Benny Simon, MA, has a diverse background as an educator, choreographer, arts administrator, and digital marketer. He is currently a PhD candidate at The Ohio State University where his research engages with dance and performance studies, new media theory, and critical digital pedagogy, focusing on how the intersection of dance and technology can be a model for a more inclusive and sustainable future. Most recently he was an Assistant Professor of Dance and Director of the Summer Dance Institute at Ohio University.
As an educator, he has taught and held supervisory roles in all levels of higher education and in the private sector and he has been an advocate for arts education and programming in the public, private, and non-profit arts sectors. At Ohio University he taught contemporary dance technique and composition, dance history, brand management, and contributed to the development of the Master of Arts Administration and Community Dance degree programs. At The Ohio State University, he co-created and taught the course, Arts Management for Dance. He has been a guest artist and lecturer at New York University, Brandeis University, Syracuse University, Skidmore College, and Barnard College. In the private sector, he has been faculty at BalletMet, Gibney Dance, The Mark Morris Dance Center, and Peridance Capezio Center.
As a choreographer, his work has been presented at The Ohio State University, Syracuse University, The Davidson Theatre, the Upstart Festival at the Brooklyn Artists Exchange, and Triskelion Arts’ WAXworks and Split Bill. Most recently he choreographed Folding In: Redux, a dance-film duet derived from a recorded interview with Gibney Company artist Amy Miller designed to evoke Judson-era dancing spaces in New York City. Prior to that he choreographed Further Responses at Ohio University to Caroline Shaw’s choral composition, Seven Responses, itself inspired by Dieterich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri.
Benny’s experience in arts administration began in the private sector where he co-founded and acted as Senior Vice President of Technology for the international digital ad agency, 360i. In the public and non-profit sector, he has was Director of Marketing for Gibney where he managed digital and print media and contributed to fundraising state and private fundraising efforts. He created and manages the Simon Family Scholarship, which subsidizes the cost of training for emerging dancers, and launched the DANCE ‘n TELL network, an online resource that connects dance students teachers and studios. Benny has served on the boards of Dance New Amsterdam, Alexandra Beller/Dances, and OhioDance.
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