Prior to his career as a choreographer and movement director for several local productions in the Twin Cities, Darrius Strong had a passion for hip hop and performance. He and his two brothers, all of whom are just a year apart in age, found a passion for dance early on. They performed in their school’s talent shows and individually pursued their dance careers in adulthood.
Originally from Chicago, Strong’s family moved to Eagan when he was seven years old. The culture shock of moving to a predominantly white neighborhood and the history of substance abuse in his family created compounding trauma in his adolescence. Much of Strong’s aim in his performance work over the years has been to find ways of healing from those memories.
Before he would go on to become a movement director and instructor, Strong had hoped to pursue a career in the medical field. After graduating from Henry Sibley High School, he took courses in nursing and Emergency Medical Technician programs at Inver Hills Community College.
However, it was while he was in college that Strong developed a fascination with human anatomy and its mechanics. He began to think about how movement could be a philosophy for healing the body.
Strong transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he received a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in 2015 and has since continued to hone his skills in ballet, modern jazz, hip hop, and West African movement.
Having been described as a “trailblazer” in the dance community, Strong founded his own contemporary dance company, STRONGmovement, in 2014 to offer intensive training and facilitate various workshops at performing arts schools and colleges in the region. Strong has also showcased his work at the Guthrie Theater, Schubert Club, and the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. He’s also curated the 51st Annual Choreographer’s Evening at the Walker Art Center.
In recent years Strong has had opportunities to work on large stage productions such as “Legally Blonde” and “Vietgone” as the movement director, a role where he can apply his principles of movement and storytelling to help performers capture their characters on stage. His latest project as a movement director is on the Children’s Theatre Company’s production of “Alice in Wonderland” which will run until March 31.
MSR: What got you started in your career as a choreographer and dance instructor?
DS: A couple of my faculty teachers hooked me up with some teaching jobs. I started teaching at the L.A. Performing Arts in Bloomington. I direct the hip hop program and I do a lot of routines, but also teach through all the different high schools. I do a lot of dance teaching and I’ve taught at mostly every school here in the Twin Cities.
MSR: How did you get involved with musical productions in town?
DS: I got hired for a musical theater gig, I believe it was Roosevelt High School, and when I did that musical theater it was called “Urinetown.” That was the first musical I did. I started to see the possibilities of what I could do with choreography. At first, I was thinking, oh I just gotta create something, perform it on stage. But then I thought about, oh, my choreography could also go in a musical production, or a play, or a movie.
MSR: Why use the term “movement,” and why is that an important distinction from dance?
DS: The reality is a lot of people don’t feel comfortable stepping into something they don’t know how to do. So how do you bridge that gap and how do you make that easy? I think that when I say movement, which really is walking and running and sitting, people feel more open to trying it and trying new things and finding [different] ways to look at it.
MSR: What is the STRONGmovement and how did it come about?
DS: When I graduated college I met a lot of great dancers and artists, and I connected with a few that I really started to create work with. It also was inspired. We’ve seen a lot of shows. A lot of our faculty and professors head companies. I started seeing and realizing that I want to have my own company. STRONGmovement comes from Strong Crew, my brothers and I, when we were in high school and doing talent shows.
MSR: What is your role as a movement director in a production like “Alice in Wonderland”?
DS: In this production, it’s really about bringing the director’s vision to life. I’m there to kind of remind the actors how to carry their bodies on stage. Some of these characters have musical bits, and the way they move requires a lot of coordination and planning.
MSR: What do you have coming up for people to look out for aside from the current play?
DS: I’m going to be showcasing my 15-minute work just to really kind of show the objectives of the artist from when I graduated to where I am now as far as the person and maybe the things I’ve been through and making it relatable to the human experience. The show is going to be April 14 through 16 at the Minnesota Opera Dance Theater, the Luminary Arts Center.
“Alice in Wonderland” runs until March 31, 2024, in the UnitedHealth Group Stage. This show is best for everyone aged six and up. Tickets can be purchased at childrenstheatre.org/alice or by calling the ticket office at 612.874.0400.
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