IMPACT MILESTONES

To learn more, visit IABD’s History. 

1988

The Founding Conference in Philadelphia

Philadanco! and Joan Myers Brown host the 1st International Conference on Black Dance Companies. Brown serves as Honorary Chair as the field's first national gathering takes shape.

1991

IABD Named, Organized and Creates an Emergency Fund, Dayton

Hosted by Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, under Jeraldyne Blunden (1940–1999), the Association is established along with an Emergency Fund for IABD artists and companies.

1993

First Executive Director

Bonnie Bing appointed IABD's first Executive Director — the Association's first steward of its daily operations and long-term vision.

1996

First Scholarship & Multi-Company Auditions

IABD establishes a national scholarship program for dancers and stages the first multi-company audition of its kind — a single stage, dancers from across the country.

2010-11

Executive Director Secures 501(c)3 status

Denise Saunders Thompson, third Chairperson/Executive Director, leads work to secure non-profit tax-exempt status, formalizing decades of grassroots infrastructure.

2021

IABD Awarded The 2021 National Medal of Arts

IABD receives the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government.

2025

Largest Conference and Festival Takes Place in Pittsburgh, PA

1,500 participants convened in Pittsburgh for education, auditions, and performances, creating the largest international gathering of Black in Dance in History. This historic moment was made possible with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Howard Gilman Foundation, the Radio City Rockettes, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, City of Pittsburgh, Visit Pittsburgh, Norwegian Cruise Lines, AE&E, Dream Chaser Group, Pittsburgh Regional Transit. 

Our Contributions to Dance

IABD continues its long legacy of impact as… 

A Voice in
the Room

• The first national/ international organization dedicated to preserving and promoting dance by people of African ancestry.
  
  
• An internationally recognized political forum for administrators, educators, choreographers, and dancers.

• A nationally recognized platform for addressing the Dance field's most critical issues head-on.

A Gathering of the Diaspora

• The Annual Conference and Festival has grown more than 1700% since its inception.
  
  
• Member and artists' contributions include those from Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, and South America. 
  
  
• We facilitate intergenerational dialogue between dance pioneers and students nationwide and exchange between companies working across different art forms.

Keeping the
Record

• We publish a choreographers’ directory, newsletters, and additional resources to inform on national and international trends.
  
  
• IABD archives have been established with the National Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, the Afro-American Historical Museum in Philadelphia, and Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

Infrastructure & Opportunity

• We hold reciprocal relationships built with Dance/USA and peer organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
  
  
• We provide technical assistance helping member companies become presenters in their own communities.
  
  
• We facilitate joint ventures created between companies, choreographers, and universities.
  
  
• We provide a national scholarship-training program, an Emergency Fund, and the U.S.’s  first multi-company audition of its kind.

Historic Members and Supporters

FOUNDING ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS, 1988–1993

• 1988–89 — Philadanco!, the Philadelphia Dance Company — Joan Myers Brown, Honorary Chair
• 1990 — Cleo Parker Robinson Dance — Cleo Parker Robinson
• 1991 — Dayton Contemporary Dance Company — Jeraldyne Blunden
• 1992 — Lula Washington Dance Theatre — Lula Washington 
• 1993 — Dallas Black Dance Theatre — Ann Williams
  

SHAPING THE COMMUNITY'S EARLY YEARS

• Ronald K. Brown — Evidence, A Dance Company
• Chuck Davis — African American Dance Ensemble
• George Faison — Dancer · Choreographer · Educator
• Carol Foster — DC Youth Ensemble
• Joan Gray — Muntu Dance Theatre
• Beverly Harper — Consultant & Administrator
• Louise Jackson — National Dance Theatre of Bermuda
• Charmaine Jefferson — Consultant & Administrator
• Denise Jefferson — Dancer & Educator
• Carmen de Lavallade — Dancer & Choreographer
• Donald McKayle — Dancer · Choreographer · Director
• Eleo Pomare — Eleo Pomare Dance Company
• Dr. Patricia Reid-Merritt — Afro One Dance Drama & Drum Theatre
• Rod Rodgers — Rod Rodgers Dance Company
• Walter Nicks — Dancer & Choreographer

"If we, as Blacks in dance, do not endeavor to preserve and promote dance by people of African ancestry or origin, then there is certainly no other group who should or will take on this responsibility."

 — The International Association of Blacks in Dance

Past Programs