Bio
Harrison Guy (he/him) is a nationally recognized choreographer, cultural architect, educator, and community strategist whose life’s work is rooted in the preservation, celebration, and advancement of Black culture. Based in Houston, Texas, his practice lives at the intersection of dance, cultural memory, community development, and LGBTQ advocacy.
As the Director of Arts and Culture for the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, Harrison leads the vision and implementation of the Fifth Ward Cultural Arts District, a State-designated African American Heritage District. In this role, he stewards the historic DeLUXE Theater and advances arts-driven strategies that preserve cultural legacy, resist displacement, and invest in the future of historically Black communities. His work reimagines culture as infrastructure—something that holds history, builds belonging, and shapes equitable futures.
Harrison is the founder and artistic director of Urban Souls Dance Company (2004), a professional dance company dedicated to centering Black identity, storytelling, and healing through movement. For over two decades, he has created bold, movement-driven works that draw from African American traditions, lived experience, and spiritual expression. His choreography invites audiences into conversations around memory, justice, and liberation, while creating space for dancers of all sizes, identities, and lived experiences—including queer, trans, and gender-expansive artists—to be fully seen and celebrated.
A 2019 Dance/USA Fellow and 2026 Dance Source Houston Artistic Honoree, Harrison’s work has been presented on stages across the country. His acclaimed piece Can We Know the Sound of Forgiveness premiered at Rice University’s Opera Hall with dancers from Houston Ballet Academy and was later performed at Carnegie Hall with students from The Ailey School. He also co-choreographed Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson with Stanton Welch, Artistic Director of Houston Ballet, honoring the legacy of one of the first Black principal ballerinas in a major company.
Beyond the stage, Harrison is a cultural convener and institution builder. He is the founder of Black Arts Movement Houston, the African American Dance Festival, and Brave Bodies, initiatives that cultivate artistic excellence, visibility, and solidarity among Black dancers and creatives. He also founded the Charles Law Community Archive at the African American Library at the Gregory School, the first initiative dedicated to preserving Houston’s Black LGBTQ history and honoring the stories of those whose lives and contributions have too often been erased.
His commitment to community extends into health and justice work. Harrison began his HIV activism in 2005 through his work with the Donald R. Watkins Memorial Foundation, grounding his practice in care, education, and advocacy. His recent project, Choir Boys, presented as part of Round 59 at Project Row Houses, pays homage to Black men lost to the HIV/AIDS crisis—particularly within the Black church—reclaiming their stories through art, ritual, and remembrance.
Harrison is also an educator, serving on the dance faculty at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where he teaches The Skin I’m In, a course that encourages students to explore identity, empathy, and humanity through movement. He is the National President of Delta Phi Upsilon Fraternity, Inc., the nation’s first Greek-letter organization for gay men, and a former Chair of the Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board. He made history as the first Black man named Houston Pride Grand Marshal.
Across every space he enters, Harrison Guy builds culture. His work reclaims art as a living archive of Black life—grounded in truth, shaped by community, and driven by a belief that through culture, we can remember, resist, and reimagine a more just and liberated future
Shorter Bio
Harrison Guy (he/him) is a nationally recognized choreographer, cultural architect, and community leader whose work centers Black culture, memory, and liberation through dance and civic practice. He is the founder and artistic director of Urban Souls Dance Company and serves as Director of Arts and Culture for Houston’s Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, where he leads the State-designated African American Heritage District and stewards the historic DeLUXE Theater.
A Dance/USA Fellow and 2026 Dance Source Houston Artistic Honoree, Guy’s choreography has been presented nationally, including Can We Know the Sound of Forgiveness at Rice University and Carnegie Hall. He also co-choreographed Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson with Houston Ballet’s Stanton Welch.
Guy is the founder of Black Arts Movement Houston and the Charles Law Community Archive, preserving Black and LGBTQ cultural history. His work reclaims art as a force for cultural preservation, truth telling, and collective power.
