Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Terrance Henderson is an International award winning choreographer, a performing artist and creative, writer, Director, master teacher and Equity Advisor based here in Columbia, South Carolina. He was, for 12 full seasons, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer for Vibrations Dance Company and he has been a driving force in the theater and dance communities of South Carolina for many years forging important conversations through his work. His home base for dance training is Southeastern Ballet School where he has been the Director of the Modern and contemporary program since 2007 and he creates original dance/theatre works and performance based artist residencies through his personal brand TOdanceInc. Terrance performs regularly throughout the state as a member of musical groups: IndigoSOUL and The Pack. His work can also be seen onstage at Trustus Theatre where he is as a company member, frequent actor/Director/Choreographer and chair of the Equity Task Force. Terrance was the recipient of the 2016 Steve G. Morrison Visionary Award, which honors someone in our community who exhibits the best combination of vision and leadership, applied to arts and history and the entire cultural foundation of the City, and the value they bring to Columbia.

Artist Statement

Like light, I’m both wave and particle – a true multi-hyphenate. I’m a consultant, a performer, a choreographer, and a director, but above all, I’m an instigator. A change agent who makes opportunities for meaningful connections operating as a practice for bridging gaps. My work is a gathering of stones, tapestry and voice. The creative process itself serving as creative and administrative practice, a legacy of ensemble building and community empowerment and the transformative power of art and art making as a means of lifting voices. Embracing the art of gathering itself. Collecting. World Building. A bringing together of peoples, ideas, experiences and various art forms operating as a collective reflecting the human experience. Ultimately rooted in authentic storytelling, my practice pulls from dance and movement, theatre, soundscape, music, poetry, spoken word, imagery and sometimes film to create immersive performance works created with the intention of being a space for shared experiences in community. Through shared creative experiences the work seeks to engage in dialogue, cultivate belonging and connectivity and bridge gaps in understanding. My original work is often a reflection of my life experiences and the eternal search for truth and meaning. It is also socially conscious while championing radical softness. The work strives to engage in conversation around the human experience, identity, art, sexuality, race, and gender and the intersections and spaces between them. I am interested in conversations around the viewing and framing of Black bodies in space as an instrument for institutional critique and unpacking the white gaze and its effects on our quest for justice, fairness and closing the racial equity gap. My consistent hope is to be true to myself in all things and celebrating the complexities of my intersectional Black, Queer and Southern experience and perspective.