Biography

He was introduced to Broadway in 2001

when he created the role of Johnny in the Broadway musical workshop of Dirty Dancing. He has returned toBroadway in Movin' Out.

Robertson recently finished directing and choreographing the opening ceremony for the VSA Arts Festival at the Kennedy Center. There he worked with artist from around the world including Ben Vereen and Ronan Tynan. He enjoyed being a choreographer in the Pacfic North West Choreographers Project which featured workshops with Donald Byrd, Alonzo King, Shawn Hounsel, Moses Pendelton, Sarah Slipper and Mr. Robertson. In October of 2004 the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered their fourth program featuring his direction and choreography. While in 2005 Ballet NY performed Davis' work Unequilibrium and is premiering a Romeo and Juliet by him during their New York season.

Davis remains in the Broadway cast of Movin Out and he is based in New York City. Robertson is married to former Joffrey dancer Nicole Marie Duffy, and they are the proud parents of a son Whom he considers his greatest creation to date.

Site Map

FAQ's

BIOGRAPHY

Davis Robertson is a dancer and choreographer of remarkable versatility:

classically trained yet with an unmistakable originality rooted in his love of improvisation. From his beginnings as a break-dancer on the streets of Jacksonville, Florida, he went on to become a principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, choreograph for Mikhail Baryshnikov, and appear in a featured role in Robert Altman's film, The Company.
Robertson was a member of the Joffrey Ballet from 1993 to 2003, and was invited to choreograph two ballets for the company during his tenure there.

His principal roles include the Cavalier in Robert Joffrey's The Nutcracker, Petruchio in John Cranko's Taming of the Shrew, George Balanchine's Prodigal Son, and David Parson's Caught. Robertson's portrayal of the Faun in the Joffrey's reconstruction of Vaslav
Nijinsky's L'Apres Midi d'un Faun prompted the Chicago Sun-Times critic to write, "Davis Robertson gives the finest performance I've seen, including that of Rudolf Nureyev for whom the Joffrey re-created this masterpiece in 1979."

Robertson made national news as a choreographer in 1997 with his first Joffrey Ballet

commission, Portrait of Hitch, which incorporated both Joffrey and wheelchair dancers. The making of this landmark piece aired in the 2000 Emmy Award winning PBS documentary Dance from the Heart. His second work for the Joffrey, a ballet based on Plato's Allegory of the Cave titled Strange Prisoners, weaves his unique contemporary ballet style with an innovative combination of shadow play and DVD technology. Following the premiere Robertson was described as "a choreographer with an undeniably bold sense of the dramatic and fearlessness in the face of experimentation" by the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune noted his "striking solo movement and swift-moving, eye-catching ensembles."

In December of 2002, William Kennedy Smith invited Robertson to choreograph a new work for the VSA benefit at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov. Other recent projects include works for Milwaukee Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance, Ballet Pacifica, The Florida Ballet, Instruments of Movement, and a Copland
program for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, Robertson was honored with
a Ruth Page Award for choreography. Also, in October of 2004, he was honored to be a nominee for the American Choreography Award.
Robertson made his film acting debut in Robert Altman's latest movie, The Company, an ensemble film with Neve Campbell, Malcolm McDowell and James Franco. His work in the film also includes a solo improvisational sequence, and his ballet Strange Prisoners. He appeared in Paramount Pictures' hit Save the Last Dance, performing Sea Shadow with fellow Joffrey dancer Maia Wilkins.