Choreographer and performer Robert Mark Burke (he/him) has worked with 10 Hairy Legs, Megan Williams Dance Projects, Pascal Rioult, among others and is currently a member of the Lucinda Childs Dance Company. Burke has been a guest choreographer and instructor at Marymount Manhattan College, Rutgers University, Montclair State University and Rider University. He has taught professional and collegiate workshops both nationally and internationally, including in South Africa and the Cayman Islands.

As Artistic Director of Robert Mark Dance, Burke has presented his work across the US, including South Orange Performing Arts Center, the wild project, Dixon Place, Paramount Theater (Boston), Hofstra University, Rutgers University, Rider University, Dance New Amsterdam, Jersey City Theater Center and New Jersey Performing Arts Center. His choreographic accolades include the 2015 Dance on the Lawn Emerging Choreographer Grant (under the direction of Charmaine Warren), the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Jersey (New) Moves Fellowship (2015 and 2017), the 2016 CoLab Arts Space Grant, and the 2017 Eryc Taylor Emerging Choreography Grant. In 2020, Robert was awarded the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in Choreography, which has allowed him to continue working with his dancers virtually during the pandemic. In 2022, Robert Mark Dance presented its first New York Season at Culture Lab LIC in Long Island City, Queens. That same year, Robert Mark Burke and Eric Dietz received an O’Donnell Green Music and Dance Foundation commissioning grant for their collaboration, “Dawned”.

@robertmarkburke @robertmarkdance

I create contemporary dance to better understand how the systems we inherit shape the ways we relate to one another. Through physically demanding movement, theatrical storytelling and interdisciplinary collaboration, I investigate the tensions between individuality and community, intimacy and distance, vulnerability and resilience.

My creative process begins with questions rather than answers. I am interested in how cultural expectations, personal histories and shared experiences influence the choices we make and the relationships we build. Working closely with performers, I develop movement through conversation, improvisation and research, allowing each artist's lived experience to inform the choreography. Rather than illustrating a narrative, I create immersive physical worlds where audiences are invited to reflect on their own relationships and recognize themselves in the lives unfolding on stage.

Whether creating an intimate duet or a large ensemble work, I strive to make dance that is emotionally resonant, visually compelling and deeply human. I hope each piece leaves audiences with a greater sense of curiosity- not only about the work itself, but about the ways we see, understand, and connect with one another.

-Robert Mark Burke, July 2026