Founded in 1982 under the directorship of Japanese-American Miya Hisaka[1], DC Contemporary Dance Theatre was Washington, D.C.’s first multicultural dance company selected as cultural ambassadors by United States Information Service to represent the United States for a world tour for a decade. DCDT started with a group of dancers from New York City, Philadelphia, and Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C[2].; notable artists include Tyrone Murray, Dewayne Murray, Vincent Williams, Lucy Bowen McCauley, Kevin Iega Jeff, Gene Sagon, Adrian Bolton, Elena Anderson, Lloyd Whitmore, and Kathy Smith. The company conducted performances at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts and overseas.

Through their tenure and growth through performing and choreographing together, many artists went on to create companies of their own merit. Kevin Iega Jeff (Deeply Rooted (current)), Lucy Bowen McCauley (Bowen McCauley Dance (current), Adrian Bolton (Bolton Dance Company (closed) and Katherine Smith (Bolton/Smith (closed) created different venues to further the development of artists to grow in the Washington, D.C. area. Katherine Smith is now the Founding Director of Katherine Smith Contemporary Dance Ensemble.
Image: Miya Hisaka/Website

[1] El Teatro De Danza Contemporanea De El Salvador. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://teatrodedanza.org/>.

[2] “Miya Hisaka Silva.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miya_Hisaka_Silva>.