PAUL GORDON
I SPENT 37 YEARS LEARNING WHAT MAKES PEOPLE IMPOSSIBLE TO LOOK AWAY FROM.
Now I teach it.
I'm Paul Gordon - performer, coach, and lifelong student of presence. From spoken word stages to late-night television, from dance floors to corporate boardrooms, I've been studying the same question for nearly four decades: what makes someone captivating?
The Journey
37 YEARS IN THE MAKING
THE BEGINNING — AND A NAME IS BORN
Three men at Binghamton University couldn't find three women to join them for a free performance. So we invented a way to collaborate ourselves — and Second Hand Dance Company was born. No hierarchy. No director. Three equals creating work together. That same year, lighting designer Aaron Copp watched a rehearsal and said: "Your face is dancing." The phrase stuck.
NEW YORK BREAKTHROUGH
Mark Russell at PS122 on the Lower East Side took a chance on us — first as part of a mixed show, then our own weekend. Reviews in the New York Times and Village Voice followed. I used those reviews to get our first agent. That same year: Lincoln Center. Our career was no longer local.
A STREET FESTIVAL IN HOLLAND
During a two-week street festival in southern Holland, I met a woman from a Danish performance company. We were both 26. We fell in love. We couldn't make it work — not yet. Life had other plans. But I never forgot her.
CELEBRITIES IN JAPAN
Our appearance on Shinshun Kakushigei Taikai in Tokyo turned us into celebrities in Japan. Suddenly, Japanese tourists would stop us on the street — anywhere in the world they spotted us. Television had reach I hadn't fully understood until then.
EDINBURGH FRINGE — CRITIC'S CHOICE AWARD
Our show "2nd Hand Dance" won the Critic's Choice Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival — one of the world's most prestigious theater platforms. International touring invitations multiplied overnight.
BROADWAY & LETTERMAN
The New Victory Theater on Broadway opened doors we didn't know existed. Including one very specific door: The Late Show with David Letterman. Television audiences now numbered in the tens of millions. The "2 billion viewers" credential started here.
16 YEARS, 35+ COUNTRIES
Second Hand Dance Company's final bow. Southbank Centre in London. Seoul Opera House. Israel Festival in Jerusalem. Just For Laughs in Montreal. Thousands of performances. Millions of viewers. And a methodology for non-hierarchical collaboration that I didn't fully appreciate yet.
"WALK-IN CLOSET"
A new chapter begins. "Walk-In Closet" — a dance, clown, mime theater piece featuring a clown, his love, and an alien. The company era was over, but the performance never stopped.
"DANCE SAVES THE DAY"
My first comedic monologue, performed at Montclair State College. Dance, storytelling, and autobiographical surrealism colliding. The one-man show format was taking shape.
21 YEARS LATER
Twenty-one years after that street festival in Holland, we found each other again. That fantastic woman from the Danish company. The one I never forgot. This time, we were ready.
"DEVIATE" — FIRST ONE-MAN SHOW
My first full-evening solo show. "Deviate" blended standup, dance, storytelling, clowning, audience participation, and live stage competitions for money and prizes. The first of many. A new form taking shape.
COPENHAGEN
I left New York and moved to Denmark. We married in Copenhagen. Some things are worth waiting two decades for. Isn't life a wild, magnificent animal of its own?!?!
"DANCE PIRATE GARBAGE CLOWN"
Second one-man show. The solo form deepening. The punk-pirate identity emerging.
"HAPPINESS"
Interactive street theater on power stilts — created with the brilliant Kristian Dinesen. Clowning elevated, literally.
"MAD AT DANCE"
Third one-man show. Three decades of stage craft distilled into a single performer. The methodology was nearly ready to teach.
THE ART OF FACE DANCING
After 30+ years of people asking "How do you DO that?" — I decided it was time to answer. I began teaching camera presence to coaches and entrepreneurs worldwide. The exercises that made three performers collaborate at the highest level became the foundation. Aaron's phrase from 1987 became the name: The Art of Face Dancing.
COPENHAGEN & WORLDWIDE
Based in Denmark. Working globally. Teaching individuals to command presence on camera. Running collaborative workshops for corporate teams using the same methodology that powered 16 years of touring. And still performing — because some things you never stop doing.
THE PHILOSOPHY
Most camera confidence training is backwards. They teach you to perform confidence—memorize scripts, follow templates, fake enthusiasm. It never works because audiences can smell inauthenticity instantly.
What I learned on stage is that presence isn't performed. It's accessed. There's something already inside you that knows how to captivate. My job is to help you remove what's blocking it.
I don't believe in scripts. I don't believe in templates. I don't believe in "tips and tricks" that promise transformation without discomfort. I believe in doing the work to become genuinely present—and letting everything else follow from that.
This isn't for everyone. If you want a quick fix, we're not a match. But if you're willing to feel uncomfortable in order to break through to something real - that's where the work gets interesting.
CREDENTIALS
🏆
CRITIC'S CHOICE
Edinburgh Fringe Festival Award Winner
📺
2B+ VIEWERS
International Television Appearances
🎭
38 YEARS
Professional Performance Experience
🌍
WORLDWIDE
Based in Copenhagen & NYC, Working Globally
"
The same principles that filled
theaters can fill your videos with
presence that converts.
— The Core Belief
Book A Performance
Available for festivals, corporate events, private functions, and theatrical productions. Spoken word, theater, dance, comedy, performance art.
Work With Me
Camera presence coaching through theatrical methodology. For coaches and entrepreneurs who refuse to sound like everyone else.
© 2026 Paul Gordon. All rights reserved.