About will
Will Brighton is a New York City-based dancer, choreographer, writer, and certified fitness professional. His work is rooted in a belief that movement is both a physical practice and a means of connection and of personal transformation. Across the stage, the studio, and the gym, he is passionate about helping people engage more deeply with their bodies and discover new ways of moving through the world.
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Will graduated summa cum laude from Western Michigan University (WMU) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a playwriting focus.
After graduating, Will performed for six seasons as a company dancer with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where he performed a diverse repertoire spanning contemporary and classical works. In addition to his work with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, he has appeared as a guest artist with Saint Louis Ballet and MADCO and has collaborated with organizations including Jazz St. Louis, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Throughout his career, he has performed works by internationally recognized choreographers including Jiří Kylián, Johan Inger, Sidra Bell, Omar Román de Jesús, Norbert De La Cruz III, Joshua Peugh, Yue Yin, Paul Taylor, George Balanchine, and Antony Tudor, among others.
As a choreographer, Will creates physically demanding, emotionally resonant work that investigates themes of identity, nostalgia, and human connection. His choreography has been presented throughout the United States, with commissions by Resilience Dance Company, Space Station Dance Residency, MADCO, and AIMED Dance. In 2020, Will was selected as the winner of Young Dancers Initiative's Emerging Choreographer Project, and was selected as an Emerging Choreographer in 2021 by Eisenhower Dance Detroit's NewDANCEfest. His work has been presented at festivals including RADFest, INDY Dance Festival, AIMED Dance Festival, Saint Louis Contemporary Dance Festival, and Dance City Festival NYC.
Beyond the dance studio, Will is a certified personal trainer and fitness coach with multiple credentials through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, including certifications in personal training, performance enhancement, corrective exercise, nutrition coaching, and group fitness instruction. Drawing on his background as a professional dancer, he specializes in helping clients build strength, improve movement quality, reduce injury risk, and develop sustainable training habits that support both performance and everyday life.
Will is also an active writer whose work explores dance, performance, and contemporary culture. He has contributed reviews and feature writing to St. Louis Dance HQ and continues to pursue creative writing projects including playwriting and performance-based storytelling. His work has been performed in virtual readings by Queer Theatre Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Short Play Reading Series, and his 10-minute play "How To Cope With Grief: A Guide to Fatherhood" was selected as a finalist for the Gwen Frostic Creative Writing Award for Playwriting in 2020.
At the center of all of Will's work is a fascination with how people move—physically, emotionally, and artistically. Whether performing onstage, creating new choreography, teaching in the studio, writing about performance, or coaching clients toward their goals, he is committed to fostering curiosity, growth, and meaningful human connection through movement.
