Angela Harris discovered her passion for dance in middle school. “I really fell in love with being in a room surrounded by creativity, even at such a young age,” she recalls. Harris danced professionally during and after college, and eventually moved to Atlanta to dance with the Georgia Ballet Company. She noticed a gap in opportunities for emerging choreographers, however. “I knew the resources that I needed really didn’t exist,” she says. So in 2008, she founded the nonprofit Dance Canvas to give emerging choreographers a platform and the mentorship they needed to make it in the field.
Since then, Harris has fostered more than 200 choreographers. “We’ve seen some really incredible successes with students that we’ve presented over the years who are now artistic directors of dance companies or having their work premiered internationally,” says Harris.
One of Dance Canvas’ main priorities is providing access to the arts. The organization hosts free performances for the community through partner venues such as The Home Depot Backyard and Rialto Center for the Arts, as well as productions for high school students. “We think they’re in a critical stage in their life where the arts are necessary, but we also want them to leave high school and go into the world with an appreciation of their creativity and the dance world,” says Harris.
In addition to running Dance Canvas, Harris teaches at Emory University and Spelman College, and also serves in a volunteer role on Mayor Andre Dickens’s Arts Advisory Task Force. Harris acknowledges that multiple jobs are necessary—as Georgia ranks last in the country for arts funding. “We want to see the arts recognized for their economic value to the city and region,” she says. “Once more value is placed on the arts, then more investment can be made into the work we all do.” – LIA PICARD
