Raissa Simpson is a choreographer, teacher, and the Artistic
Director of PUSH Dance Company in San Francisco. After receiving
her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, Simpson
had an extensive performance career in the San Francisco Bay Area
dancing with Robert Moses’ Kin and Joanna Haigood’s Zaccho Dance
Theatre, among others. Hailed by Dance Spirit Magazine as
“Reflective Contemporary Choreography,” she has presented her
work at Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, Sacramento
State University, Joyce SoHo, San Francisco State Univ.,
Washington Ensemble Theater, Evolve Dance Festival in NY, Los
Angeles Theater Center, Black Choreographers Festival, Renberg
Theater and many more.
In the unique voice of choreographer Raissa Simpson (“Pushing The
Standard” – San Francisco Chronicle), Dancing in
Sepia becomes an eloquent examination of racial
representations on stage. Through probing permutations of past
imagery, resistance, inter-culturalism and Afrofuturism,
Simpson’s rolling set design adds to a stunning sensory landscape
for the dancers of UC Davis.
