WORLD ARTS WEST IS PROUD TO PRESENT

BLANCHE BROWN

WITH THE

MALONGA CASUELOURD
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE FIELD OF
ETHNIC DANCE AND MUSIC

Blanche Brown came to the study of dance at the age of 35. Today at the age of 72, she is one of the most dynamic and sought-after teachers of Haitian dance in the Bay Area and beyond. Her studies began at San Francisco State University, known in the 1970’s for its visionary dance department. Not only did this dance curriculum offer training in ballet, jazz, and modern dance, but also emphasized the study of non-Western dance forms such as Congolese, kathak, capoeira, flamenco, and Haitian dance. This rich background combined with performance opportunities that took her to West Africa with the Wajumbe Performance Ensemble, were only the beginnings of a devoted and passionate career as artist, choreographer, and master teacher in Haitian dance.

In 1988, a performing ensemble, Group Petit La Croix, was formed and became a showcase for Haitian culture on stage. The dance company, under Blanche Brown’s mentorship, performed throughout California and the Southwest and nurtured many of the second-generation teachers of Haitian dance who teach not only in the Bay Area, but also in New York, Minneapolis, Boston, Santa Fe, and Hawai‘i. Brown has taught at many universities including Mills College, Stanford, U.C.L.A., St. Mary’s College, Santa Clara University, and San Francisco State University. She has taught locally at the Shawl-Anderson Modern Dance Center, the Malonga Casquelourd Arts Center in Oakland, Third Wave Dance Studio, Rhythm and Motion Studio, and currently teaches at ODC in San Francisco. She has taught workshops and master classes in France and across the U.S.

She was presented with the Artist-Educator Award by the California Educators Association, and is a recipient of the Cultural Enrichment Award presented by the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to San Francisco’s Carnaval. She was featured on ABC-Channel 7’s Profiles of Excellence and acknowledged with the Calabash Award for Excellence in the Ethnic Arts presented by the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz Ethnic Arts Council. She was appointed to the San Francisco Arts Commission as the first representative of dance from 1977-1981 and reappointed to the Commission in 2000-2005, and was on the Board of Directors of World Arts West from 2003-2004, serving as President of the Board.