A Contemporary Choreography Showcase
November 19, 20, 21 - 2021
Adjudicators for 2021
Qarrianne Blayr
Qarrianne Blayr is the Associate Artistic Director of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. She is from Fayetteville, North Carolina. She earned her BFA at Howard University, studying under Sherrill Berryman-Johnson, Pat Thomas, Sandra Fortune-Green, Katherine Smith, Akua Kouyate, and Assane Konte. She also studied social Jamaican dance at the University of West Indies at Mona.
In 2004, Ms. Blayr founded the performing arts group Arts International. She joined the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s (DCDC) professional group in 2012 after having performed for two seasons in DCDC2, the company’s pre-professional ensemble.
She is most inspired by the study of spirituality, human nature, and Traditional/ social dances of people of African lineage, and uses these ideas to guide her creative process. She has choreographed works for DCDC, DCDC2, musical productions at The University of Dayton and Central State University, and the traditional Kazakh dance ensemble Kazyna Dance Company. She has also performed around the world including Kazakhstan, Russia and China.
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Ms. Blayr remains a performing artist with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and was named Associate Artistic Director in 2019.