Derek Reid

Derek Reid began his training at the Jones-Haywood school of ballet in his birthplace, Washington, D. C. He earned his B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Butler University in 1987 and his MA in organizational leadership and development from Gonzaga university in 2010. Mr. Reid’s professional dance career, spanned a variety of countries and cultures, including Louisville Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, Quebec and Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio. He created leading roles in works by internationally acclaimed choreographers, among them Choo San Goh, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Mark Morris, and Ohad Naharin. His repertoire ranged from the classical to the contemporary and included a fusion of cultural representations. Reid’s television credits include PBS’s production of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s All River Legend, choreographed by Agnes De Mille, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s dancers for life gala, in which he performed the pas de deux from Nacho Duato’s Rassemblement. A highlight of his career was dancing Duato’s Cor Perdut at the acropolis in Athens, Greece with the Gala des Etoiles, alongside renown star dancers Damian Woetzel, Darcie Bussel and Carlos Acosta. Mr. Reid began teaching in 1985 with the Northwest Florida ballet while still performing with various companies. Following a successful and fulfilling professional career, Mr. Reid was named Associate Director of the Fort Wayne ballet in 2000. In Fort Wayne he taught and led outreach efforts in the Fort Wayne community, working to bring arts experiences to area public schools, Boys and Girls clubs of America and the NAACP. In 2004, Mr. Reid transitioned to higher education, leaving Fort Wayne and joining the faculty at his alma mater, Butler University. As professor of dance, Mr. Reid teaches ballet history, classical ballet technique, classical and contemporary pas de deux, choreography, and black dance in the american tradition, a perspectives in the creative arts core curriculum course that explores developments in american culture from its interactions with African and African American arts. Mr. Reid continues to guest teach nationally, recruit dance talent and choreograph original classical and contemporary works for regional companies as well as for butler ballet. His strong classical technique background and experience creating and performing contemporary choreography inform his technique and content in teaching. The social events of the world feed the themes of his new choreographic works. Mr. Reids passion and love for arts ability to make us think critically combined with his commitment to serving his community have and will continue to guide his efforts in bringing about change as they relate to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.