Andrew Simonet (Artists U Founder and Director) founded Artists U in Philadelphia in 2006. He was, from 1993 to 2013, a founding co-director and choreographer of Philadelphia’s Headlong Dance Theater, along with his collaborators Amy Smith and David Brick. Headlong created collaborative dance theater in Philadelphia, and toured nationally. Andrew’s projects included CELL, a performance journey for one audience member at a time guided by your cell phone, and This Town is a Mystery, performances by four Philadelphia households in their homes, followed by a potluck dinner. Headlong’s work was funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, The Creative Capital Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, The Japan Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts. Headlong’s work was produced by The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, Dance Theater Workshop (NYC), P.S. 122 (NYC), Central Park Summerstage, The Jade Festival (Tokyo), The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. With Headlong, Andrew helped found Dance Theater Camp, annual festival of workshops and collaboration for professional artists that is entirely artist-run and free for all participants, and the Headlong Performance Institute, a school for experimental performance with full college credit. Andrew created and ran the Dance Program at the Lawrenceville School, a private high school in New Jersey, from 1995 to 2005. Andrew lives in West Philadelphia with his wife Elizabeth and their sons Jesse Tiger and Nico Wolf.
