Michelle Pearson is the Artistic Director of Black Box Dance Theatre, a NC-based company known for their groundbreaking collaborations in the making of deeply human and physically compelling dance. Michelle is the inaugural recipient of the Jan Van Dyke Legacy Award. She holds a BFA in Dance from ECU. She was a core member of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange from 1993 to 1998 before moving into the position of Associate Artist with the troupe for another 15 years. She has been a guest artist and adjunct faculty at numerous schools including Meredith College, Catholic Univversity, UNCG, St. Mary’s School, The American Dance Festival, Harvard Medical School, NCSU, and Arts Together. As an A+ Fellow, Michelle leads professional development workshops for educators throughout NC and the US. She was recognized by the North Carolina Arts Council with a choreographic fellowship and was selected by the US Department of State to lead a cultural envoy to Sierra Leone in 2011 as well as cultural democracy missions to China in 2014 and 2016 and to Kazakhstan in 2019. Recently, the USO of NC has deemed Michelle and her cohort of dancers as SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and engaged them to lead Warrior Reset Programs for active duty service members. Michelle is a William C. Friday Fellow committed to improving human relations in the state of NC. Call it choreography, performance, cultural democracy, healing art, leadership training, professional development, or arts integration; it’s all miraculous modern dance to Michelle.

A professional modern dance company, Black Box Dance Theatre (BBDT) was co-founded in 2014 by Michelle Pearson, former principal dancer with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and eight dance artists, including Alfredo Hurtado, post-9/11 veteran and Purple Heart Wounded Warrior, Natalie Morton, Ron West, and Steven James Rodriguez-Velez. These men and women bring diverse expertise and a commitment to excellence in craft, physical skill, and artistry to advance the expectations and outcomes of modern dance. Their process, performance, and deeply engaging residency experiences have earned them the distinction of Subject Matter Experts with the USO leading workshops for active duty military personnel as a means of storytelling, peer support, leadership, and morale. BBDT is honored to be on the North Carolina Arts Council (NCAC) roster of artists bringing high quality performance and residency experiences to communities across NC with the cARTwheels program.  BBDT has made dances in partnership with the US Department of State, the National Science Foundation, NC State University, Arts NC, Dance Complex of Boston, local arts councils across NC, Wildacres Leadership Initiative, the NC Museum of Art, and the USO. Most recently, BBDT has been selected to be featured in an episode of “I Feel Myself to be Part of Something”, an Arts Impact Collaborative film taking viewers on a journey across America, exploring different art forms, communities, and programs to capture a rich and vibrant portrait of the essential role the arts play in our lives.