FULL BIOGRAPHY

Brian Harlan Brooks is a dancer, director, choreographer, producer, educator, DEIA leader, and visionary storyteller with more than 30 years of experience spanning Broadway, the West End, national and international tours, concert dance, and film. He is a Tony Award nominator and voter, a recurring guest lecturer at Columbia University, and one of the first leaders in commercial theatre to build a dedicated practice at the intersection of equity, inclusion, and artistic excellence.

Trained at the Dance Theater of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Brian built his career as a performer with some of the most distinguished companies in American concert dance, including Philadanco, Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, and Donald Byrd/The Group. He transitioned seamlessly into musical theatre, performing in national tours and on film before stepping fully into his calling as a director and choreographer.

His associate and resident director credits include some of the most celebrated productions in recent Broadway and West End history. As associate choreographer on Motown the Musical, Brian worked directly and closely with Berry Gordy across the Broadway production and all domestic and international tours. As resident director on Des McAnuff's Tony Award-winning Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, he maintained the production across multiple casts on the national tour and West End. As associate director on Timothy Sheader's Olivier Award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar: 50th Anniversary Tour, he brought his singular combination of artistic rigor and collaborative leadership to one of the most acclaimed productions of its era.

As a director and choreographer in his own right, Brian has helmed productions including The Color Purple and Jelly’s Last Jam at Cape Fear Regional Theatre, While I Have the Floor starring Ayodele Casel, and Continuum — an original evening of his own choreographic work. Most recently, he directed the staged reading of The Girl Who Sang with the Moon, written and composed by Christie Chiles Twillie — a 2026 New Plays & Musical Grant recipient and City of Chicago DCASE Grant for Development of New Works, produced by Firebrand Theatre and presented at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of Chicago Theatre Week. He served as choreographer for the world premiere Off-Broadway production of Chasing Grace, a new musical by Elizabeth Addison presented by SheNYC Arts at ART/NY Mezzanine Theatre (March 2026), starring Gabrielle Beckford and Harper Miles. He is currently producing Continuum B, an original dance concert featuring 12 professional dancers, built on a singular and uncompromising mission: to pay dancers what they are worth.

Brian is one of the first leaders in commercial theatre to hold a dedicated DEIA executive role. He currently serves as Director of EDIA for K+K Reset, the leading HR consulting firm for Broadway and touring productions, where he develops, manages, and leads equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives across the industry. He previously served as Director of DEI at Cape Fear Regional Theatre and Director of Work Equity and Action at Work Light Productions. His proprietary “Director of Managing Artists” methodology — a framework for coaching, managing, and developing the artists and creative managers who make live performance possible — is the basis of his consulting practice and a recurring curriculum at Columbia University.

Brian is also the creator of Syndi, an original streaming series — a contemporary dismantling of the Cinderella myth centered on a young Black woman — currently in active development and pitch. And he is the host and creator of Beyond the Thread: Conversations in Context, a podcast that takes conversations from cyberspace to face-to-face, exploring the gap between the connections social media promises and the depth of human understanding it too often displaces.

He is a graduate of the William Esper Studio two-year acting program and has taught at The Ailey School, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Long Island University, The Ailey Extension, and many others. His artistic identity integrates choreography, direction, advocacy, and storytelling — driven by the conviction that art connects us all and inspires positive change.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Brian Harlan Brooks is a Broadway director, choreographer, producer, DEIA leader, and Tony Award nominator and voter with more than 30 years of experience spanning Broadway, the West End, national tours, concert dance, and film. His credits include associate choreographer on Motown the Musical (working directly with Berry Gordy), resident director on Des McAnuff’s Tony Award-winning Ain’t Too Proud, associate director on Timothy Sheader’s Olivier Award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar: 50th Anniversary Tour, director of the staged reading of The Girl Who Sang with the Moon (Firebrand Theatre / Chicago Cultural Center), and choreographer for the world premiere Off-Broadway production of Chasing Grace (SheNYC Arts / ART/NY Mezzanine Theatre). He serves as Director of EDIA for K+K Reset, the leading HR consulting firm for Broadway and touring productions, and is a recurring guest lecturer at Columbia University. He is the creator of the original streaming series Syndi, the founder and artistic director of Continuum B, and the host of the podcast Beyond the Thread: Conversations in Context.

ONE-LINE BIO

Broadway director, choreographer, Tony voter, DEIA leader, and creator — building a more equitable and artistically excellent world, one production, one conversation, and one story at a time.

CREDENTIALS AT A GLANCE

Training

Dance Theater of Harlem; Alvin Ailey American Dance Center; William Esper Studio (2-year acting program)

Performance

Philadanco; Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre; Donald Byrd/The Group; national tours; film (Across the Universe, In the Heights)

Broadway & West End

Motown the Musical (Assoc. Choreographer); Ain’t Too Proud (Resident Director); Jesus Christ Superstar: 50th Anniversary Tour (Assoc. Director)

Direction & Choreography

The Color Purple (CFRT); Jelly’s Last Jam (CFRT); While I Have the Floor; The Girl Who Sang with the Moon (Chicago Cultural Center / Firebrand Theatre); Chasing Grace — World Premiere Off-Broadway (SheNYC Arts / ART/NY); Continuum; First Noel (Apollo)

DEIA Leadership

Director of EDIA, K+K Reset; Director of DEI, Cape Fear Regional Theatre; Director of Work Equity & Action, Work Light Productions

Academic

Recurring Guest Lecturer, Columbia University; Guest Faculty: The Ailey School, LIU, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, The Ailey Extension

Original IP

Syndi (streaming series, in active pitch); Continuum B (dance concert, Spring 2026); Beyond the Thread (podcast, in development)

Industry

Tony Award Nominator & Voter; K+K Reset EDIA Director; Founder & Artistic Director, Continuum B