“impressive polish, complexity, and emotional sophistication.”
-Chicago Sun Times
"Delved into rich psychological territory with an unseen force"
-Chicago Tribune"Acrobatic and Daring"
-Chicago Sun Times"beautiful and expressive"
-Third Coast DigestBrock Clawson is an award winning Chicago-based choreographer. He has worked with such prestigious companies as the Joffrey Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and Giordano Dance Chicago. He is known for his athletic movement and emotionally sophisticated choreography. After a successful career as a dancer for various Chicago companies, Clawson’s choreographic career developed during his time as a dancer and as the Artistic Associate for Thodos Dance Chicago. Brock’s first work for Thodos Dance Chicago in 2005 marked the beginning of a series of four works over the next five years with this company and the establishment of Clawson as a distinguished choreographer.
In recognition of these works, Clawson received the Dance Chicago 2005 Outstanding Choreography Award and the Cliff Dwellers Arts Organization’s 2006 Choreographer of the Year Award. Clawson’s work for this company was called “daring and athletic” and “a real stunner” by the Chicago Sun Times. His works “Along the Way” and “Nine” were selected to be performed by Thodos Dance Chicago as a part of Dance for Life, Chicago in 2006 and 2008. Clawson continued to create works for various other companies, including Dance Kaleidoscope, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company and The Dance Center of Columbia College.
Clawson’s diverse choreographic style further developed with his creation of the world premiere “Give and Take” for Giordano Dance Chicago in 2009. Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun Times called this piece “a work of impressive polish, complexity and emotional sophistication.” Giordano Dance Chicago selected “Give and Take” to represent their company at The Jazz Dance World Congress in 2009 and as a part of Dance for Life Chicago, 2010.
Clawson’s choreography was featured in the Emmy Award winning PBS documentary “Dance for Life, Chicago.” In 2012, Clawson made his choreographic debut with the Milwaukee Ballet who commissioned him to create “Crossing Ashland”, a one-act contemporary ballet. The Joffrey Ballet then performed “Crossing Ashland” in its 2013-2014 seasons to outstanding reviews from both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times. In the winter of 2015, Brock choreographed The Who’s TOMMY at the Paramount Theater, for which he received a Jeff Nomination. His most recent commission on Dance Kaleidoscope was written up as one of the “Best of the Arts” premieres in Indianapolis in 2015. Brock is premiering a new work on Giordano Dance Chicago in the spring of 2016.
Brock Clawson is an award winning Chicago-based choreographer. He has worked with such prestigious companies as the Joffrey Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and Giordano Dance Chicago. He is known for his athletic movement and emotionally sophisticated choreography. After a successful career as a dancer for various Chicago companies, Clawson’s choreographic career developed during his time as a dancer and as the Artistic Associate for Thodos Dance Chicago. Brock’s first work for Thodos Dance Chicago in 2005 marked the beginning of a series of four works over the next five years with this company and the establishment of Clawson as a distinguished choreographer.
In recognition of these works, Clawson received the Dance Chicago 2005 Outstanding Choreography Award and the Cliff Dwellers Arts Organization’s 2006 Choreographer of the Year Award. Clawson’s work for this company was called “daring and athletic” and “a real stunner” by the Chicago Sun Times. His works “Along the Way” and “Nine” were selected to be performed by Thodos Dance Chicago as a part of Dance for Life, Chicago in 2006 and 2008. Clawson continued to create works for various other companies, including Dance Kaleidoscope, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company and The Dance Center of Columbia College.
Clawson’s diverse choreographic style further developed with his creation of the world premiere “Give and Take” for Giordano Dance Chicago in 2009. Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun Times called this piece “a work of impressive polish, complexity and emotional sophistication.” Giordano Dance Chicago selected “Give and Take” to represent their company at The Jazz Dance World Congress in 2009 and as a part of Dance for Life Chicago, 2010.
Clawson’s choreography was featured in the Emmy Award winning PBS documentary “Dance for Life, Chicago.” In 2012, Clawson made his choreographic debut with the Milwaukee Ballet who commissioned him to create “Crossing Ashland”, a one-act contemporary ballet. The Joffrey Ballet then performed “Crossing Ashland” in its 2013-2014 seasons to outstanding reviews from both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times. In the winter of 2015, Brock choreographed The Who’s TOMMY at the Paramount Theater, for which he received a Jeff Nomination. His most recent commission on Dance Kaleidoscope was written up as one of the “Best of the Arts” premieres in Indianapolis in 2015. Brock is premiering a new work on Giordano Dance Chicago in the spring of 2016.
