Meet Andrew

"Andrew Pearson is one of LA's finest dance artists."

- Jeff Slayton, LA Dance Chronicle

Hello and welcome!

My name is Andrew, and I am the founder and creative producer of Bodies in Play.

In short, I am a performing arts facilitator.

To facilitate simply means "to make easier", and that's exactly what I do — ease the process of turning curiosity into play and play into performance, for myself, my students, my collaborators and our audiences.

Solo Shows

Andrew's Story

Andrew Pearson's versatile career as a performing artist meets at the intersection of concert dance, queer theater and play. Hailed as “one of LA’s finest dance artists” (LA Dance Chronicle) and “known as a provocative choreographer and imaginative presenter” (Cultural Weekly), his appetite for performance began early, creating fully-staged productions for his parents in their living room at age 5.

Pearson later refined his craft at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, earning his BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography under the tutelage of dance masters including Jodie Gates, Loretta Livingston, and Donald McKayle. It was in his senior year that this conservatory training first intersected with queer theater and his ever-present sense of play when he was cast as "Sissy Boy" in McKayle’s historically iconic dance-theater work Games.

After college, Pearson continued to make use of his strong performance training and playful spirit, dancing alongside carnival rides on the Santa Monica Pier for the Disney Channel, performing Barak Marshall’s celebratory work with BODYTRAFFIC, embodying a 90’s Go-Go Boy at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and pantomiming Sci-Fi Blockbusters at the FIAC Art Fair in Paris for Julien Previeux’s award-winning What Will they Do Next?.

Some of his favorite performance memories include weaving childish humor into classical opera under the direction of MacArthur Fellow Yuval Sharon — most likely the only times penis and poop jokes made their way onto prestigious stages of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. "One example was Andrew Pearson portraying a Yoga instructor with a somewhat reluctant female student. He also took part in a scene with a bathroom toilet that must be experienced to fully appreciate" (LA Dance Chronicle).

Most notably, Pearson enjoyed a six-year performance career with the LA Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) which provided opportunities to perform at numerous reputable venues such as The Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, and the CCK in Buenos Aires, as well as a chance to work with heavy hitters in the LA contemporary dance scene including Kate Hutter, Genevieve Carson, Micaela Taylor, Ryan Heffington, Holly Rothschild, and Nina McNeely. While with LACDC, he originated several roles tailored to his specific brand of concert dance/queer theater artist, such as a warped version of the Big Bad Wolf (complete with a Grandma-in-drag scene), a curious child adorned with a light-up bodysuit, a sassy hero in a Superman onesie, and a bedazzled adventurer on a mystical journey.

It was due to this penchant for amusement and knack for crafting story through movement that LACDC commissioned Andrew to create Build Together/Shift Apart, a stylized social dance for eight dancers, followed by eight original works for the company’s annual collaboration with Loyola Marymount University’s Concert for Children. In addition, the company commissioned him to direct and choreograph a surprise flash mob as a kick off to the 15th annual i.c.e.works conference in Hollywood and serve as the company’s tour director for Hikvision USA’s Las Vegas conference.

In addition to his work with LACDC, Pearson has choreographed for numerous schools and theatrical productions and has been invited into residencies through Dance Resource Center, Northern Kentucky University, Orange County School for the Arts, Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts, Pennington Dance Group, and CHAMPS Charter High School for the Arts.

After departing from LACDC, Pearson began to write, choreograph, produce and perform in long form solo performance in order to further develop the intersection of concert dance, queer theater and play. His original solo productions have been presented by The Center on Halsted in Chicago, Coachella Valley Repertory Theater, Highways Performance Space, The Bootleg Theater, ODC San Francisco, and the Gdansk International Dance Festival in Poland. These experiences laid the groundwork for what would become Bodies in Play.

Since its inception, Bodies in Play has been a platform for collaborative processes, bringing together dancers, theater artists, and musicians in the development of original dance-theater productions. Pearson furthered this creative research while earning his MFA in Directing and Choreography at Wilson College, focusing his thesis on co-choreographic models and consent-forward performance making.

Complementing these artistic endeavors, Pearson is also a dedicated dance and movement educator. He has served on faculty for California State University, Channel Islands, The Nuevo School for Contemporary Dance, and The Wooden Floor, and taught guest classes for UCLA, USC, California Institute of the Arts, Transit Dance (Melbourne Australia), Director’s Lab West, Universidad Nacional de las Artes (Buenos Aires), The Colburn School, DIAVOLO, and Giordano Dance Chicago.

He currently serves on faculty for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in Hollywood, The Art of Acting Studio, and University of California, Santa Barbara. Demonstrating Pearson's commitment to the broader dance community, he also serves as Assistant Director for Saint Mary’s College of California’s LEAP Program, where he supports professional dancers in their pursuit of a bachelor's degree.