October 9, 2015
November 5, 2016
Cameron Basden, Dance Director, Educator, Repetiteur, Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey Foundation
Ms. Basden has had a career in dance spanning more than thirty years. She brings passion and spirit to her art, as well as a keen sense of organization and integrity to the projects she undertakes. She served as Ballet Master and Co-Associate Director of The Joffrey Ballet from 1993-2008 and Director of Dance at Interlochen Center for the Arts from 2009-2015. At Interlochen, she grew the division to capacity, developed collaborations, consistently worked with live music, built liaisons with cities worldwide and the professional dance community. Ms. Basden stages ballets by Ashton, Cranko, Massine, Nijinsky and Nijinska as well as more contemporary works. She brought to fruition the first Joffrey summer intensive in Chicago leading to the development of the Joffrey Academy. Ms. Basden was a muse for Gerald Arpino in the creation of his ballets. She worked on the PBS filming for their Dance in America series of The Joffrey’s production of Billboards, and oversaw the filming and staging of the ballets in Save the Last Dance. As a performer with Joffrey Ballet, Ms. Basden danced in a variety of styles by such choreographers as Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, John Cranko, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp. Roles were created on her by Mark Morris, James Kudelka, Laura Dean and Choo San Goh to name a few. Ms. Basden’s television credits include the Dance in America series Homage to Diaghilev and The Search for the Rite of Spring. In 2003 she portrayed herself in Robert Altman’s movie, The Company. Ms. Basden serves on the board of The Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey Foundation and is the main repetiteur.
