Biography

Edgar L. Page comes from legacies celebrating the African Diaspora and Black Modern Dance traditions. Originally from Detroit, MI he began his dance training through the Detroit Public Schools system. A proud graduate of Cass Technical High School, he furthered his dance studies at the Alvin Ailey School, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and others before earning his BA in Dance from Western Michigan University as both a Wade H. McCree, Jr. Incentive Scholar and a Martin Luther King, Jr. Diversity Scholar. Upon graduation, Mr. Page spent a season with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Second Company before joining the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble where he toured domestically and internationally as a principal dancer. During his time with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance he also served as a choreographer, dramaturg, director of youth programming, and a dance and theory lecturer.

With a graceful prowess, Mr. Page has since shifted his focus towards curating his own work while enriching his community, establishing Edgar L. Page: Feel the Movement in June of 2018. This intersectional, multigenerational arts initiative offers an interdisciplinary embodiment of human creativity through movement-based mindfulness. His physical practice is rooted in building community through mentorship, education, and providing visibility to non-archetypal movers or those lacking access to formal training and performance opportunities. Within his creative practice, he centralizes storytelling and narration through African and Indigenous traditions while stewarding a creative incubator that employs the Africanist Aesthetic of Cool to inform a lush amalgamation of contemporary movement. Page’s work explores the non-linear evolution of identity in proximity to intimacy; the post-digital pursuit of love, happiness, and the rapidly morphing continuum of affection as influenced by technology. The resulting work embodies what he envisions as collateral damage found at the collision of these elements.

Mr. Page is the 2021 recipient of the Denver Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture for Innovation. In addition to being a 2020-2022 Artist in Resident with Redline Contemporary Art Center, he was a 2020 S*PARK Artist in Residence, a 2020 Dance/USA Institute for Leadership Training Cohort mentee, a City of Denver Cultural Partner, a Creativity Connects Fellow, A Next Stage NOW Artist, and the inaugural recipient of the Presenting Denver Dance Festival’s Audience Favorite Award. He was voted the 2019 Readers’ Choice for Best Artist in the annual Top of the Town Awards presented by 5280 Magazine. Most recently, Mr. Page was featured in the 2021 YouTube Originals Black History Month program, “Black Renaissance: the Art and Soul of Our Stories,” in the segment UNARMED with collaborator Raafi Rivero.

Biography

Edgar L. Page comes from legacies celebrating the African Diaspora and Black Modern Dance traditions. Originally from Detroit, MI he began his dance training through the Detroit Public Schools system. A proud graduate of Cass Technical High School, he furthered his dance studies at the Alvin Ailey School, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and others before earning his BA in Dance from Western Michigan University as both a Wade H. McCree, Jr. Incentive Scholar and a Martin Luther King, Jr. Diversity Scholar. Upon graduation, Mr. Page spent a season with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Second Company before joining the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble where he toured domestically and internationally as a principal dancer. During his time with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance he also served as a choreographer, dramaturg, director of youth programming, and a dance and theory lecturer.

With a graceful prowess, Mr. Page has since shifted his focus towards curating his own work while enriching his community, establishing Edgar L. Page: Feel the Movement in June of 2018. This intersectional, multigenerational arts initiative offers an interdisciplinary embodiment of human creativity through movement-based mindfulness. His physical practice is rooted in building community through mentorship, education, and providing visibility to non-archetypal movers or those lacking access to formal training and performance opportunities. Within his creative practice, he centralizes storytelling and narration through African and Indigenous traditions while stewarding a creative incubator that employs the Africanist Aesthetic of Cool to inform a lush amalgamation of contemporary movement. Page’s work explores the non-linear evolution of identity in proximity to intimacy; the post-digital pursuit of love, happiness, and the rapidly morphing continuum of affection as influenced by technology. The resulting work embodies what he envisions as collateral damage found at the collision of these elements.

Mr. Page is the 2021 recipient of the Denver Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture for Innovation. In addition to being a 2020-2022 Artist in Resident with Redline Contemporary Art Center, he was a 2020 S*PARK Artist in Residence, a 2020 Dance/USA Institute for Leadership Training Cohort mentee, a City of Denver Cultural Partner, a Creativity Connects Fellow, A Next Stage NOW Artist, and the inaugural recipient of the Presenting Denver Dance Festival’s Audience Favorite Award. He was voted the 2019 Readers’ Choice for Best Artist in the annual Top of the Town Awards presented by 5280 Magazine. Most recently, Mr. Page was featured in the 2021 YouTube Originals Black History Month program, “Black Renaissance: the Art and Soul of Our Stories,” in the segment UNARMED with collaborator Raafi Rivero.

Artistic Statement

My creative process cultivates socially motivated work that interweaves techniques (Horton, Dunham, Graham, ballet, and Jazz), athleticism, and the Africanist Aesthetic of Cool to inform a contemporary vernacular-infused style. Reflecting upon what is happening in the world, I interrogate social issues and phenomena through lush movement tapestries. Currently, I am intrigued by society’s obsession with individuality/independence and how this leaves many seeking deeper connections. In this, my focus has become crafting multi-dimensional dance narratives about the pursuit of love and happiness in this era where intimacy continues to morph due to technology.

I enter the creative process looking at the dancers as collaborators. I shape and reshape pre-made movement phrases on them, seeking to amplify their physicality throughout the work. Open dialogue is fostered within a safe space where every voice has validity. By allowing freedom during the exploration phase, dancers are encouraged to find their authenticity within a narrative; constructing emotional landscapes that mirror reality. Negating thematic and physical abstractions, I view dancers as real people having real human experiences in real time. Thus, the emotionality inherit within each movement is utilized to underscore colliding truths with compassion, credence and awareness.

My upbringing has also greatly impacted my approach. As a Detroit Native, I am heavily influenced by the “Motown Sound.” My affinity shapes how I choose music and interpret musicality, as well as how I develop choreographic phrasing. I allow the music to serve as an unofficial narrator, informing the mood and observations of life I am investigating within the work.

When all these elements combine, my intention is simply to foster understanding and education through the art. I guide dancers with candor and heart towards expressing their souls. At my core I’m just a kid from Detroit who wants to uplift communities through dance.

©2022 Edgar L. Page Feel the Movement

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