Adam W. McKinney 
Associate Professor of Dance | Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX, UNITED STATES
Adam McKinney is an expert in dance and trauma studies, as well as artistic practice dealing with issues of race, identity and history.
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Biography
Adam W. McKinney is a former member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and Milwaukee Ballet Company. He has led dance work with diverse populations across the U.S. and in Canada, England, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Palestine, Poland, Serbia, Spain, and South Africa. He served as a U.S. Embassy Culture Connect Envoy to South Africa through the U.S. State Department. Other awards of note include the NYU President’s Service Award for dance work with populations who struggle with heroin addiction, grants from the U.S. Embassy in Budapest and The Trust for Mutual Understanding to work with Roma youth in Hungary, a Jerome Foundation grant for Emerging Choreographers and a U.S. Embassy in Accra grant to lead a video oral history project with a Jewish community in Sefwi Wiawso, Ghana. He was a School of American Ballet’s National Visiting Teaching Fellow, an opportunity to engage in important conversations around diversity and inclusion in classical ballet. Named one of the most influential African Americans in Milwaukee, WI by St. Vincent DePaul, McKinney is the Co-Director of DNAWORKS (www.dnaworks.org), an arts and service organization committed to healing through the arts and dialogue. He holds a BFA in Dance Performance with high honors from Butler University and an MA in Dance Studies with concentrations in Race and Trauma theories from NYU-Gallatin.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Artistic Practice and Identity
Dance and Trauma Studies
Dance and Cultural Studies
Dance in Community Settings
Artistic Practice and Race
Accomplishments (3)
TCU Dean’s Research and Creativity Award (professional)
2022
TCU Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies Activism in Action Awardee (professional)
2019
Asylum Arts Small Grant Awardee (professional)
2022
Education (2)
Butler University: B.F.A., Dance Performance
New York University: M.A., Dance Studies, Race and Trauma Theories
Affiliations (6)
- DNAWORKS : Co-founder & Co-director
- Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice : President
- International Association of Blacks in Dance : Member
- Texas Center for Arts + Academics : Advisory Council
- Lake Arts Project : Board Member
- Transform 1012 N. Main Street : Co-Secretary
Links (2)
Media Appearances (5)
Newsletter: Essential Arts: Where have all the playgoers gone?
Los Angeles Times online
2022-10-08
Surprising news from my hometown: A former KKK headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, that was set to be demolished was picked up by Adam W. McKinney, a dance professor at TCU College of Fine Arts, and his partner, Daniel Banks, to be transformed into the Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing.
How a Former KKK Headquarters in Texas Is Being Transformed into a Center for Arts and Healing
ARTnews online
2022-05-26
In June 2019, Adam W. McKinney, a trained ballet dancer and a professor at TCU College of Fine Arts, and his partner, Daniel Banks, learned that the building’s then owners had filed an application with the city to have it demolished. McKinney and Banks had already imagined its second life as a hub for art and healing that would serve the city where Rouse’s descendants still live.
Can theater & dance bridge divides over race, culture? Fort Worth group shows the way Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crossroads-lab/article254581277.html#storylink=cpy
Fort Worth Star-Telegram online
2021-10-16
Watching choreographer Adam W. McKinney dance through some of Fort Worth’s landmarks pushes viewers to think about Fort Worth’s cultural district differently, said Jonathan Morris, co-owner of the Hotel Dryce.
Nominations Open March 1 for Annual DEI Award
TCU News online
2021-02-27
Adam W. McKinney, assistant professor of dance in the College of Fine Arts, was honored with the 2019 DEI Award for leading campuswide conversations on healing and community and for his involvement in the Fort Worth arts community on issues of race, justice, equality and healing.
McKinney Honored with DEI Award for Efforts to Heal, Communicate
TCU News online
2020-10-07
Adam W. McKinney has a passion for healing. “The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award is an annual award created to honor the challenging task of further transforming our community into one that not only celebrates our mission and also creates a world-class university building on a heritage of inclusion,” said Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. when announcing DEI Award finalists during the Sept. 14 virtual Convocation. “These individuals will be recognized for providing TCU with the critical voices necessary for change and for their sustained actions to transform TCU by making it an even more diverse, equitable and inclusive institution.”
Event Appearances (1)
Dance as Metaphor: Healing from Racism
International Association of Blacks in Dance Annual Conference Dallas, TX
Articles (1)
SCAB: Honoring the Memory of Mr. Fred Rouse
Art JournalAdam W. McKinney is a dancer, choreographer, activist, educator, and installation artist. He has danced professionally with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Milwaukee Ballet Company, among others. His research interests include dance and performance studies, trauma studies, community, trauma, healing, and technology. He is the coartistic director of DNAWORKS, an arts and service organization committed to healing through the arts and dialogue.
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