Bio
Sam Watson began his dance training at Northern Kentucky University where he studied Graham Technique. Mr. Watson performed with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and served on the faculty of the Giordano Dance Center for over ten years. Sam was a member of The Chicago Repertory Dance Ensemble from 1983-1990, performing principal roles of international choreographers including Paul Taylor and Lar Lubavitch .He contributed several works to CRDE's repertoire including choreography premiered at the World Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia and was selected along with choreographer Christina Ernst to co-direct a chamber company of CRDE called Ernst/Watson Dance. His work has been sponsored by the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Office of Fine Arts, Chicago Artists Abroad, and the NEA's Arizona Dance on Tour Project.
In 1990, Mr. Watson was based in Palm Springs, California where he formed Wats On Dance, touring year round in guest appearances in such events as the Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago, Washington D.C., Nagoya Japan and Wiesbaden Germany; The Arizona Jazz Dance Showcase, Tucson, Arizona, The ARENA 225 International Summer Course in Zurich, Switzerland and with numerous local dance groups and organizations across the U.S.His choreography can be seen in the repertoire of numerous dance professional dance companies including Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, River North Dance Company, Aspen/ Santa Fe Ballet, Ohio Ballet, Ballet Tucson and Moving People Santa Fe .
Sam served as Guest Artist in Residence at The University of California in San Diego and The University of Nevada Las Vegas before joining the UA School of Dance faculty in 1999.
