Dana Tai Soon Burgess

Dana Tai Soon Burgess is a leading American choreographer, dancer, and cultural figure known worldwide as the “Diplomat of Dance.” In 1992, he founded the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company (DTSBDC), a preeminent modern dance company based in Washington, D.C.

As the Company’s artistic director, his work explores the idea of cultural “confluence” with many of his dances focusing on the “hyphenated person”—someone who is of mixed ethnic or cultural heritage—and the emotions of belonging and societal acceptance.

He has served as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. State Department for over two decades, an appointment he uses to promote international cultural dialogue through “the global language of dance.” He has been awarded and completed two Fulbright Senior scholarships for dance. He has also recently received two prestigious awards: the Selma Jeanne Cohen Dance Lecture Award and the Aaron Stein Memorial Award.

Since 2016, Burgess has been the Smithsonian Institution’s first-ever Choreographer-in-Residence. In this role, he creates new works inspired by museum exhibitions and participates in public discussions about dance and art.

The exploration of dance and art is deeply rooted for Burgess. The son of two visual artists, he has always approached the stage as a canvas, and the dancers as brushstrokes. In 2003, Burgess was one of only three artists featured in the Smithsonian Institution’s A Korean American Century—an exhibition highlighting the history and achievements of Korean Americans in the US. Dancing the Dream marked the Smithsonian’s first exhibition on American dance during this centennial celebration as well. His portrait is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and his family archives reside in the American History Museum.