Andrea Woods Valdés

Dr. Andrea E. Woods Valdés is the Chair of the Duke University Dance Program and artistic director of Souloworks/Andrea E. Woods & Dancers. She found the wimmim@work showcase and the Calabasa Calabasa summer intensive to develop Black audiences and performing and teaching opportunities for wimmin of color. She is a former dancer/rehearsal director with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Dance Co. She holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University, a MA in Caribbean Cultural Studies from SUNY Buffalo. Her research focus is Black women and embodied aesthetics. Woods Valdés received grants from the Jerome Foundation, (NEFA) the National Dance Project, National Performance Network, Arts International, and the North Carolina Arts Council. She creates dances as contemporary African American folklore. Wood Valdés teaches Afro-contemporary, modern dance and dance/vocal/shekere work. Her creative process is inspired by blues, jazz, folk music, family folklore, and movement reflective of the African diaspora’s social and cultural experience.