Roderick George

Photo: Michael Jackson Jr.

Roderick George (he/him) was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and spent his formative years training at Ben Stevenson’s Houston Ballet Academy, The Alvin Ailey School, and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). George was a bronze winner of the Youth American Grand Prix in 2005 and a YoungArts Winner and Presidential Scholar of the Arts in 2003. He has danced for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Basel Ballet/Theater Basel, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and The Forsythe Company, and has performed the work of choreographers such as Marie Chouinard, Peeping Tom, Jorma Elo, Jacopo Godani, William Forsythe, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylian, Sharon Eyal, Ohan Naharin, Benoit Swan-Pouffer, and Richard Wherlock. 

George’s choreographic work has been shown at Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, the DanceLab at Ballett Basel, the Ballett Basel School and The Suburbia project with the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. He was nominated as a choreographer and performer at the Emerging Choreographer Series for the 2012 YAGP and was selected as an Emerging Choreographer for Springboard Danse Montréal 2013. George has been commissioned by dance companies and institutions worldwide including Bodytraffic, Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Ballett Basel, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, SUNY Purchase, University of Utah, and Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Eager to delve into deeper creative explorations with a growing group of close artistic collaborators, George founded kNoname Artist in 2015. The unique movement style of George and his NYC-based company is cultivated by layering and blending a multitude of dance forms ranging from classical ballet to breakdance to acrobatics, while the work explores social commentary, diverse histories, and intersections of identity, culture, and tradition. kNoname Artist has performed at festivals such as Festival Quartiers Danses, Suzanne Dellal, Zurich Tanzhaus, Hollins University, New York Live Arts, Pavilion Noir| Ballet du Prejlocaj, Sophiensæle Festspiele, and Fall for Dance North/ NIGHTSHIFT. Most recently, George was a YoungArts Fellow Winner for the 2021-2022 season, allowing him the opportunity to further develop The Missing Fruit, an upcoming evening-length kNoname Artist production set to premiere in 2023.