Stephen Petronio was born in 1956 in Newark, New Jersey, and lives and works in New York City. Trained in improvisation and dance techniques, Petronio became the first male member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 1979. He went on to found the Stephen Petronio Company, for which he currently serves as the choreographer and artistic director. Over the course of his career in dance and choreography, Petronio has honed a unique, highly nuanced, yet succinct movement language that explores the complex possibilities of the body to address the unknown. Petronio has collaborated with a diverse range of visual artists, including Cindy Sherman, Janine Antoni, and Nick Cave.