Theatre & dance
Garth Fagan
born 1940 · choreographer, dancer, company director
Jamaican-born choreographer who spent the 1960s dancing and studying in Detroit before founding Garth Fagan Dance and winning a Tony for The Lion King.
- Born
Kingston, Jamaica
age 86- Birth name
- Gawain Garth Fagan
- Detroit years
- 1960–1970
- Field
- Theatre & dance
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Fagan danced with Ivy Baxter's Jamaican national company as a teenager and moved to Detroit in 1960. Over the next decade he was principal soloist and choreographer with the Detroit Contemporary Dance Company and the Dance Theatre of Detroit, directed Detroit's All-City Eastside Dance Company, and studied with visiting masters such as José Limón, Alvin Ailey, Mary Hinkson and Katherine Dunham. He also earned a bachelor's degree at Wayne State University in 1968, at first planning to become a psychologist. In 1970 he moved to Rochester, New York, where he founded the company that became Garth Fagan Dance, known for a style mixing Afro-Caribbean movement, modern dance and ballet. His choreography for Disney's The Lion King on Broadway won the 1998 Tony Award, and Wayne State later honored him as a distinguished alumnus.
Highlights
- Moved to Detroit in 1960
- Principal soloist with the Detroit Contemporary Dance Company and Dance Theatre of Detroit
- Directed Detroit's All-City Eastside Dance Company
- Wayne State University graduate (1968)
- Tony Award for the choreography of The Lion King (1998)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1960s–1968
Wayne State University
Where Fagan earned his bachelor's degree in 1968 while dancing with Detroit companies.