David Thomson

Photo credit Mark Poucher

David Thomson is a collaborative interdisciplinary artist who has worked in a range of disciplines.  His history as an artist encompasses work with Jane Comfort, Trisha Brown (’87-’93), Susan Rethorst, Bebe Miller, Marta Renzi, Remy Charlip, Ralph Lemon (’99-’10), Sekou Sundiata, Tracie Morris, Meg Stuart, Marina Abramović, Yvonne Rainer, Deborah Hay, Alain Buffard, Maria Hassabi, Yanira Castro, Daria Faïn, Kaneza Schaal and Okwui Okpokwasili among many others.  He has performed downtown, Off-Broadway and in London with the Drama Desk nominated a capella performance group, Hot Mouth, founded by Grisha Coleman, Jonathan Stone, Viola Sheely and Thomson.

His own work questions our unconscious narratives regarding presence and identity. Creating performance installations in a range of temporal forms from short works to durational tasks, that sabotage assumptions to provoke reimagining.  Thomson’s work has been presented and supported by The Kitchen, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Dance Theater Workshop, Movement Research at Judson Church, Performance Space New York, Gibney Dance Center, The Invisible Dog, Mt Tremper Arts, The Yard, Baryshnikov Arts Center and BAM’s Next Wave Festival.

He received Bessies for Sustained Achievement (2001) and Outstanding Production (2018) for his first full ending length work, he his own mythical beast. Thomson has been recognized with awards and fellowships from US Artist, Yaddo, MacDowell and Rauschenberg.  He is currently a LMCC Extended Life Fellow (2018-21). He has served on the faculties of Movement Research, NYU/Experimental Theater Wing, Sarah Lawrence, The New School, Barnard, Pratt and Bennington.

In 2017, he initiated The Sustainability Project in collaboration with Kate Watson-Wallace, which serves as a platform and practice to expand the discourse surrounding ideas of financial, artistic, and personal empowerment within the arts community. Thomson began dancing at Haverford/Bryn Mawr Colleges and later received his BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from SUNY Purchase.  www.davidhamitonthomson.com