Audiences around the world have long been enamored with Garth Fagan’s choreography. While families and theatergoers may be most familiar with his Tony Award-winning work on “The Lion King,” others have been singing Fagan’s praises since long before his Broadway debut. But without the company and overall artistry of Garth Fagan Dance, it’s unlikely his choreography would have reached those stages at all.
This year, as the company marks its 55th anniversary, Garth Fagan Dance is shining a light on what makes Fagan’s choreography so distinctive by revisiting some of his earliest works.
“These pieces are what brought Garth to notoriety,” said Norwood “PJ” Pennewell, artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance. “They’re a cyclic expression of the Fagan Technique, which helped to facilitate his choreographic voice through movement. The choreography then, in turn, helped fine-tune the technique.”
Company dancers teach the Fagan Technique, which draws from ballet, modern and Afro-Caribbean traditions, to students of all ages and levels at their school on Chestnut Street. While Fagan’s choreography continues to captivate audiences, the technique itself is designed to develop and challenge dancers to reach their fullest potential. Classes are structured with discipline and precision at the forefront.
Athleticism, flexibility and balance are essential to performing Fagan’s work, which Pennewell said is one reason the company has produced so many accomplished dancers.
“The Fagan Technique is a beautiful alternative to some of the other forms of training that are embedded in the conventional wisdom of dance institutions,” he said. “It’s a completely different way of moving that shapes you as an artist.”
The development of dancers is evident in the company’s many accolades. Multiple artists from Garth Fagan Dance have won the prestigious Bessie Award (including Pennewell and executive director Natalie Rogers-Cropper). Fagan was also recently awarded the 2025 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance.
“Garth not only created beautiful work, but also raised beautiful dancers — powerful in their delivery and worthy of a high award like that,” said Rogers-Cropper. “The level never changes, and we’re not going to let it change.”
While Rogers-Cropper has served as school director for many years, she stepped into the additional role of executive director in 2023 — a transition that hasn’t come without challenges. Like many arts organizations, Garth Fagan Dance is in a constant battle for funding, working to prove its value while striving to provide dancers with full-time salaries. At the same time, the company is looking ahead, with plans to expand its number of dancers, renovate its studios and establish a more permanent theater space. Despite those pressures, Rogers-Cropper said she is honored to carry Fagan’s legacy forward, both administratively and as a choreographer.
Pennewell, who spent more than a decade establishing himself as a choreographic voice within the company before being named artistic director in 2023, said Rogers-Cropper is coming into her own creatively.
“She went so far into her creative consciousness and came out with this stirring, startling, beautiful reflection on the struggles we’re all going through right now,” he said of “Messages to the Storm,” Rogers-Cropper’s latest work. “It’s a stunning piece, grounded in hope and optimism.”
With “Messages to the Storm,” Rogers-Cropper explores the strength of the human spirit. Featuring two group sections and a pivotal duet, the work centers on relationships and the ways we lean on one another to move forward.
The 55th anniversary program, which takes place at Nazareth University Arts Center May 7-10, will include “Messages To The Storm” and Pennewell’s “Priestess Hill” alongside re-stagings of Fagan’s “Never Top 40 (Jukebox)” and the audience favorite “Prelude.” The performances may carry added resonance for Rochester audiences as the company returns to its former home base at Nazareth University Arts Center.
Themes of hope amidst struggle run through the program, aiming to leave audiences with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility.
“Our art form creates a place where a person can be invigorated,” Rogers-Cropper said. “It’s exhilarating — it leaves you willing to go through life, to face adversity with beauty and creation.”
Though Fagan is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, his influence remains ever-present, even in new works and among a new generation of dancers. Pennewell, who joined the company in 1978, and Rogers-Cropper, who followed in 1989, both carry his imprint in their choreography, having spent decades performing and studying under him.
And as the company looks toward new collaborations and premieres, Garth Fagan Dance isn’t losing sight of its roots.
“The original work still finds me,” Rogers-Cropper said. “When I’m watching a work of art, I want to be challenged. And that’s what Fagan’s work does. Even if I weren’t working here, I would be watching Garth Fagan Dance, because I want to understand.”
Garth Fagan Dance presents its 55th Anniversary Performance Celebration at Nazareth University Arts Center, May 7-10. More information and tickets are available at garthfagan-dance.org.
Sydney Burrows is a Rochester-based dancer and writer focused on amplifying the stories of talented artists across the region.
