# Arthur Aviles

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**Arthur Avilés** (born 1963) is an American [Bessie Award](/source/Bessie_Award)-winning [dancer](/source/Dancer) and [choreographer](/source/Choreographer) of [Puerto Rican](/source/Puerto_Rico) descent.[1] Avilés was born in [Queens](/source/Queens), [New York](/source/New_York_City), and raised in [Long Island](/source/Long_Island) and the [Bronx](/source/Bronx). He graduated from [Bard College](/source/Bard_College), a liberal arts college in [Annandale-on-Hudson](/source/Annandale-on-Hudson), New York. After graduating from Bard, he became a member of the [Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company](/source/Bill_T._Jones/Arnie_Zane_Dance_Company), and toured internationally with the company for eight years 1987 to 1995.

Mr. Avilés began his own company, the **Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre (AATT)**, in 1996 in [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France), and moved the company to the Bronx that same year. In addition to his work with AATT, Avilés became the company choreographer for the Paris-based theatrical company **Faim de Siecle**, and has choreographed a series of productions that have been performed in the United States and in France.

In December 1998, he co-founded with Charles Rice-González BAAD! - The [Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance](/source/Bronx_Academy_of_Arts_and_Dance),[2] a new performance and workshop space in the [American Bank Note Company Building](/source/American_Bank_Note_Company_Building), a warehouse in the [Hunts Point](/source/Hunts_Point,_Bronx) section of the Bronx. In October 2013, the organization moved to Westchester Square into a gothic revivalist building on the campus of [St. Peter's Episcopal Church](/source/St._Peter's_Church,_Chapel_and_Cemetery_Complex). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* has said that BAAD! is "a funky and welcoming performance space." In addition to the Bessie Award, Avilés received an Arts and Letters Award from his alma mater in 1995, a [BRIO](/source/Bronx_Recognizes_Its_Own_Award) (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Award from the [Bronx Council on the Arts](/source/Bronx_Council_on_the_Arts) (BCA) in 1999, a PRIDE (Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment) Award honoring outstanding contributions and services to the Puerto Rican, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender ([LGBT](/source/LGBT)) Communities, a 2004 [New York Foundation for the Arts](/source/New_York_Foundation_for_the_Arts) Fellowship, in 2008 he received an award from NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson and a NYC Mayor's Arts Award, and 2015 received an honorary doctorate from Bard College. In 2005, AATT was among 406 [New York City](/source/New_York_City) arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the [Carnegie Corporation](/source/Carnegie_Corporation), which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor [Michael Bloomberg](/source/Michael_Bloomberg).[3][4]

[Anna Kisselgoff](/source/Anna_Kisselgoff) of *The New York Times* wrote, "If you don’t know Mr. Aviles, you haven’t seen one of the great modern dancers of the last 15 years." Jennifer Dunning, *The New York Times* dance critic, described his work as follows: "Arthur Aviles has developed an individual voice and style that might be compared to bold street theater and poster art, communicating his truths about life as seen as a gay male Puerto Rican through simple narratives that are always colorful and often poignant and amusing."

Since 1991, Aviles has collaborated extensively with his [first cousin](/source/Cousin), the [comedian](/source/Comedian) and performer [Elizabeth Marrero](/source/Elizabeth_Marrero). He has also collaborated with other gay Puerto Rican performers such as [Jorge Merced](/source/Jorge_Merced).[5] Avilés is publicly gay, as he has indicated in interviews, and many of his dance pieces explore gay topics.[6]

## See also

- [Freda Rosen](/source/Freda_Rosen)

## References

1. [La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence](/source/Lawrence_La_Fountain-Stokes). *Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora.* Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. ISBN 0-8166-4092-0

1. [\[3\]](http://www.bronxacademyofartsanddance.org) Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!)

1. Roberts, Sam. ["City Groups Get Bloomberg Gift of $20 Million"](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/nyregion/06donate.html?ex=1278302400&en=93a1beabd4ede5b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss), *New York Times* (July 6, 2005), retrieved November 25, 2008.

1. Carnegie Corporation of New York, ["Carnegie Corporation of New York Announces Twenty Million Dollars in New York City Grants"](http://carnegie.org/sub/news/anon2005.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070613090344/http://www.carnegie.org/sub/news/anon2005.html) 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine, (July 5, 2005), retrieved November 25, 2008.

1. La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. ["Translocas: Migration, Homosexuality, and Transvestism in Recent Puerto Rican Performance"](http://hemisphericinstitute.org/hemi/en/e-misferica-81/lafountain) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120307141003/http://hemisphericinstitute.org/hemi/en/e-misferica-81/lafountain) 2012-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, *e-misférica* 8.1 (Summer 2011), retrieved May 2, 2012.

1. La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. ["A Naked Puerto Rican Faggot from America: An Interview with Arthur Avilés."](https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/377/37719115.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120406175212/http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/377/37719115.pdf) April 6, 2012 at the Wayback Machine *CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies* 19.1 (Spring 2007): 314-29.

## Additional bibliography

- Rivera-Servera, Ramón. "Latina/o Queer Futurities: Arthur Aviles Takes on the Bronx." *Ollantay Theater Magazine* 15.29-30 (2007): 127-46.
- Rivera-Servera, Ramón. "Building Home: Arthur Aviles's Choreography of the Public Space." in *Performing Queer Latinidad: Dance, Sexuality, Politics* (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012), 46-93. ISBN 0472051393
- La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. ["A Naked Puerto Rican Faggot from America: An Interview with Arthur Avilés."](https://web.archive.org/web/20120406175212/http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/377/37719115.pdf) *CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies* 19.1 (Spring 2007): 314-29.

## External links

- [\[1\]](https://web.archive.org/web/20120415094200/http://www.arthuravilestypicaltheatre.org/history.htm) Arthur Aviles Theatre Company
- [\[2\]](http://www.bronxacademyofartsanddance.org/) BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance

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