BIOGRAPHY
Milton Myers received his BFA from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He was a founding member, performer and assistant to the director with the Joyce Trisler Danscompany, and performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Upon the death of Joyce Trisler, Milton was also the artistic director of the Joyce Trisler Danscompany for seven years. He has taught for Ballet Hispanico, New Danish Dance Theatre, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal, Batsheva, Kansas City Ballet, Matthew Bourne’s Male Swan Lake Company on Broadway, Ballet Stagium in Sao-Paulo, Brazil, Danny Grossman Company and Ballet Croele in Canada. He is a professional instructor for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and has been an instructor and resident choreographer for the Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco) since 1986.
Milton has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, Brown University, Howard University in Washington DC, the New York LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, the School of Toronto Dance Theatre in Canada, and the Dance Masters at Wesleyan University. He has been on faculty at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, City College of New York, Marymount Manhattan College and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Milton is currently on faculty at the Juilliard School, Fordham University Ailey program, and STEPS studio in New York. He has been the director of the modern and contemporary program at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival for the past twenty four years.
Milton teaches extensively throughout Europe, Israel, South America, Canada, and the United States. He has taught at several prominent festivals in Vienna, Moscow, Paris, Germany, Italy, Greece, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, and Israel.
Milton has choreographed for the Trisler Danscompany, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Carmen de Lavallade, Judith Jamison, New Danish Dance Theater, Philadanco, Kansas City Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Cleo Parker-Robinson Dance, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Ballet Creole, and various universities in the United States. He was commissioned to choreograph Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert for Philadanco and the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, and for Ailey II and Jessye Norman at Carnegie Hall. His choreography has earned him recognition and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council, CAPS Choreography Award (funded by the Rockefeller Foundation), Phillip Morris New Works Fund, Dance USA/Philadelphia Dance Alliance and Jacob’s Pillow. The International Association of Blacks in Dance honored Milton Myers for his artistry and contribution.
CLASS DESCRIPTION
Class involves standing warm up, clear lines, swinging action, strengthening movements, dramatic but safe falls, unpredictable positions for turns, combinations, and jumps.