Ken Roberson (choreographer) explained

Birth Name:Kenneth L. Roberson
Birth Place:Thomson, Georgia
Known For:Avenue Q
Occupation:Choreographer, dancer, professor, director

Kenneth L. Roberson (born 1956 in Thomson, Georgia) is an American choreographer and dancer best known for his work on Avenue Q.

Early life and career

Roberson was born in Thomson, Georgia. He was an undergraduate at the Henry Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia when he saw a local dance troupe performing and resolved to become a dancer. In 1979, he graduated with a degree in journalism and got a job at the Athens Banner-Herald. He later quit his job for a chance to audition at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.[1] He attended the school for two years before joining dance-pop group Fantasy. He studied tap dancing under Henry LeTang who told him about the upcoming Paris premiere of Black and Blue. He went on to make his Broadway debut in the musical's American version in 1989.[2] He danced in the 1990 revival of Oh, Kay! and in Jelly's Last Jam, a musical about the life of Jelly Roll Morton. In 1998 he did the musical staging for John Leguizamo's one-man play Freak. Ken also was nominated for an Emmy Award for best choreography for Mr. Lequizamo's sketch comedy series House of Buggin' for Fox TV. This led to a job choreographing the 2000 US tour of The Civil War. He choreographed the Off-Broadway and Broadway versions of Avenue Q.[3] In 2009 he choreographed Colman Domingo's one-man show A Boy and His Soul.[4] Kenneth is director of ETHEL written and performed by Terry Burrell.

He is Professor of Practice, Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance at Indiana University.

Work

Dancer

Choreographer

Film and television

Awards

Notes and References

  1. News: Roberson Left Journalism For Broadway. Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. March 8, 2002. T5.
  2. News: Jacobson. Erica. How a Broadway Choreographer Danced His Way to Success. June 13, 2012. Washington Square News. https://web.archive.org/web/20150714022343/http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/livewire/archived/how_a_broadway_choreographer_d/index.html. July 14, 2015. dead.
  3. Web site: Long Runs on Broadway. June 13, 2012. June 1, 2012. Brown. Jennifer. Playbill.
  4. News: Hernandez . Ernio . Domingo Reveals A Boy and His Soul; which earn his second Lucille Lortel nomination for best choreography. His first nomination came along with a Drama Desk nomination for the critically George C. Wolfe's Harlem Song. Solo Show Opens Off-Broadway . https://archive.today/20130131090702/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/133160-Domingo-Reveals-A-Boy-and-His-Soul-Solo-Show-Opens-Off-Broadway . dead. January 31, 2013 . June 13, 2012 . Playbill . September 24, 2009 .