| Dianne McIntyre was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where she studied dance from
childhood. She continued her training at Ohio State University. She moved
to New York City in 1970; among the dancers she studied and worked with
were such avant-garde dancers as Viola Farber, Alwin Nikolais and Company,
and Gus Solomons. In the early 1970s, she formed her own company, Sounds
in Motion, in which she put the sounds of jazz music and spoken poetry
into dance. She used movement, music, and voices in a contemporary modern
dance context. Touring extensively throughout the United States and
Europe, Sounds In Motion performed McIntyre's most important pieces,
including "Lost Sun" (1973), "Deep South Suite" (1976), and
"Journey to Forever" (1977).
McIntyre has choreographed for theater productions in New York and
London, and her dances are in the repertories of the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and other dance
ensembles. She was honored with a 1989 "Bessie" (New York Dance and
Performance Award); in 1990 she was granted a prestigious three-year
Choreographer's Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts; and
in 1953, she received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Theater
Choreography.
McIntyre's career has been marked by her resilience, resolve, and
choreographic curiosity. In 1991, she premiered a vibrant and
painstakingly researched reconstruction of Helen Tamiris' 1937 work "How
Long Brethren?", a socially militant dance drawing on African-American
themes. As she matures, McIntyre's choreographic interests keep expanding,
renewing respect for herself as an innovative interpreter of the
African-American experience.
-- Kimberly Pittman
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