Rush
Rush Johnston (they/them) is a Brooklyn-based multimedia choreographer, performance artist, poet, dancer, filmmaker, and movement researcher. Rush creates at the intersection of visual and performing art, often exploring modes of artistic expression beyond the binary. As a queer, Native, neurodiverse artist, their work often plays with perception and identity, inviting viewers to question proposed truths of self and social misunderstanding. Social justice work is a key element of Rush’s creative vision, often encompassing themes of political turmoil, queerness, and mental health.
Rush’s choreographic work has found a home within a multitude of concert and commercial dance settings, often reaching beyond the stage into photography and dance film. They have had works selected to perform at venues across the US and internationally including Philly Fringe and International Dance Festival in Philadelphia, PA, Milwaukee Fringe Festival in Milwaukee, WI, Spark Theatre Festival, The Tank, and ESTIA Day Fest in New York, NY, the NDEO National Conference in San Diego, CA, and ImPulsTanz Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria. Additionally, Rush’s work reaches beyond the proscenium stage into the realm of installation and dance theater with their works “Making a Mess” and “Keeping Watch.”
Rush graduated from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in 2018 and holds a BFA in Dance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. They have worked with renowned artists including Kyle Abraham, Christian Denice, Danielle Agami, Yin Yue, Matthew Cumbie, Cara Hagan, Katherine Helen Fisher, Jennifer Archibald, and Jacob Jonas. In 2021, Rush was awarded a LAUNCH Grant by the Peabody Institute toward their installation work. Rush was a 2023 South Carolina Emerging Artist grant recipient for their dance film “SPLICE,” which works to destigmatize mental illness.
Rush is the founder and artistic director of Kaleid Dance Collective, an interdisciplinary artistic platform for creative experiments and exhibitions. Kaleid has been selected for artist showcases throughout the country including WESTFEST, Going Dutch Festival, The Illumination Series, and NACHMO DC. Kaleid has also been commissioned by Spoke The Hub, The Tank, and MADE in the Garden for site-specific and immersive performances.
