Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Christopher Watson Season 2 Episode 24

Christopher Watson was a member of the New Dance Ensemble of
Minneapolis and has performed with the Chicago Moving Company,
Harbinger Dance Company of Detroit, and Joanna Haigood's Zaccho
company in San Francisco, dancing in works by Pearl Lang, David
Gordon, Dan Wagoner, Linda Shapiro, Kathryn Posin, Doris
Humphrey, and Margaret Jenkins, among others.


Christopher received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from
Coe College and a Master of Science degree in journalism from
Northwestern University prior to beginning his dance training. He
began dance study at the Houston Ballet Academy and subsequently
trained with the Chicago Moving Company and at the Merce
Cunningham and Joffrey Ballet studios in New York. Christopher
then received a Master of Fine Arts in dance from the University
of Michigan. From 1978-1982, he co-directed the Dance Theatre 2
Company and School in Ann Arbor, MI


As associate director of American Inroads and Theater Artaud in
San Francisco, he produced a wide range of dance, music, and
theater events, including the concert premiere of John Adam's
Opera Nixon in China, a concert version of Phillip Glass' Liquid
Days with Linda Ronstadt, and the first annual Black
Choreographers Moving showcase, as well as performances by noted
artists Bebe Miller, Susan Marshall, Stephen Petronio, and the
Kronos Quartet, among many others. He founded the Christopher
Watson Dance Company in Sacramento, CA in 1991 after performing
as an independent choreographer and dancer for several years. Mr.
Watson returned to Minneapolis in the fall of 1994.


A former member of the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Dance
Alliance, Christopher has served on committees and panels for the
Michigan Dance Association, Dance Bay Area in San Francisco, and
the Sacramento Area Dance Alliance. He has served as a consultant
for local arts agencies and organizations including the
California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Currently he serves on the board of directors for Ressl Dance!


A distinguished teacher, Christopher has served as a guest artist
at Eastern Michigan University, California State University
Sacramento, University of California at Davis, University of
Minnesota Duluth, the Sacramento Visual and Performing Arts High
School, and the Pinole Valley Arts Magnet School in the San
Francisco Bay area.


Mr. Watson's work has been supported through grants from the
Michigan Council for the Arts, the New Works Program of the
Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Jerome Foundation
through the SpaceSpace Co-Project, the Linden Hills UCC Fund, the
Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, the Lyndale Neighborhood
Association, Minneapolis Arts Commission, the Minnesota Dance
Alliance, and Mervyn's.