Two years after a life-threatening stroke limited his mobility, choreographer Ronald K. Brown remains a creative force.

“I just keep showing up and working, and one of my mantras is ‘work for the sake of the work and not for the sake of the goal,’” said Brown, as his Brooklyn-based dance company Evidence worked through a piece for this year’s Dance Parade.

It is called Four Corners, a piece he originally debuted with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater a decade earlier.

What You Need To Know

  • Choreographer Ronald K. Brown is serving as one of the grand marshals of this year’s Dance Parade

  • Despite a life-threatening stoke that limited his mobility, he remains a creative force through his dance company Evidence, which is based in Bedford-Stuyvesant

  • Brown's work has been described as a blend of contemporary, West African and Caribbean styles

“Dance is a place where we communicate spirit to spirit, because choreography for me is something that can’t be written. It’s only when people see it and witness it, that it’s speaking to their heart,” said Brown.

While he may stay seated during rehearsals, he is very much in charge while working alongside his partner and associate artistic director Arcell Cabuag.

“Ron is still giving notes as he always does, for every moment, every gesture, every count, every rhythm,” said Cabuag.

Brown is honored as one of the Dance Parade’s grand marshals this year. It is a nod to his legacy and resiliency. The celebration features more than one hundred styles of dance and expression.

Brown’s work has been described as a blend of contemporary, West African and Caribbean styles, which he’s mastered throughout a dance career that dates to the 1980s.

“In 1985, I looked at the dance landscape [and] I didn’t see a whole lot of myself. I knew I needed to make space for evidence,” said Brown.

Thirty-eight years later, his company is going strong in residence at Restoration Plaza in Bedford Stuyvesant, coincidentally in the same studio where he took his first dance class as a kid.

“I grew up like three blocks from here,” said Brown. “So how amazing is it that the boy who was afraid to take dance classes now has a company in residence in that same studio?”

He is embracing serendipity and welcoming this stage of his career despite his physical setbacks.

“It’s just been learning how to live again, learning how to grow up again, so it’s another blessing,” he said.