David Thomson
Adjunct Professor
Biography
David Thomson, is an interdisciplinary collaborative and performing artist who has worked in the fields of music, dance, theater and performance with such artists as Mel Wong, Jane Comfort, Bebe Miller (’83-’86; ’03-’06), Remy Charlip, The Lavender Light Gospel Choir, Trisha Brown (‘87-‘93), David Roussève, Iréne Hultman, Michel Laub/Remote Control (NL), Ralph Lemon (’99-’10), Bo Madvig (DK), Tracie Morris, Sekou Sundiata, Dean Moss/Layla Ali, Meg Stuart, Marina Abramović, Alain Buffard (FR), Clarinda Mac Low, Daria Faïn & Robert Kocik, Deborah Hay, Beth Gill, Maria Hassabi, Tere O’Connor, Kaneza Schaal, Yanira Castro, Okwui Okpokwasili, Lee Mingwei/Bill T Jones, Carl Hancock Rux, Taka Yamamoto, Matthew Barney and Annie-B Parsons/Big Dance Theater among others. He has been a member of Yvonne Rainer’s “Raindears” since 2015. Thomson has performed downtown, Off-Broadway and in London with the Drama Desk-nominated a capella performance group, Hot Mouth, founded by Grisha Coleman, Jonathan Stone, Viola Sheely and Thomson.
His own work has been presented by The Kitchen, Danspace Project at St Mark’s Church, Dance Theater Workshop, Roulette and Movement Research at Judson Church. Thomson has been an Artist-in-Residence at Dance Theater Workshop, Movement Research, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Gibney Dance Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Invisible Dog, Topaz Arts and Mount Tremper Arts Center, The Yard, Performance Space NY and The Lunder Institute of American Art. Thomson was honored with a New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”) for Sustained Achievement (2001), as part of the creative team for Bebe Miller’s Landing/Place (2006) and for Outstanding Production for his first evening-length work he his own mythical beast (2018).
Thomson has been awarded fellowships from United States Artists|Ford, NYFA in Choreography (2013, 2022), MacDowell, Yaddo, The Yard (Bessie Schoenberg Fellow), The Rauschenberg Foundation, LMCC Extended Life Fellowship (2018-21) and is a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Awardee (2022). He is currently a Mabou Mines Associate Artist and Danspace Artist Research Fellow.
Thomson has served on the faculties of Movement Research, NYU, Sarah Lawrence, The New School, Barnard, Bennington, Middlebury and Pratt Institute.
He has worked as an Arts Administrator and/or Database Consultant for several organizations including New York Foundation for the Arts, Merce Cunningham Foundation, Dieu Donné Papermill, National Performance Network, and Movement Research. He developed the Trisha Brown Archive Database in collaboration with Cori Olinghouse.
In 2017, he initiated The Artist Sustainability Project with Kate Watson-Wallace, which serves as a platform and practice to expand the discourse surrounding ideas of financial, artistic, and personal empowerment within the arts community.
Education
State University of New York, College at Purchase
SUNY Purchase Program in Nancy, France, January 1982
Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, 1983
Concentration in Language/Linguistics/Dance
Middlebury College
Summer German Intensive Program, 1978
Haverford College
September 1977 – 1979