2022 ILLUMINATIONS GRANT FINALIST

Courtney Washington

Courtney Washington is a legend within the ballroom community and founder of the Kiki House of Juicy Couture, leader of The House of Balenciaga, Black trans femme Creative Director of Masterz at Work Dance Family Courtney ToPanga Washington creates visual work fusing street dance, street jazz, ballroom, and hip-hop. Informed by her own experience being teased as a queer teenage person who found refuge in dance, her visual conveys how her gender transition spurred transformative emotional, creative, and physical liberation. The dances she creates are a representation of resiliency, and through company outreach foster community and family in under-resourced areas of Brooklyn.

Learn more at her Instagram.