Concert Dance Choreography
Sneaky Pete Giordano Dance Chicago Spring 2016
Lake Effect Snow Dance Kaleidoscope Spring 2015
Crossing Ashland Joffrey Ballet Winter 2014
Milwaukee Ballet Winter 2012
Her Uprooted Garden Dance Center of Columbia College Winter 2010
Give and Take Giordano Dance Chicago Spring 2009
The Yawning Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Fall 2008
Nine Thodos Dance Chicago Spring 2008
If I Could… Stars of Dance Chicago Fall 2007
Along the Way Thodos Dance Chicago Spring 2006
Falling Out Eisenhower Dance Ensemble Spring 2010
Thodos Dance Chicago Spring 2005
Glitch Thodos Dance Chicago Spring 2004
Musical Theater Choreography
The Who’s Tommy Paramount Theater, Aurora, IL Winter 2015
Company Writers Theater, Glencoe, IL Summer 2016
Awards
Jeff Award Nomination – Choreography 2015 The Who’s Tommy
Best of the Arts in Indianapolis 2015 Indiana Business Journal
Chicago Choreographer of the Year 2006 Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation
Outstanding Choreographer Award 2005 Dance Chicago Festival
Directing
Artistic Associate Director Thodos Dance Chicago 2006-2008
Youth Company Director Greenhills School of Dance 2001-2003
Dance Performance
Thodos Dance Chicago Dancer 2002-2006
River North Chicago Dance Company Dancer 2001-2002
The 58 Group Dancer 1999-2001
Education
Columbia College, Chicago Performance/Choreography 1995-1997
REVIVALS RULE IN GIRODANO DANCE CHICAGO'S SPRING SERIES
Two premieres from last season, Peter Chu’s “Divided Against” and Brock Clawson’s “Sneaky Pete,” contrast the razzmatazz of the RNDC rep and another revival…
Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical...gets a thoroughly modern staging
Mr. Brown and Brock Clawson, the choreographer, use this space flexibly but logically…
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BROCK CLAWSON TELLS TALES IN 'SNEAKY PETE'
Brock Clawson’s world premiere joins repertory favorites in Giordano Dance Chicago’s spring program. “Brock is so easy to work with — efficient and organized,” Giordano says.
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'THE NEXT WAVE' OFFERS WORKS THAT TRIGGER A VARIETY OF EMOTIONS
“Following an intermission was the world premiere of the stunning “Lake Effect Snow” by Brock Clawson, another Chicago choreographer.”
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CHOREOGRAPHER BROCK CLAWSON-IN THE 'RIGHT PLACE'
“We asked Brock some questions about his process and his current work, which we’re pleased to share with you today.”
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GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO DAZZLES AT THE HARRIS
“Dark mystery surrounds Brock Clawson’s “Sneaky Pete” as it courts film noire narrative with tongue-in-cheek silent movie moves.”
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PARAMOUNT ROCKS INTO DARK WORLD OF 'THE WHO'S TOMMY'
“(Corti) has found an ideal collaborator in Clawson, a contemporary choreographer who breaks the musical theater mold”
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MILWAUKEE BALLET'S WINTER BRILLIANCE
“The three world premieres in the Milwaukee Ballet’s moving Winter Series last weekend deserve many more performances, but it’s hard to believe they will ever be better cast.”
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THODOS DANCE CHICAGO IN NEW DANCES 2015
“We are a company of dance performers and creators, and we can only grow if we work in all areas of dance,”
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Clawson's "Sneaky Pete" sneaks into the heart.
But what shines in “Sneaky Pete,” especially in this program’s context of impactful but monolithic movement, is its choreographic complexity.
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JOFFREY 'CHOREOGRAPHERS' FILLED WITH ADVENTURE
“Crossing Ashland,” by burgeoning local artist Brock Clawson, delivers a valentine to the everyday. Romantic but never sentimental”
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MILWAUKEE BALLET'S WINTER SERIES
“Brock Clawson’s Crossing Ashland, was a physically charged and thoroughly modern take on the power of desire, both expressed and repressed.”
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THODOS' ECLECTIC EXPRESSIONS
“A thin veil of melancholy was figuratively draped over Thodos Dance Chicago’s weekend concert”
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Brock Clawson’s “Sneaky Pete,” ...it’s a keeper
“Here he has devised a winningly mad (at times goofy) scenario in which a Leading Actor is part voyeur, part detective, part spurned lover, and forever in pursuit of the girl in the red dress…
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JOFFREY BALLET SOARS WITH OWN BRAND OF OLYMPICS IN "CONTEMPORARY CHOREOGRAPHERS" PROGRAM
“Clawson’s great achievement in “Crossing Ashland” is the way he has infused contemporary dance with a quality it too often lacks – a genuine human connection.”
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GIORDANO GIVES POWERHOUSE PREMIER OF LOCAL CHOREOGRAPHER'S NEW PIECE
“No need to go shopping far and wide for choreographic talent. Sometimes it’s right under your nose.”
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GIORDANO JAZZ DANCE CHICAGO
“…the 46-year-old company releases a torrent of mostly upbeat energy.”
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