Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen met in 2011, founded Stewart/Owen Dance in 2012 and married each other in 2019.
They worked together as artists of Company E, performing regularly at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and traveling to over 10 countries through U.S. State Department cultural diplomacy tours. Their work abroad has influenced them to view dance as a universal language that can connect people across different cultures and beliefs, and they use this as a driving force in their creative collaborations and educational programs.
Their choreographic collaborations have been presented by festivals and companies across the U.S., including McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival, Women in Dance Conference 2019, CHOP SHOP Dance Festival,
The NYC Dance Gallery Festival, NC Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, Bellingham Repertory Dance, Atlanta Dance Collective, Stavna Ballet, T2 Dance Company and Company E. They have choreographed music videos for artists Moses Sumney, Ben Phantom and Sylvan Esso.
Gavin and Vanessa won the Audience Choice Award at the NYC Dance Gallery Festival 2018, were commissioned as Dance Gallery 2019 Level UP Artists, are recipients of a McDowell Regional Artist Project Grant, a North Carolina Artist Support Grant and were voted "Artists Who Most Pushed the Boundaries with the Human Body" by Asheville Fringe Arts Festival.
Since the pandemic, Vanessa and Gavin have produced a series of COVID-conscious performances for live audiences, including drive-up parking lot performances and a walk-along dance exhibit presented by Asheville’s beloved Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.
GAVIN STEWART and VANESSA OWEN (co-founders, choreographers)
Still: Life CONTRIBUTORS
ISABEL
BOWSER
GINA
CORNEJO
ROSIE
DEANGELO
MELVIN AC HOWELL
DANIE
JOHNSON
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GAVIN
LARSEN
MEGAN JONES MEDFORD
VANESSA
OWEN
