Starr Foster Dance, founded by Artistic Director Starrene Foster, is an award-winning contemporary dance company based in Richmond, Virginia. Known for creating emotionally resonant works, Foster has received numerous awards and recognition for her teaching and choreography and feels strongly about creating work that embraces the human spirit. The SFD dancers have received much praise for their superb technique and the innate sense of connectedness while executing Foster’s unique movement vocabulary. It has been the goal to provide audiences nationally with prolific and engaging productions.
SFD is currently a 2024 recipient of a CultureWorks Building Capabilities Grant, in support of their PAGE TO STAGE production and was named 2024 Best Dance Company of the Year by the Virginia Dance Awards.
In their quest to make the world richer with art, SFD is dedicated to their mission of collaborating with all types of artists. SFD produces the bi-annual Page to Stage Series, a collaboration with writers, and the Spitting Image Series, a collaboration with photographers. Each of these productions foster the idea of merging interdisciplinary practices and providing opportunities to artists from the community. For the last 20 years, Starr Foster Dance has produced the highly recognized Annual Mid-Atlantic Choreographers Showcase, producing more than 250 dance artists and companies from around the country. In 2010, SFD established a mentorship program which offers young dancers an opportunity to train in a professional and safe environment.
Starr Foster Dance has been thrilled to be the recipient of the Theresa Pollak Award for Artistic Excellence, featured on PBS Virginia Currents, and recognized as one of the Best Dance Companies in Richmond's Style Weekly Magazine Readers Choice Award issue for consecutive years. Foster has been honored to be the recipient of the Choreographer of the Year by RVA Dance Awards, Richmond’s Most Prestigious 25 Arts Innovators, Style Weekly’s The Top 40 under 40, and the VCU Star Alumni Award, where Foster is in her 25th year of teaching. SFD has received grants from the Virginia Council for the Arts, CultureWorks, Partners In the Arts, and many commissions for new dance works from universities and various dance companies. Starrene guest teaches throughout the country and SFD has been presented nationally including ShortNorthStage (OH), The Philadelphia Fringe Festival (PA), The New Albany Dance Festival (OH), The Jack Guidone Theatre (DC), SUNY Buffalo (NY), The New World School (FL), Old Dominion University (VA), Cornell University (NY), James Madison University (VA), Dance Charlotte (NC), The Goose Route Dance Festival (WV), the Demetrius Klein Dance Festival (FL), Scranton Cultural Arts Center (PA), Baltimore Theatre Project (MD), The Lorton Workhouse (DC), International Festival of Music, Big River Dance Festival (WV), Scranton Fringe Festival (PA), Stockton University (NJ), University of Richmond, and the Festival of Choreography (NC).
Each year Starr Foster Dance strives to advance their mission, and is committed to deepen the understanding of dance and the performing arts through artistic excellence, innovative performances, lecture demonstrations, and community outreach. Dedicated to the enrichment of the cultural landscape, Starr Foster Dance thrives to make dance accessible and inclusive for all audiences.
Starr Foster Dance is a resident company at Firehouse Theatre in Richmond, Virginia
