[email protected]
Aku Kadogo is an international theatre director, choreographer, educator and creative producer of cultural arts projects. This multi-faceted artist directs highly energetic, imaginative theatre works and has produced a number of collaborative inter-disciplinary projects. Her eclectic career has spanned across the United States, Australia, Europe and Asia.
She is the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Performance at Spelman College after having served as Distinguished Visiting Professor in 2014.
Recently she served on the Music/Theatre Faculty at Yongin University in Seoul, S. Korea where she lectured and directed productions for the university and the wider professional theatre community. Prior to that she was the Director of the Black Theatre Program at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Directing many works from the African American canon, this was an exciting time for her to revisit works such as Langston Hughes' Black Nativity, Ruby Dee's Zora is My Name and August Wilson's Joe Turner has Come and Gone. She also directed newer works such as Djanet Sears' The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God; Will Power's Flow and In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. She has collaborated on original works with writers Chris Tysh author of Night Scales and Bill Harris' Booker T and Them for Art X Detroit. She has been an Associate Choreographer on the Tony Award winning show RENT, touring Australia, China and the United States. As a performer she has worked in film, television and stage making her career debut in the original Broadway classic of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange.
Having worked extensively as a Performer/Choreographer/Director in Australia she has collaborated with artists such as Elena Kats Chernin, Stephen Page, Robyn Archer, Juno Gemes,Nigel West lake, Roger Rynd and Colin Offord to name a few.Aku devised and directed Ochre & Dust with Anangustory tellers for the Perth and Adelaide International Theatre festivals. She has an ongoing relationship with NAISDA Dance College where she is a regular visiting Guest Artist.
She served as an original member of the Programming Committee for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) from 2006 - 2010.
Related Speakers View all
Alfre Woodard
Emmy Award-Winning Actress; Human Rights Activist
|
|
Victoria Rowell
Actress, Producer, Director, Writer, American Ballet...
|
|
Rita Moreno
Award-Winning Actress, Dancer, Singer; Health Advoca...
|
|
Lisa Gay Hamilton
Award-Winning Director, Film, TV & Theater Actress
|
|
Cynthia Erivo
Singer-Songwriter & Grammy & Tony Award-Winning Actr...
|
|
Debbie Allen
Actress, Dancer, Choreographer, Producer; Known for ...
|
|
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Actress, Broadway Singer & Producer; Known for "Abbo...
|
|
Meg Tilly
Award-Winning Actress & Author
|
|
Cynthia Nixon
Actress Known for her Role as Miranda Hobbes on HBO'...
|
|
Spike Lee
Academy Award-Winning Writer, Producer, Actor & Dire...
|
|
Nikki Giovanni
Poet, Educator & Best-Selling Author
|
|
Nataki Garrett
Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
|
|
Sofia Wylie
Actress, Dancer & Producer; Known For Disney Channel...
|
|
Monica Bill Barnes
Artistic Director of Monica Bill Barnes & Company
|
|
Iantha Richardson
Best Known as Tess on This Is Us
|
|
Keala Settle
Golden Globe Award-Winning Singer & Actress; Known f...
|
|
Daveed Diggs
Grammy & Tony Award-Winning Actor Known for "Hamilton"
|
|
Shanice Williams
Musical Theater Actress Known for Her Role in NBC's ...
|
|
Janet Mock
Author, Feminist, Transgender Rights Activist, TV H...
|
|
Bethany Joy Lenz
Actress, Singer-Songwriter & Filmmaker; Known For "O...
|