By Steve Sucato

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) announced today, August 27, 2025, the selection of Akron-based dancer/choreographer Dominic Moore-Dunson as its 2025 Lloyd Richards New Futures Resident Artist. 

Moore-Dunson is an award-winning choreographer, professional dancer, producer, teaching artist, and speaker. He was a company member of Cleveland’s Inlet Dance Theatre and is the co-owner of MooreDunson Co. His previous accolades include receiving the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize’s Emerging Artist Award for Theatre & Dance, and being named to Dance Magazine’s prestigious 25 to Watch list for 2023. 

Named for the legendary leader of the American theatre and awarded to mid-career directors or choreographers, SDCF’s Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency is a year-long residency that helps increase access to institutional leadership and supports artists who are illuminating Black cultural experiences on stage.

As part of the year-long fellowship, Moore-Dunson will be in residence at the Tony Award-winning Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA, where he will train with and work alongside Wilma Co-Artistic Directors Morgan Green, Lindsay Smiling, and Yury Urnov and contribute to productions of Evgeny Schwartz’s The Snow Queen and Suzan-Lori Parks’ The America Play.

“Dominic Moore-Dunson’s bold artistry and community-centered leadership make him an ideal recipient of the Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency,” says Justin Emeka, Co-Chair of the Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency Selection Committee. “The selection committee believes that at the Wilma Theater, his voice will thrive in an institution dedicated to innovation and inclusive storytelling.”

The residency also includes a $50,000 grant and guarantees Moore-Dunson the opportunity to direct or choreograph a production at The Wilma within three years after the residency concludes. 

I spoke with Moore-Dunson about the Fellowship and its implications for his artistic development and career.

What sparked your interest in applying for the SDCF Fellowship?
I’ve been active in Northeast Ohio for a long time, dancing with Inlet and pursuing my own work as an independent artist for the past four years. I was looking for what was next in my career. Being an individual artist thing is cool, but I wanted to challenge myself with what else is out there. Could I move more towards the theater world, and what would that look like? I have always known that telling stories was my favorite thing to do with bodies in space. When I saw the call for this fellowship and what it entailed, I thought it was the perfect next step for me to step outside of Northeast Ohio’s bubble and go to a regional theater that has a level of acclaim and challenge myself in a new and different way than I am used to.

What will the residency mean for your development as a choreographer and artist?
A lot. Right away, I will begin shadowing theater professionals as they work on two plays. These are not pieces of choreography, so I get to see what it is like helping them with movement direction and asking them questions, such as how they direct actors, which is very different from directing dancers. I grew up dancing, and I know the dance world. This will force me to step outside of that and understand what the theater world entails and how I envision myself fitting into that space with the goal of directing and choreographing at theaters around the country.

What is the time frame of the fellowship?
I will be in Philadelphia quite a bit over the next year. I am at the Wilma all of October 2025 and April 2026, and will be bouncing back and forth between January and March 2026. I will also participate in the theater’s weekly artistic staff meetings via Zoom.

Are there any stipulations on how your $50,000 grant can be used?
$10,000 of that goes towards housing, travel, and health insurance. The remainder is really your salary for your time spent during the fellowship.

Will the opportunity to direct or choreograph a production at the Wilma be a production of your own creation or one that the theater will provide for you? 
It could be either. It is really up to me to determine what fits best with me and the productions they are considering in the future, and pitch them ideas.

Photo of Dominic Moore-Dunson by Michael Cannon.