Thomas DeFrantz
Thomas DeFrantz is a visionary artist-scholar who directs SLIPPAGE: Performance|Culture|Technology, a Chicago-based collective creating provocative work at the intersection of race, gender, and emerging technology in live performance.
Biography
DeFrantz's creative practice affirms queer life, centers anti-racism, and uplifts collective imagination. Major works include Queer Theory! An Academic Travesty, fastDANCEpast, and reVERSE-gesture-reVIEW. DeFrantz convenes the Black Performance Theory working group and the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance, a global network of 325 scholars. A widely published author, his books include Dance History(s) (2024), Black Performance Theory (2014), and Dancing Revelations (2004). He has taught at institutions including Juilliard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and NYU, and regularly leads workshops worldwide. As a frequent consultant for dance programs, DeFrantz advances the role of critical theory in performance. He contributed concept and narration to the Smithsonian’s permanent exhibit on Black Social Dance.
DeFrantz has been a recurring visiting faculty member in the Low-Residency MFA in Dance program at Bennington since Fall 2024.