DANCE CANVAS

Executive Artistic Director

Angela  Harris  is the Executive  Artistic  Director  of Dance Canvas,  Inc., a career development  organization for emerging professional choreographers and youth. Angela conceived and founded Dance Canvas after witnessing  the difficult path and lack of professional opportunities for young choreographers. Additionally,  Dance Canvas  was envisioned  to create relatable professional  dance experiences  and new dance patrons  in the Atlanta  area. Angela  has developed  youth  dance/career  development  programs for the City of Atlanta's  Office of Cultural Affairs  (Culture  Club and ArtsCool), recording  artist, Usher's New  Look Foundation,  and the Tupac Amaru  Shakur Foundation.  She has forged partnerships  with the Atlanta Ballet, Atlantic  Station, Rialto Center  for the Arts, the French  Consulate  of Atlanta, National Black Arts  Festival  & Kennesaw  State University. Through Dance  Canvas, Angela has been a catalyst,  consultant, and resource  for numerous  new dance organizations  and artists throughout  metro Atlanta.  She received the 2011 Emerging Leader Award from Americans  for the Arts and American Express,  and was selected to be in the 2014 class of Arts Leaders  of Metro Atlanta  (ALMA).  Angela  served on the national  Emerging Leaders  Council  for Americans  for the Arts from 2011 - 2014, and is a member  of Dance USA.

Artistically, Angela Harris is originally from Baltimore, MD and is a choreographer, dancer, and a graduate of The Baltimore School for the Arts. She received her dance training at Dance Theater of Harlem, School of the Hartford Ballet, and The Eglevsky Ballet. She attended Mercyhurst College and City College of New York, earning a B.A. in Journalism, while on full ballet scholarship at Steps on Broadway. Angela has danced professionally with The Georgia Ballet, Columbia City Ballet, and Urban Ballet Theater in NYC. Angela’s Atlanta theatre performance credits include Sophisticated Ladies and Degas' Little Dancer (u/s) at the Alliance Theatre, as well as numerous productions with the Aurora Theater, including A Chorus Line, where she starred as Kristine DeLuca.  She was a principal in Jasmine Guy’s production of Daughters of Alpha, in New Orleans, as well as a soloist dancer in the national tour of The Thorn, choreographed by Deanna McBrearty of New York City Ballet. Her choreography has been performed by The Georgia Ballet, Steps on Broadway Ensemble, Ballet Lubbock, Savannah Arts Academy, as well as other companies and schools across the country. She choreographed Bridges of Madison County (Aurora Theater), Little Shop of Horrors (Actor's Express), Willy Wonka and West Side Story (Fabrefaction Theater), The First Noel (True Colors Theatre Company) and most recently Theatrical Outfit's 110 in the Shade. Angela has been a master class instructor at colleges & universities across the country. She was the resident ballet instructor at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute in 2015, 2016 and virtually in 2020. Angela was awarded the 2012 Emerging Artist Award in Dance from The City of Atlanta's Office of Cultural Affairs and received a proclamation from the Atlanta City Council.  Angela was selected as one of five Inaugural National Visiting Fellows at the School of American Ballet in NYC. Angela received an SDCF Observership and worked with Susan Stroman on the new musical, Little Dancer, during its Development Lab for Broadway. Angela is on faculty at Emory University's Department of Dance and Movement Studies and Spelman College's Dance Performance and Choreography Department. She is also currently an instructor at Dekalb School for the Arts and Academy of Ballet.