Hawaii-based contemporary choreographer Christopher Kaui Morgan has been named the new artistic director of Malashock Dance in San Diego.
Morgan has a deep background as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and administrator. In 2011, he founded the company Christopher K. Morgan & Artists and was named by Dance Magazine one of the six breakout choreographers in the United States that same year. Morgan also has a personal connection to Malashock Dance, where he launched his dancing career as a company member from 1995 to 1998.
Morgan will join the company full-time in January, when John Malashock will transition to the new role of founding artistic director. Malashock will remain on the board of directors and focus his energies on production details and community engagement. Morgan will also work closely with Molly Puryear, the company’s executive director for the past eight years.
Morgan will be joined in San Diego by his husband, stage director Kyle Lang, who has been engaged to direct San Diego Opera’s February production of “Don Giovanni.” They plan to make their home in South Park.
Christopher K. Morgan in performance. Morgan is the new artistic director of Malashock Dance in San Diego.
(Courtesy of Jonathan Hsu)
Morgan said he’s honored to return to his very first dance company and his future goals include inviting and nurturing a diversity of choreographers.
“John’s artistry and leadership has resonated throughout my career,” Morgan said, in a statement. “It is a thrilling opportunity to sustain John’s work while bringing a fresh perspective from the array of experiences I’ve had since I last lived in San Diego. I look forward to learning more about the current San Diego arts community and supporting the growth and deepening of the arts ecology in San Diego and beyond.”
After a nationwide search, Morgan was one of two finalists for the position at Malashock Dance. Both candidates auditioned with the company’s dancers and before its audience in April by setting new works on the dancers for the spring concert “Perpetual (E)motion.” John Alexander, Malashock’s board chair, said he is proud of how the board and staff have managed the challenge of gradually transitioning the company away from being associated with one person — Malashock has led the company for 35 years — to being a “fully mission-centered organization that will thrive under new leadership.”
The leadership team at Malashock Dance at the Dorothea Laub Dance Place at Liberty Station. From left, executive director Molly Puryear, new artistic director Christopher Kaui Morgan and founding artistic director John Malashock.
(Courtesy of Malashock Dance)
Morgan’s contemporary dance pieces, which incorporate storytelling, original music and multimedia design, have been performed in 22 countries on five continents. He has served as the vice president of programming for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and from 2017 to 2021 he was executive director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C. He also serves on the U.S. National Council of the Arts.
Morgan is the San Diego-born son of native Hawaiians, who moved here after being stationed at a local Marine Corps base. He grew up in San Diego dancing the hula. In a 2016 interview with the National Endowment for the Arts, Morgan said that this childhood separation from his cultural homeland would later inform his choreography.
“I think that sense of displacement and distance — so much art comes from some kind of struggle — is one of the ways it started to manifest in my work. What does it mean to be displaced from home, and your ancestral land?” he said in the NEA interview.
John Malashock, who founded the company in 1988, said he’s excited to see what Morgan brings to the company. He will host a public welcoming event for Morgan in October with wine, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment.
“I’m honored to pass the torch to someone with Christopher’s skill, passion and commitment to creativity, diversity, and community,“ Malashock said in a statement. “With his passion, warmth and inspiring manner, I know he is exactly the right person to lead us forward with a new artistic vision. It’s been a great ride and now It’s time for the company to embark on this new journey, embracing fresh perspectives and innovative visions to enrich the cultural landscape of San Diego and beyond.”
When: 3 p.m. Oct. 22
Where: The Thursday Club, 1224 Santa Barbara St., Point Loma
Admission: Free, but $20 donation is suggested
Online: http://tinyurl.com/2xemphz2