Cameron McKinney

With more than 18 years of Japanese language study, Cameron McKinney created Kizuna Dance with the mission of using contemporary floorwork to create dance works for those who want to connect, and for those who feel we are all already connected, using both the similarities and divergences – linguistic, historical, aesthetic – between the American and Japanese cultures as primary drivers.

He was selected as a 2019-20 U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission Creative Artist Fellow to collaborate with renowned Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki and present work in showcases in Japan. He has also been a Choreography Fellow at The School at Jacob’s Pillow, a Hearst Choreographer-in-Residence at Princeton University, an Alvin Ailey Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab Fellow, and an Asian Cultural Council Individual Grantee. His work has been supported through grants from the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, the New York City Artists Corps, Brooklyn Arts Council, and the Rader Young Artists Foundation.

Through Kizuna Dance, Cameron has also presented work and taught in twenty states and in Mexico, France, the UK, and in Japan at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence. His commissions include The Ailey School, Marymount Manhattan College, Princeton University, Montclair University, twice from the Joffrey Ballet School, three times from the Let’s Dance International Frontiers Festival (UK), Slippery Rock University, The Dance Gallery Festival, Brigham Young University, and San Jose State University, among numerous others. His teaching credits include Adjunct & Visiting Lecturer positions at Princeton University, NYU Tisch, Montclair University, Bard College, and Queensborough Community College. He has taught on faculty at Gibney Dance since 2016, and has taught for festivals nationally and internationally.

Each year, he organizes Kizuna Dance’s Open Intensive, a week of day-long intensives made entirely free for all participants, featuring high-quality dance education provided by the company artists of Kizuna Dance. His company Kizuna Dance will celebrate is 10th anniversary season with the world premiere of a new evening-length performance, FATHER ABSENCE | MOTHER MA, in March 2024.