2026 State of the Art Prize, South Carolina

About Tanya Wideman-Davis

Columbia, SC

Tanya Wideman-Davis has an extensive career as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Wideman-Davis is the Co-Director of Wideman Davis Dance and is an Associate Professor at The University of South Carolina in the Departments of Theatre and Dance and African American Studies. Tanya completed her Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University/ADF (2012). Her academic and choreographic research, as well as her speaking, examines race, gender, femininity, identity, and location. This research grounds her choreographic method and performances and challenges the traditional methodologies and ideologies of classical ballet. Recently Wideman-Davis’s dance company, Wideman Davis Dance, has been the recipient of numerous high-profile grants (Mellon Foundation “Monument’s Grant” and National Endowment for the Arts, among others) in support of their ambitious new works.

Tanya Wideman-Davis has an extensive career as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Wideman-Davis is the Co-Director of Wideman Davis Dance and is an Associate Professor at The University of South Carolina in the Departments of Theatre and Dance and African American Studies. Tanya completed her Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University/ADF (2012). Her academic and choreographic research, as well as her speaking, examines race, gender, femininity, identity, and location. This research grounds her choreographic method and performances and challenges the traditional methodologies and ideologies of classical ballet. Recently Wideman-Davis’s dance company, Wideman Davis Dance, has been the recipient of numerous high-profile grants (Mellon Foundation “Monument’s Grant” and National Endowment for the Arts, among others) in support of their ambitious new works.