Grasan Kingsberry

Closeup image of a brown skinned person with a mustache, beard, and locks cascading over the side of his face

Grasan is an Emmy, Grammy, ACCA, and Regional BroadwayWorld Award-winning artist. With a BFA from The Juilliard School, he was featured in 11 Broadway productions including the Tony winning Best Revival of Once On This Island. Grasan contributed to the original 2005 Broadway production and the 2015 Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-winning revival of The Color Purple. Other Broadway credits: Motown, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Leap of Faith, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Finian’s Rainbow, Catch Me If You Can, and Aida. TV: Mozart in the Jungle (Ben), Smash, Royal Pains, All My Children, Today Show. Film: The Aerialist, and I Am Legend. He has worked with choreographers such as: Robert Battle, Camille A. Brown, Donald Bryd, Warren Carlyle, Jiří Kylián, Jerry Mitchell, Casey Nicholaw, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor, and Sergio Trujio. He has worked and performed with recording artists such as Beyoncé, Michelle Williams, Deborah Cox, Toni Braxton, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday, Heather Headley, Harry Connick Jr., Bernadette Peters, and Wynton Marsalis. Aside from his fruitful career on Broadway, Grasan is a choreographer, director, model, vocalist, commercial actor, international teacher, and mentor who currently serves as faculty at USC Kaufman School of Dance and Debbie
Allen Dance Academy.

@gray_sandy

After 20 years of artistic creation and community engagement, L.A. Contemporary Dance concludes its journey as an organization as of January 9, 2026.

Founded to showcase dance in Los Angeles, LACDC evolved into a home for collective artistry where performances were crafted by choreographers and dancers alongside playwrights, composers, designers, filmmakers, photographers, stage managers, technicians — an incredible team whose imaginative work gave shape and emotional depth to our repertory. These collaborations brought contemporary dance to life in ways that were bold, explorative, expressive, and accessible.

Through live events, digital experiences, and educational programming, LACDC cultivated environments rooted in curiosity, belonging, and learning without judgment. The organization consistently asked how contemporary dance might better reflect and serve the community around it, valuing discovery over mastery and process alongside performance.

This vision was made possible thanks to the creativity and leadership of our Artistic Directors, Executive Directors, Managing Directors, and Company Staff:

Artistic Leadership

Kate Hutter Mason — Artistic Director & Co-founder (2005–2015)
Genevieve Carson — Artistic Director (2016–2020)
Jamila Glass — Artistic Director (2021–2025)

Executive & Managing Leadership

Michelle Jolly — Executive Director & Co-founder (2005–2009)
Lauren Dragicevich — Managing Director (2009–2013)
Eva Angeloff — Managing Director (2013–2018)
Napoleon Gladney — Executive Director (2019–2025)

We are profoundly grateful to all who have left their fingerprints on the organization. This work would not have been possible without the support of our board members, donors, producers, presenters, community partners, volunteers, students, audiences, friends, and family — all who believed in this work. You made it possible.

While LACDC as an organization is closing, the values we cultivated continue forward through the relationships formed here and in all of you.

To anyone considering starting a company or pursuing a dream project — do it. Start now. Don’t wait for the opportunity; be the opportunity. We need your voice and creative work more than ever.

Thank you for being part of this extraordinary journey.

L.A. Contemporary Dance
(2005–2025)