Classically trained and gloriously unruly, Aszure Barton is at the vanguard of contemporary choreography. In the words of the New York Times, her work "takes ballet technique and dismantles it to near-invisibility." Born in Canada and now an American, Barton is a director who has been active in the field for over 25 years. Her work has been described by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts as "watching the physical unfurling of the human psyche."

Barton began tap dancing as a child and trained at Canada's National Ballet School. As a teenager she co-initiated a choreographic workshop for students there — one that still exists today.

Her work has been presented at the Palais Garnier, Mariinsky Theater, The Kennedy Center, Studio 54, Lincoln Center, and Sadler's Wells, as well as in exhibitions such as the Smithsonian's Cultural Expressions. Barton has also choreographed for theater, film, opera, and Broadway — including The Threepenny Opera featuring Cyndi Lauper and Alan Cumming, and a solo of Salome featuring Jessica Chastain, directed by Estelle Parsons and starring Al Pacino.

In the early 2000s, Barton founded Aszure Barton & Artists | AB&A in New York, reimagining the choreographer–company model as "a mobile home for trusted humans." Built out of rebellion and a desire to bring people together, AB&A serves as an autonomous, interdisciplinary, and collaborative laboratory for creative process. Mikhail Baryshnikov appointed her the first Artist in Residence at Baryshnikov Arts, where she created Over/Come. Baryshnikov then commissioned Come In, a new work created with him, which toured internationally with his Hell's Kitchen Dance with AB&A. She returned to Baryshnikov Arts for its 20th-anniversary season alongside Benjamin Millepied as an inaugural commissioned choreographer.

Through AB&A, Barton has collaborated with companies and institutions such as American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, English National Ballet, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, Sydney Dance Company, Teatro alla Scala, and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, among many others. In Germany she choreographed numerous projects with Bayerisches Staatsballett and achieved great success with her narrative work, Baal, inspired by Brecht, at Ballett am Rhein.

While AB&A remains her creative home, Barton also holds ongoing collaborations with companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago — where the Chicago Tribune called her work "exquisite, subversive, exhilarating and slightly offensive — the way dance should be, to move it in a new direction" — and Gauthier Dance | Theaterhaus Stuttgart, where she serves as House Choreographer. Hubbard Street honored her with their Spotlight Ball Award.

Barton premiered Mere Mortals at San Francisco Ballet with British musician and DJ Floating Points, longtime collaborator Michelle Jank, and mixed-media artists Hamill Industries. Curated by Director Tamara Rojo, the piece marked the first evening-length work by a woman in the company's history. This summer Mere Mortals will be presented in Edinburgh and London.

Barton shares an ongoing artistic collaboration with trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire, whose worlds have come together in creations for Hamburg Ballett, Limón Dance Company, and Malpaso Dance Company. Their most recent work, A a | a B : B E N D, created with AB&A, premiered at Germany's Kampnagel, had its U.S. premiere in 2025, and has since debuted in Canada. The work continues to tour internationally through Pomegranate Arts. tanz magazine called it "a refusal of categorization that draws its appeal from two artists who, completely secure in their fields, playfully unsettle each other."

The legendary 92NY — New York's historic cultural home since 1874 — celebrated her legacy with An Evening with Aszure Barton.

Among her accolades are Canada's prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the likes of Margaret Atwood, Karen Kain and Oscar Peterson, a Bessie Award, and the title of Official Ambassador of Contemporary Choreography in Canada. As an educator, Barton maintains longstanding collaborations with The Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Arts Umbrella, and other leading institutions, frequently returning to work with students and faculty.

Upcoming projects include a collaboration with Paris Opera Ballet and new work in development with AB&A.

A prolific and visionary leader, Barton consistently produces unmatched craft through a mindful and rigorous process, bringing ambitious visions to life across the globe, rooted in care.

“Be soft. Choose where.”

- Aszure Barton