Tyrone Brooks
Executive Director
A native of Newport News, Virginia, Tyrone Brooks a former Principal Dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). During his tenure, Mr. Brooks was featured in many ballets including Alvin Ailey’s “The River’’; Eugene Loring’s “Billy The Kid’’; Jerome Robins’ ‘’Fancy Free”; Michael Smuins’ “A Song For Dead Warriors”; and John Butler’s “Othello”. In 1984, he was nominated for the Dancer’s Choice Award in London, England, for his performance as Alan Strange in “Equus”. Mr. Brooks has performed choreography by other artistic luminaries including George Balanchine, Geoffrey Holder, Glen Tetley, Garth Fagan, and DTH Founder and Artistic Director, Arthur Mitchell.
His international performing experiences include: Austria, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, South Africa and Russia.
His television credits include performances in NBC’s presentation of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s" Creole Giselle"; the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics; PBS’s celebrated series, “Dance in America”, featuring Dance Theatre of Harlem; CBS 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley, PBS’s Live at the Kennedy Center “The Making of Firebird” and the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors.
Mr. Brooks was a member of the faculty at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School and the Associate Director of Dancing Through Barriers, DTH’s education and community outreach program. Mr. Brooks has represented DTH as a teaching artist, and has conducted many in-school arts education classes for teachers. He has conducted master classes and outreach programs within the New York City Public School System, sharing his artistry and introducing dance into the lives of elementary and middle school children and teachers. Mr. Brooks has conducted professional development workshops for teachers in curriculum development, linking various subjects such as language arts and social studies with movement. He has also conducted master classes and outreach programs in South Florida the Dance Theatre of Harlem/Kennedy Center Residency in Washington, DC and the Northern Virginia area.
Mr. Brooks has taught at various institutions: Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Florida State University, Hampton University, Flint Institute of Music/School of Performing Arts, Marymount College Mahattan, New World School of the Arts , and Randolph Macon-Woman's College.
Mr. Brooks has served as Resident Choreographer and Adjunct Professor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. His signature work, “Concerto Grosso”, has also been performed by Dance Theatre of Harlem's pre-professional program students, and Flint Institute of Music/School of Performing Arts in Flint, Michigan. In 1997, he created “Unforgettable”, a tribute in dance to DTH’s Prima Ballerina,Virginia Johnson, as a part of her farewell performance by members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company.
Mr. Brooks is currently Executive Director at Virginia School of the Arts where he also directs the Community Dance Program. He has served on the advisory panel for the Virginia Commission for the Arts' Tour and Performing Arts Directory.