Photo Credit: Ron Williams

Gwendolyn Bye, Artistic Director has spent 35 years in the performing arts and has worked and danced with legendary artists Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, Anna Sokolow, Mary Anthony and Pauline Koner. She received her early training at the Philadelphia Dance Academy’s Performing Arts School, directed by Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck, where she was graduated with honors. She also studied and performed in the junior company at the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet.

Ms. Bye joined the Mary Anthony Dance Theater in New York City in 1971. As a principal dancer, she performed in seasonal concerts and toured nationally for over fourteen years. Two dances were created for her: Tides by Ross Parkes and Lady from the Sea by Mary Anthony. She danced in Rooms and Dreams choreographed by Anna Sokolow and partnered Charles Weidman in Fables of Our Times. Ms. Bye studied and taught at the Mary Anthony Dance Studio, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as well as at the Martha Graham School, where she was awarded a Helena Rubenstein Scholarship. Her first choreographic work was commissioned with Juilliard composer Michael White and was presented in Philadelphia at the Walnut Street Theater in 1976. Ms. Bye studied acting in New York City at the Michael Howard Acting School with Peter Thompson and singing with Marcy Jellison. She performed and sang in New York City night clubs and appeared in several independent movies including The Alter Boy, which was presented in the New York University Film Festival. She was recording artist on NutriSystems Nutricize Exercise Albumin 1982 and appeared in TV commercials and promotional performances.

In 1984 Ms. Bye returned to Philadelphia and opened the Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center and became Artistic Director of Penn Dance at the University of Pennsylvania. She was named Movement Specialist and rostered artists for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Partners in Arts Education Program. In 1991 she worked as director/choreographer with Jacques d’Amboise in a four-school residency and performance of The Celebration of an American Dream. Ms. Bye formed Dancefusion in 1987, where she directs, choreographs and performs up to the present. She has danced in, and reconstructed historic works by Mary Anthony, Pauline Koner, Jose Limon, and Anna Sokolow. Ms. Bye’s choreographic works include: Between Worlds, Ur Mutter, Christina’s World, Solstice, The Rose, Rites, At the Turning Point, ‘Twas the Night before Christmas, and The Twelve Days of Christmas. In 1996 and 1998, Ms. Bye was invited to dance the lead rolls in Mary Anthony Dance Theater’s 40th Anniversary season in New York City. In 2000, she danced with Jeanne Ruddy Dance in a work by Igal Perry. Ms. Bye is very active as a teacher and administrator, directing programs at the Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center. She received the 2001 Award of Recognition from the City of Philadelphia and was nominated for the Philadelphia Inquirer’s 2006 Citizen of the Year. In 2007 Ms. Bye received the “Rocky Award” for her contribution to the Philadelphia Dance Community.