Fredrick Davis (Chance-to-Choreograph 2021 Artist)

Fredrick Eric Davis, born in Brooklyn, spent his early years with his mother living in poverty and periodically homeless. Later adopted by his maternal grandmother, at 11 years old he was encouraged to pursue dance in the Pilgrim Congregational church. He was awarded a Talent Identification Program Scholarship which funded his dance training at Ballet Tennessee through the Department of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Dance Alive program. After graduating from Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts in 2004, he went on to study at the Joffrey Ballet School and summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. Davis danced with the Roxey Ballet Company in NJ and was a company dancer at Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2008, dancing roles including the male lead in “New Bach”, the “Pas de Deux” from Act III of “Swan Lake”, in Robert Garland’s “Return”, in George Balanchine’s “Agon” and Alvin Ailey's “The Lark Ascending”. Davis has participated in a Dance for America tour and danced with Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, Greensboro Ballet, San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, Dissonance Dance Theater, Indiana Ballet Theatre, Ballet Tennessee, Ballet Tucson, at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., and in the Donald McKayle Tribute in Irvine, California. Davis' life story was the topic of a documentary, “From the Streets to the Stage: The Journey of Fredrick Davis”, which premiered at the Tivoli Theatre. The documentary was created by Ann Cater of PBS and was filmed by the Emmy Award-winning crew from WTCI.Davis was presented with a joint City and County Proclamation by Mayor of Chattanooga Andy Berke and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger. He is currently choreographing original works on schools and companies throughout the US.