Biography
Quentin William Sledge is a professional dancer from the rough streets of Chicago’s South Side. He began his dance journey in 2009 under the watchful eye of Mr. Homer Hans Bryant, a former member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA between 2010-14 and graduated with a degree in Business Administration with a Management concentration. Upon a stellar foundation laid by Homer Bryant, Sledge received intensive training for a year at Gotta Dance Atlanta with Darryl Foster, then at Spelman’s dance department, ultimately earning a place in the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Since joining DCDC, he has worked with world-renowned choreographers such as Mr. Donald Mckayle, Francesca Harper, Donald Byrd, Ray Mercer, and Ron K Brown. He has also performed in prestigious theatres such as the Joyce and the David H. Koch Stage in New York City and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Sledge has also participated in DCDC’s outreach initiative and spent many hours in the Greater Dayton and Cincinnati areas serving the community by teaching young people to dance. He was a featured soloist in the 2016 revival of Donald McKayle’s “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” which was awarded a Bessie for most outstanding revival of a modern classic.
My Story
I am an artist, a scholar, and spiritualist on a journey towards self-discovery. I have been painting for several years as a means of relaxing and expressing myself. It’s possible to trace my love for creating back to my childhood where I taught myself to draw by tracing Pokemon cards and sketching my favorite cartoons. I have always been a hands-on type of artist who creates sculptures, dolls, mixed media mosaics and more. My studies at Jones College Prep High School helped improve my technical abilities so much so that my teacher encouraged me to submit a few works into local art competitions. From this moment on, I began to take myself seriously as an artist. I have since created several works using mostly graphite and oil paints. My work has been featured and auctioned at the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s Season Gala at the Dayton Art Institute and I currently have some of my work in Gallery 609. I am inspired by the spectrum of beauty in nature; from the boundless cosmos to the tiny seedling. Throughout the years, as I mature, my work has begun to take on an Afro-futuristic quality as I incorporate many cultural references to my West African lineage.