Robert Moses' Kin is an American dance company

Dance company

A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...

 known for artistic and choreographic

Choreography

Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...

 innovation. It is founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in 1995.

Founder

Robert Moses. Artistic Director - Choreographer Robert Moses founded Robert Moses' Kin in 1995 and since then has created numerous works of varying styles and genres for his highly praised dance company. Robert Moses creates dances that speak to our times: His work is a powerful combination of athletic technique, rhythmic complexity, a fusion of different dance styles, and gestural detail. He explores topics ranging from oral history in African American culture to the life and work of author James Baldwin, the isolation found in new love to the dark side of contemporary urban culture, and the simple joyous expressions of pure movement. Moses and his company have been honored with many prestigious grants, awards and fellowships, including three project awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, an Irvine Dancemakers grant, the Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award and three Isadora Duncan Dance Awards. Moses’ work has been commissioned and performed internationally by such companies as Philadanco, Cincinnati Ballet, Transitions Dance Company of the Laban Center in London, African Cultural Exchange and Bare Bones Dance Company in Birmingham, England, and Oakland Ballet, among others. His work has been performed nationally and internationally, including England, Italy and Ireland. Moses was recently appointed Artist-in-Residence and Director of the Committee on Black Performing Arts at Stanford University, where he has been a lecturer and curator of dance programming since 1995. A highly regarded master teacher, he has taught on campuses and at festivals throughout the United States, including Bates Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, University of Texas, University of Nevada, and others. Moses has been invited to give workshops internationally, most recently for artists of African descent with State of Emergency Limited in the United Kingdom. He has held residencies at ODC Theater and in the San Francisco public schools as part of the San Francisco Arts in Education Foundation Artist-in-Residence Program, and was a Duke/Wattis Artist-in-Residence at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. He has performed with his company at many nationally esteemed venues such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival, and the Bates Dance Festival. He has choreographed for film, theater and opera, including most recently the San Francisco Opera’s world premiere production of The Force of Destiny. Additional credits include major productions for the Lorraine Hansberry Theater, New Conservatory Theater, Los Angeles Prime Moves Festival (L.A.C.E.), Olympic Arts Festival, and Black Choreographers Moving Toward the 21st Century. Moses has collaborated with many notable artists, such as Julia Adam, Margaret Jenkins, Alonzo King, Sara Shelton Mann, SoVoSo, Marcus Shelby, Keith Terry, Frank Boehm, Will Power, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, David Worm, and Youth Speaks.

Before starting his own dance company, Robert Moses, the founder of the company, danced for many institutions like Twyla Tharp Dance, ODC/San Francisco, Long Beach Ballet, Walt Disney World Productions, and Gloria Newman Dance. Moses also works as faculty member at Stanford Dance Center. He is also a guest teacher at many other schools and universities in bay area. He also composed dance for films and theaters like the Lorraine Hansberry Theater, New Conservatory Theater, Los Angeles Prime Moves Festival, Olympic Arts Festival, and Black Choreographers Moving Toward the 21st Century.

Style

Robert Moses’ Kin is a nationally renowned dance company, recognized for its artistic excellence and choreographic innovation. In collaboration with important dance, music, poetry, and visual artists, Robert Moses Kin (RMK) is dedicated to moving forward the forms of dance and performance. Its mission is to produce work that speaks to what is specific and unique in human nature. Robert Moses’ Kin uses movement as the medium through which race, class, culture and gender are used to voice the existence of our greater potential and unfulfilled possibilities.

The company performances are combination of athletic techniques, rhythmic complexity and gestural details. They are fusion of different styles and genres like jazz

Jazz dance

Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...

, light hip hop, gospel music

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 and ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

ic movements. The company explores the issues of race, gender, class and other social topics like biographies.

