Henning Rubsam
Rübsam, who teaches dance history at Fordham University, implemented a dance appreciation program for the general public at his alma mater, The Juilliard School, where he has been on faculty since 2006. His lecture courses have featured more than 60 guest speakers, including many fellow choreographers and historians, Academy Award winner George Chakiris, world medalist ice dancer Kaitlyn Weaver, and stars from stage and screen.
He received a master’s degree in dance education from Hunter College and was a resident choreographer for The Hartford City Ballet which folded in 2020 due to the pandemic. As a speaker, he has presented at the GEL conference and the Lincoln Center Young Patrons Program.
He writes for The Dance Enthusiast and The Hudson Review and is the dance curator for “Arts at Work.” He was the managing editor of the Dance Magazine College Guide, editor for the Stern’s Performing Arts Directory/Dance Magazine Annual and has contributed to Dance Magazine, Ballet Review, Dance For You, and other publications.
In 2024, choreographer HENNING RÜBSAM will present new ensemble and solo work under his company’s umbrella SENSEDANCE, a contemporary ballet & modern dance ensemble, which has presented his work since 1992.
A creative force, producer, historian, writer, educator, public speaker, and director of his own New York City based company SENSEDANCE, he contributes to the field of dance from every angle.
He is the Coordinating Producer for all dance events (including the historic exhibit “Dance to Belong” opening March 12) celebrating the 92NY’s 150th anniversary in New York City in the spring of 2024.
Also, in NYC in 2024, he will choreograph the musical “Grease” for the Lycée Français after successfully staging the Michel Legrand/Jacques Demy musical “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort” in 2022 and the French-Canadian rock opera “Starmania” in 2023.
Master classes are on the schedule for the Boston Conservatory in March and in Istanbul, Turkey for the month of June.
Vildwerk Foundation commissioned his new ensemble work – inspired by the migration of the Monarch butterflies – and will present its premiere on October 15 & 16, 2024 at the theater of the Museo del Barrio in New York City.
Henning Rübsam presents and produces annual NYC seasons and tours his work internationally. His critically acclaimed productions have featured dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company, Limón Dance Company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and many more.
In 2022 Rübsam choreographed a solo for ballerina Scarlett Güémez (Compañía Nacional de Danza de México) and in 2021 he set Ted Shawn’s “Floor Plastique” on the dancers of Limón 2 for the Denishawn Festival and taught in New York and Budapest, Hungary.
His company represented the United States on a State Department sponsored tour through Peru and his work has been shown at festivals and gala performances throughout Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico, as well as in New Zealand, Greece, and his native Germany. He has choreographed for contemporary ballet and modern dance companies as well as for conservatory dance programs such as The Ailey School.
Rübsam trained at John Neumeier’s Hamburg Opera Ballet School, earned his BFA from Juilliard, studied Classical Indian and Spanish dance forms, performed as Nijinsky’s “Faune” and in works by many contemporary choreographers. He toured internationally with the Limón Dance Company andwas a permanent guest artist for the combined company of Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis. Mentored by the doyenne of solo dance, Beverly Blossom (whose work he performs), he learned from Michael Kidd and Stanley Donen at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. He created a highly acclaimed solo for prima ballerina assoluta Eva Evdokimova. “Both the solo and her performance were celebrations of the kind of artistry that comes only with maturity and experience.” (NYTimes)
Rübsam founded SENSEDANCE “in the hope that through the SENSES we can all meet,” and frequently collaborates with composers Beata Moon and Ricardo Llorca. Among the events he has directed and/or produced are: “A tribute to Eric Bentley” at Town Hall, “Spirit of Sepharad” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, “Radical Bodies: Anna Halprin, Simone Forti, Yvonne Rainer” at The Kaye Playhouse, and “The Beverly Blossom Festival” at the 92Y.
As a former board member of the Martha Hill Dance Fund, he is especially proud of the documentary “Miss Hill – Making Dance Matter,” produced under his tenure. As a board member of the Beverly Blossom Foundation, he is coordinating the centenary events in 2026.
He is grateful to his teacher Carolyn Bognar, who has encouraged Rübsam on his individual path to learn from divergent cultural sources.
Photo by : Antonio Yussif
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