Forbes interviews 'American Utopia' choreographer Annie-B Parson '80
Choreographer Annie-B Parson '80 told Forbes magazine she feels like she first met collaborator David Byrne by listening to his music at Conn.
“I was a dance major at Connecticut College, making dances and I definitely made dances to him in my room,” she said.
Parson is an award-winning choreographer, director and co-founder of the Big Dance Theater in New York City. Since 1991, she has choreographed and co-created more than 20 works with the theater, including pure dance pieces, plays, literary adaptations and original works.
She recently collaborated with David Byrne, lead singer of the rock band The Talking Heads, choreographing his American Utopia tour, which runs on Broadway through mid-February. Parson previously worked with Byrne on his musical Here Lies Love, which appeared at both the National Theater and Public Theater in London, and on his 2008 and 2012 tours.
Parson has choreographed operas, ballets, symphonies, television, film and a range of other mediums, and has been recognized with a number of prestigious honors, including the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, an Olivier Award nomination in choreography, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship in Choreography and two BESSIE awards, among many more.