Performances

Major Works and Commissions:
2009 Wasteland Production, Stanford University
2008 Reignforest, premiered at Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CA
2008 Towards September, premiered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
2008 Approaching Thought , Rose/Hush, and Consent premiered at Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center, San Francisco
2007 Untitled, San Francisco International Arts Festival, Dance Mission Theatre, San Francisco
2007 Jokes Like That Can Get You Killed, premiered at Stanford Lively Arts
2007 Lucifer’s Prance, Doscongio, and Speaking Ill of the Dead, presented at Dance New Amsterdam
2006 Cause, presented at Fall for Dance Festival, New York City Center
2006 Draft, premiered at ODC Theatre, San Francisco
2006 Doscongio, presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
2006 The Lost Parade, premiered at Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
2006 Speaking Ill of the Dead, premiered at Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
2005 President’s Daughter, premiered at Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
2005 The Force of Destiny, commissioned choreography for presentation at San Francisco Opera
2005 Woman Spelled Like This, commissioned by African Cultural Exchange in Birmingham, UK
2004 Cause, collaboration with Youth Speaks; premiered at Youth Speaks Living Word Festival, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; Jonathan Norton, composer; Marc Bamuthi-Joseph, dramaturg
2004 other gods, premiered at Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
2003 Biography, with sound excerpts from 1961 discussion with James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, Emile Capouya, and Alfred Kazin; premiered at Cowell Theater, San Francisco
2003 The Soft Sweet Smell of Firm Warm Things, with composer Jonathan Norton; premiered at
Cowell Theater, San Francisco
2003 Misconsumption, commissioned and performed by Bare Bones Dance Company, Birmingham, UK
2002 Word of Mouth, with media designer Austin Forbord; premiered at Cowell Theatre, San Francisco
2002 Unión Fraternal, commission to set work on Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati, OH
2001 Unión Fraternal, collaboration with Oakland Ballet and composer John Santos; premiered at Paramount Theatre, Oakland
2001 Babble, commissioned by Transitions Dance Company, London, UK
2001 Dirt Roads and Back Doors, premiered at Cowell and Gershwin Theaters, San Francisco
2001 3 Quartets for 4 and the Second is Two, premiered at Cowell and Gershwin Theaters, San Francisco
2000 Lone, created as Artist-in-Residence at ODC/San Francisco, premiered at ODC
2000 Lucifer’s Prance, premiered at Cowell and Gershwin Theaters, San Francisco
2000 Untitled Collaboration 2000, collaborative work with choreographers Sara Shelton Mann and Robert Henry Johnson, musicians Marcus Shelby and Kelly Takunda Orphan, and the Somei Yoshino Taiko ensemble; premiered at Cowell Theater, San Francisco
1999 Ethel May Marshall, major collaboration of solo works created with choreographers Alonzo King, Margaret Jenkins, Sara Shelton Mann, and K.T. Nelson; premiered at Theater Artaud, San Francisco
1999 Buffalo Avenue and Laugh to Keep From Crying, major works created as part of the
Duke/Wattis Residency at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
1999 Mischief, commissioned by Lawrence Pech Dance Company; premiered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
1998 Glass; premiered at Theater Artaud, San Francisco
1998 X Weight, commission by Mills Repertory Dance, Oakland
1997 This State of Annihilation; premiered at Brady Street Dance Centre, San Francisco
1997 Servant of the People, choreography for major theater work; Lorraine Hansberry Theater, San Francisco
1996 Crossfire, commission by Savage Jazz Dance Company, San Francisco
1996 Homer G and the Rhapsodies, choreography for major theater work; Lorraine Hansberry Theater, San Francisco
1995 Any Space Between Shadows, evening-length work created in collaboration with the Bay View Opera House Youth Theater and Music Program; premiered at Theater Artaud, San Francisco

