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Why Donald Byrd doesn’t dance around race
As he turns 70, the Seattle-based choreographer continues to provoke conversations through his art.
Choreographer Donald Byrd.
KUOW Public Radio/Megan Farmer
For decades now, the choreographer Donald Byrd has used dance to illuminate what it means to be black in America.
Byrd is the artistic director of the Spectrum Dance Company in Seattle. Sometimes his work is gentle; more often, though, his dances are bracing and arresting.
As he approaches his 70th birthday, Donald Byrd still relentlessly uses his art to provoke conversations about fairness, justice and racism.