Trad has been professionally designing scenery and lighting for theater, dance, and amusement parks around the globe for over four decades. Recent credits include Sweeney Todd (Scenery & Lighting Design) for Great Lakes Theatre; The Wizard of Oz for Kansas City Ballet; The Nutcracker for Cincinnati Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Hawaii, and Kansas City Ballet; and world premiere ballets for David Morse, Kenneth Tindall, Young Soon Hoo, Caili Quan, Ma Cong, and Val Caniparoli. Upcoming designs include: The Comedy of Errors, Les Misérables for Great Lakes Theatre and Idaho Shakespeare & Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival; Romeo & Juliet for Kansas City Ballet; and a world premiere for Mthuthuzeli November at Cincinnati Ballet. 

 

Over the years, Trad has created world-premiere works for notable choreographers including Trey McIntyre, Val Caniparoli, James Kudelka, Edwaard Liang, Annabelle Lopez Ocha, Kenneth Tindall, Matthew Neenan, Adam Hougland, Garrett Smith, Jessica Lang, Alejandro Cerrudo, Kirk Peterson, Nicola Fonte, Donald Byrd, Jodie Gates, Gina Patterson, Amy Seiwert, Ma Cong, Andrea Schermoly, Jennifer Archibald, Penny Saunders, Stephanie Martinez, Septime Webre, Devon Carney, Victoria Morgan, Robert Curran, James Sofranko, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. His dance lighting has also been seen at New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Houston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street, Kansas City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Grand Rapids Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Spectrum Dance, BalletMet, Ballet British Columbia, Ballet X, Smunin Dance, Verb Ballets, Inlet Dance Theatre, Ballet Hawaii, DesMoines Ballet, Dayton Ballet, and Lafayette Ballet Theatre. You can also see his work at multiple Disney Parks & Resorts around the globe.

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Trad lives in Austin, Texas with his dog Lumen. @tradaburns