• Word of Mouth: It is a concert with words spoken by or about women from Mother Mary to the playwright Lorraine Hansberry.
• Woman Spelled This Way
• President's Daughter: This is the story of the offspring of Thomas Jefferson
  Thomas Jefferson
  Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
  
   and his slave mistress, Sally Hemmings. It tries to explore the contrast between private behavior and public posturing.
• 3 Quartets for 4 and the Second is Two: It is story less performance for two couples and a four person corps dancing to Bach's F Minor's One and Two Harpsichord and number Five Minor music.
• Towards September : It is about the divine impulse behind artistic creation. It gives message about perils and pleasures of anti-social urges. It runs with the music ranging from church bells, groove and piano chords.
• Learning in Secret
• Dos Congio
• Approaching Thought: It displays acts of kindness and cruelty.
• Jokes That Can Get You Killed: It is a sarcastic play on current events, prejudices and phobias. It features animations of George Bush, Gavin Newsom and Anna Nicole Smith across a screen as Robert Moses and David Worm's score remixes screams and media absurdities like Don Imus.
• Reignforest: It is about human beings and the environment. Instead of just being ecological subject, it also shows how the ideologies and belief systems can reign over and suppress individuals with the forces affecting them.
• Lucifer's Prance: It is a dance performed for Philip Glass's opera Akhnaten
  Akhnaten (opera)
  Akhnaten is an opera in three acts based on the life and religious convictions of the pharaoh Akhenaten , written by the American minimalist composer Philip Glass in 1983. Akhnaten had its world premiere on March 24, 1984 at the Stuttgart State Opera, under the German title Echnaton...
  
  . It consists contrasting impulses of stillness and turbulence.
• Blood in Time
• Deep River
• A Biography of Baldwin
• Solo Suite
• The Soft Sweet Smell of Firm Warm Things: It is work that captures the first blush of attraction.
• Cause

Awards

PROFESSIONAL HONORS, AWARDS, AND GRANTS

• Stanford Institute for Creativity and Arts (2007, 2010)
• Community Foundation of Santa Cruz - (2010)
• Creative Capacity Fund - $500 (2009)
• California Arts Council- (2010); (2009); added to CAC touring roster (2004-2005, 2005-2006); (2002)
• Jamison Foundation (2006)
• The LEF Foundation - (2006)
• San Francisco Arts Commission –Cultural Equity Initiative grant; top award amount and one of only three grantees; awarded for Robert Moses’ Kin administration (2005)
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation - awarded for Robert Moses’ Kin administration (2005); (2007-2009); (2010-2011)
• Zellerbach Family/Wallace Alexander Gerbode/Hewlett Foundations - (2009); (2006); (2005); (2004); (2002); awarded for development of new work
• Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation - (2005)
• Princess Grace Award – administering award for choreographer Alex Ketley (2005)
• Choreographers’ Institute invitee to national award program (2005)
• New England Foundation for the Arts - National Dance Project Production Grant (2005)
• National Endowment for the Arts; five-time grantee funded as first time applicant (2002 – 2004; 2008, 2009); awarded for development of new work
• Alpert Awards in Arts nominee; multiple nominations for annual fellowship (2002-2009)
• James Irvine Foundation - Irvine Dance: Creation to Performance award, two-time grantee (2001, 2004); (2009-2010)
• Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME) mentor/grantee - (2004)
• Proclamation from the Honorable Willie E. Brown, Mayor of San Francisco of “Robert Moses Day” (2003)
• Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award (2001)
• Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Choreography Award - (inaugural year – 2000)
• San Francisco Arts Commission – Organization Project Grant; four-time grantee (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005-2007)
• San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artists Commission - (1995)
• California Arts Council; twice awarded multi-year grants (1999-2002), plus Visibility Award (2002)
• San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund/Grants for the Arts (2002-present)
• Zellerbach Family Foundation – (annual grantee since 2000)
• Bernard Osher Foundation - (2003), (2004)
• Fleishhacker Foundation - (2002); (2003); (2004); (2005-2006); (2009)
• San Francisco Foundation; three-time grantee (2003, 2005, 2007)
• Isadora Duncan Dance Awards; three-time winner; (2004) - Outstanding Achievement in Choreography; (2001) – Company Performances; (1999) - Best Ensemble Performance
• Orange Coast College Alumni Hall of Fame (2000)
• SF Weekly Black Box Award for Choreography (1998)
• SF Bay Guardian Goldie Award in Dance (1998)
• National Arts Marketing Project participant (2002)

• Awards for the NEA
• Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Best Choreography
• Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award
• San Francisco Bay Guardian "Goldie"
• San Francisco Weekly "Black Box" Award.