Arthur Aviles

Arthur Aviles is an American Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer born in Queens, New York, and raised in Long Island and the Bronx. He graduated from Bard College, a liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. After graduating from Bard, he became a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and toured internationally with the company for eight years.

Mr. Aviles began his own company Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre (AATT) in 1996 in Paris, France, and moved the company to the Bronx that same year. In addition to his work with AATT, Aviles became the company choreographer for Paris-based theatrical company Faim de Siecle, and has choreographed a series of productions that have been performed in the United States and in France.

In December 1998, he co-founded BAAD!-The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, a new performance and workshop space in the legendary American Banknote Building, a warehouse in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. The New York Times has said the BAAD! is "a funky and welcoming performance space." In addition to the Bessie Award, Aviles received an Arts and Letters Award from his alma mater in 1995, a BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Award from the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) in 1999, a PRIDE (Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment) Award honoring outstanding contributions and services to the Puerto Rican, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities, and a 2004 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. In 2005, AATT was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/nyregion/06donate.html?ex=1278302400&en=93a1beabd4ede5b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss] [http://carnegie.org/sub/news/anon2005.html]

Anna Kisselgoff of "The New York Times" wrote, "If you don’t know Mr. Aviles, you haven’t seen one of the great modern dancers of the last 15 years." Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times dance critic, described his work as follows, "Arthur Aviles has developed an individual voice and style that might be compared to bold street theater and poster art, communicating his truths about life as seen as a gay male Puerto Rican through simple narratives that are always colorful and often poignant and amusing."

References

* [http://www.arthuravilestypicaltheatre.org/history.htm Arthur Aviles Theatre Company]