Joan Myers Brown

Joan Myers Brown

Joan Myers Brown is the founder of the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO)and The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts.She serves as honorary chairperson for the International Association of Blacks in Dance, an organization she established in 1991.She is also founder of the International Conference of Black Dance Companies.She is a distinguished visiting professor at the University of the Arts, which bestowed upon her an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, and is a member of the dance faculty at Howard University in Washington, DC. Brown has served on a broad range of regional and national organizations pertaining to the arts, from Arts America, to the Philadelphia Dance Alliance. Her expertise and counsel have been sought by countless organizations for her tireless advocacy, tenacity, discipline and love for the arts. She has convened three International Conferences of Black Dance Companies around the country and was honored as one of the “Dance Women; Living Legends” during a four-day series sponsored by New York area presenters.She is the proud mother of daughters Marlisa and Dannielle, who teach at her school, The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts, and grandmother of Jade Greene and Amari Noelle Brown-Swint.