in changing how and what it means to be African American, what it means to be Black American, what it means to be a Black American dancer, what it means to be a dancer. They're pulling in all of this information from their various lives and from their various regions. They're all over the world, all over the United States. They're coming together to say this is what Black dance is now. This is what the art form is. it's I'm pulling from myself. I'm pulling from my own history, and I'm adding these contemporary elements. It's exciting, and that's what gives me hope, too, is that it's always exciting. Absolutely. That you're seeing ideas surface and being instituted by some young people that are like, oh, wow, I never thought of it like that. And it's just, OK, great. yeah And they're doing it in a background of what seems to be never-ending opposition, never-ending challenges for African-Americans in this country and Black people all over the world, never-ending challenges. And they're not letting up. and not letting that dissuade them from their own goals, their own ideas.
00:29:04
Speaker
If a young dancer came to you today, the equivalent of who you were when you walked into Cincinnati Ballet and CCM and like your journey beginning, what would you want them to hear?
00:29:17
Speaker
You're not coming in there a blank slate. You are coming in there and even as young as 17, 18 years old. You have a wealth of knowledge, a wealth of experiences. You can do a hundred.
00:29:32
Speaker
You can do a million things, honor it. honor it and draw upon it when necessary. I wish I had that information when I was 17, 18. Yes, I wish I had that.
00:29:44
Speaker
And it it took a long time to learn that. It's all there for you. Yeah. Kevin, it is such an honor and it's such a privilege of you taking us on a journey through your life and sharing. I hope everyone listens to this podcast and gets inspired to only self-reflect, but honor what it means to follow a mission.
00:30:06
Speaker
And you certainly do that. You embody it so beautifully and eloquently. And I'm just honored. So I'm honored to know you. So thank you, Kevin. Thank you, Rodney, so much. This has been a pleasure, and I'm honored to be here. Thank
00:30:25
Speaker
A State of Dance is produced by OhioDance and hosted by Rodney Veal. Executive producer Jane D'Angelo, editor and audio technician Jessica Cavender. Musical composition by Matthew Peyton Dixon.
00:30:38
Speaker
OhioDance would like to thank our funders, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio State University Dance Preservation Fund, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Columbus Foundation, and the Akron Community Fund.