Tracy Allen Rhoades
July 17, 1961 - January 13, 1993
Tracy Allen Rhoades, (July 17, 1961 - January 13, 1993) died at the young age of 31.
Born and raised in Pacific Grove, California, his family recalls his love of music and dancing at an early age. He could always be found creating dances, practicing baton twirling, and playing music. He was the drum major for the Pacific Grove High School band that won state championship awards.
Tracy went on to earn a bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Fine Arts in Valencia and studied at the Harvard School of Dance and the American School of Dance.
Tracy Allen Rhoades was an award-winning dancer and choreographer and performed throughout the United States and Europe before dancing with the Della Davidson Dance Company, the High Risk Group, and his own company, Exploding Roses, in San Francisco.
He choreographed the "Seventh Veil," starring his dance troupe Exploding Roses (where he created "Magnificat), at the Artaud Theater in San Francisco and shared a $25,000 grant with The Lab, a dance study group in San Francisco.
His most memorable piece, Requiem, created as an elegy for his deceased partner, Jim Poche, embodied the AIDS-related grief of the Bay Area dance community when it swept the Isadora Duncan Awards, earning Tracy best choreographer and best performer.
Tracy returned to his hometown in 1991 to work with local dancers from Monterey and Santa Cruz to create his final choreography to the music of R.E.M. The work was staged for the Monterey Peninsula College Spring Dance Concert in 1991 and again in 2016.
Tracy passed on from this earth far too young. Never the less, with his 31 years he left an enduring stamp. Those that saw him perform witnessed a great artist with passion for his work. His name appears on the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.