MICHELLE PEARSON

Michelle Pearson is the Artistic Director of Black Box Dance Theatre, a NC based company known for their groundbreaking collaborations in the making of deeply human and physically compelling dance. Michelle is the inaugural recipient of the Jan Van Dyke Legacy Award. She holds a BFA in Dance from ECU. She was a core member of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange from 93-98 before moving into the position of Associate Artist with the troupe for another 15 years.  She has been a guest artist and adjunct faculty at numerous schools including Meredith College, Catholic Univ, UNCG, St. Mary’s School, The American Dance Festival, Harvard Medical School, NCSU, and Arts Together. As an A+ Fellow, Michelle leads professional development workshops for educators throughout NC and the US. She was recognized by the NC Arts Council with a Choreographic Fellowship and was selected by the US Department of State to lead a Cultural Envoy to Sierra Leone in 2011 as well as Cultural Democracy missions to China in 2014, 2016 and Kazakhstan, 2019. Recently, the USO of NC has deemed Michelle and her cohort of dancers as SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and engaged them to lead Warrior Reset Programs for active duty service members. Michelle is a William C. Friday Fellow committed to improving human relations in the state of NC.  Call it choreography, performance, cultural democracy, healing art, leadership training, professional development, or arts integration; it’s all miraculous modern dance to Michelle.