Akron's Dominic Moore-Dunson named breakout star on Dance Magazine's '25 to Watch' list

Akron dancer and choreographer Dominic Moore-Dunson has made it onto a coveted national list — the 2023 “25 to Watch” list in Dance Magazine.

The national publication announced 25 dance honorees from across the country online Dec. 16, featuring its "annual list of dancers, choreographers and companies on the brink of skyrocketing."

"These trailblazers and breakout stars are forging their own paths through our field. We can’t wait to see where they lead us next," said the magazine article, which will come out in print in January.

Dance Magazine is the premiere publication for the dance industry. Other dancers and choreographers on the latest "25 to Watch" come from the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and more.

Many are from major dance hubs such as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago. Moore-Dunson noted that three who are not include him as well as honorees from St. Louis and Houston. And he's proud to have made the list from a city as small as Akron.

"The people who have been on this '25 to Watch' list, five, 10 years ago are like the preeminent choreographers in our industry now. So people who end up on this list often end up being the established choreographers within a three- to five-year period," Moore-Dunson said Thursday. "It's really exciting that they see me as being cut from the same cloth as choreographers like Kyle Abraham, for instance."

"It just feels like an honor and a blessing to be included and to be seen as a trailblazer or a breakout star," the 33-year-old said.

Moore-Dunson, who has been dancing professionally since 2010, performed with Inlet Dance Theatre for a decade. The West Akron resident is founder of MooreDunson Co., an arts, media and entertainment company committed to "Urban Midwest storytelling."

His current project, the multidisciplinary "inCOPnegro," explores the concept of safety and police relations in Black communities through both an evening-length dance theater production and an ongoing podcast.

'Everyone deserves safety':'inCOPnegro' asks questions about race, policing, parenthood

The dance theater work, which is still in development, will premiere in June at Balch Street Theater. Its development has been supported by the National Center for Choreography - Akron (NCCAkron), Akron Reimagining the Civic Commons, the Akron Community Foundation and Akron Soul Train. In 2021, "inCOPnegro" also was named a Top 40 finalist for the National Dance Project Production Grant.

He's had a long-term relationship with NCCAkron at the University of Akron, where he's been a creative research residency artist and is now a creative administration research fellow.

"We at NCCAkron are thrilled to see Dominic highlighted on a national level. Collaborating with and hosting him in multiple capacities has been a reciprocal relationship for us," said Christy Bolingbroke, executive/artistic director for NCCAkron.

NCCAkron supports research and development of new work in dance by artists from throughout the country.

Dancing in Akron since age 2

Moore-Dunson, who started dancing at age 2 in Akron, continued studying dance daily through Miller South School for the Visual & Performing Arts, Firestone High School and the University of Akron. He was also a soccer star at both Firestone and UA.

"So much of my life has been surrounded around this art form on a daily basis," he said.

More:‘Black Card’ dance show returns to Akron with school, Civic performances

He's been focused on working as a full-time choreographer but had questioned whether he needed to move to a bigger city to do so. Even so, Moore-Dunson didn't want to uproot his family, including wife Ashley and young children Maverick and Naomi.

Now, named as one of "25 to Watch," his choreography has entered the national conversation. And he realizes he doesn't have to leave Akron to break into the national choreography scene.

"It made me realize that I actually do have the capacity to do that," he said. "The quality has been high enough that even though I'm here in Akron, Ohio, and not necessarily on their radar, it (his work) found them anyway."

Moore-Dunson's previous honors include being named a 2021 Associate Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts #180 with Doug Varone and winning the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize’s Emerging Artist Award for Theatre & Dance. Also in 2019, he was a fellow in a choreography program at Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts.

"As a Black choreographer, I am one of many in this country who are using their art to address structural and personal struggles that our community faces," Moore-Dunson says on his website. "I share stories of people who look like me, providing a platform to allow Black people to speak and for their stories to be heard without interruption."

Moore-Dunson said he can't wait to forge ahead in 2023, which he said will be "all gas, no brakes." He's currently fundraising for Season 2 of the podcast "inCOPnegro: Black & Blue" which will run for eight weeks leading up to the world premiere of his live "inCOPnegro" dance theater piece. Season 1 and bonus episodes of the "inCOPnegro" podcast can be heard on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple.

Next, he'll choreograph an Afro-futuristic version of "Cinderella" with Nashville Children's Theatre in March. His next dance project after "inCOPnegro's" premiere will be "Dance By Nature," which will explore Black people's relationship to natural spaces.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.