"Where there is no vision the people perish."
Joan Myers Brown Presented the 2009 Philadelphia Award
PHILADELPHIA—Joan Myers Brown, the eighty-ninth recipient of the prestigious Philadelphia Award, is the founder and Executive Artistic Director of "PHILADANCO," The Philadelphia Dance Company that represents the possibilities of human spirit through dance. The small dance school that Ms. Myers Brown founded more than forty years ago has become--with her commitment and devotion-- a nationally-recognized dance company known for its artistic integrity, and one of the best African American dance companies in the country. Philadanco is a motivational program for youth and a training experience for the 21st century.
Ms. Myers Brown serves as honorary chairperson for the International Association of Blacks in Dance. Twenty- two years ago, she established the organization with the International Conference of Black Dance Companies with a $10,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Myers Brown contributes as a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts of Philadelphia, which bestowed upon her an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts. A member of the dance faculty at Howard University in Washington, DC, Myers Brown was also recently awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by Ursinus College.
Ms. Brown has served a broad range of organizations, including NEFA's National Dance Project, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Forum for Female Executives. Locally, she has been a part of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Minority Arts Resource Council, the Philadelphia Mayor's Cultural Advisory Council, the Philadelphia Dance Alliance, and the Coalition of African American Cultural Organizations.
Honored as one of the "Dance Women; Living Legends" in tribute to five African American women pioneers who founded distinguished modern dance companies with deep roots in Black communities, Myers Brown was honored by the Kennedy Center for African American Choreography. Ms. Brown has served as a consultant to many national cultural organizations, and was appointed to the choreographer's panel of the Rockefeller Foundation Arts & Humanities Program as well as the Coalition of Afro-American Cultural Organizations.
Ms. Myers Brown has selflessly devoted her enthusiasm, passion for dance, and artistic integrity to the city of Philadelphia and dancers around the country for the past forty years. With performances around the globe, Ms. Brown presents each host with a replica of the Liberty Bell. Her drive to better the dance community and bring opportunity to aspiring dancers--in Philadelphia and throughout the world--is the true spirit of the Philadelphia Award.