“Daniel Burkholder relishes the unknown and he encourages his colleagues to push themselves to the edge and beyond..”
- The Washington Post
Daniel Burkholder is an award-winning choreographer, improviser, performer, teacher, and lighting designer. His choreographic work has been commissioned by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, presented throughout the Americas, and spans theatrical performances, site-specific events, immersive media, and screendance. He has received two Metro DC Dance Awards for “Emerging Performer” and “Outstanding Group Performance in a Dance Production”, as well as Fellowships from the Maryland State Art Council for “Individual Performance” and “Choreography”. He was a Resident Artist at the Djerassi Artist Residency (CA), taught as a guest teacher for Cirque du Soleil, and was an artist-in-residence for 5 years at Georgetown University Hospital.
“...a virtuoso...a liquid mover...Burkholder has a knack for sifting through the air then punctuating a phrase with a sharp attack or a bold slice”
- The Washington Post
Daniel has presented work at numerous venues, including: Tribeca Performing Arts Center (NYC), 92nd Street Y (NYC), The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC), Danceworks (MKE), The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at University of Maryland College Park (MD), CenterStage @ Reston Community Center (VA), Dance Place (DC), along the Anacostia, Potomac and Milwaukee Rivers, in front of the Martin Luther King Library (DC) and the Shakespeare Theater (DC), as part of the Mid-West Regional Alternative Dance Festival (MI), Breaking Ground: Contemporary Dance and Film Festival (AZ), 848 Community Space (SF), and as part of a week-long residency in Manta, Ecuador. In addition, his work has been commission by James Madison University, Montgomery College, Danceworks Performance Group, CrossCurrents Dance Company, Community College of Baltimore, Joy of Motion Dance Studios, Dance Place, and Choreographers Collaboration Project.
In addition to his choreographic work, Daniel is an active improvisational performer and has performed with Nancy Stark Smith, Scott Wells, KJ Holmes, Sharon Mansur, Cyrus Khambatta, Maida Withers, Katie Duck, John LeFan, and many other amazing artists.
“lovely, touching, thought provoking”
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Daniel is currently an Associate Professor of Dance and the Director of the M.F.A. in Dance program at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He has taught at the West Coast Contact Improvisation Festival, the Wild Meadows Improvisation Intensive, D.C. International Improvisation PLUS+ Festival, Texas Improvisation Festival, Emerging Pathways within Somatic Movement and Dance Education (NDEO / ISMETA), University of Maryland College Park, George Washington University, American University, Sonoma State University, Washington Opera, multiple American College Dance Associations festivals, and numerous studios and festivals. He is also the producer and host of the act/re/act podcast which focuses on exploring improvisation through conversations with remarkable artists.
“Burkholder has the amplitude of a young Paul Taylor.”
- Dance Magazine
Daniel holds an M.F.A in Performing Arts: Dance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (2011) , an M.A. in Dance from American University (2002), a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College (1990), a Certificate in Somatic Studies from Moving on Center/School for Participatory Arts (1999), and is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (2005).
Photograph by Kevin Cotton