Arthur Avilés is a Gay New York-Rican. He received a B/A, an Arts and Letters award and an honorary doctorate from Bard College under Jean Churchill, Lenore Latimere, Susan Osberg, Aileen Passloff and Albert Reid.  He was a member of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance company from '87 to 95 from which he was honored with a New York Dance and performance (Bessie) award. 

In '98, he along with Charles Rice-González founded the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!) now 22 years strong. He has appeared in a number of dance films by Marta Renzi. Mr. Avilés is a NYFA Fellow, the recipient of the Mayor's award for Art and Culture and has received a Bronx recognizes its own award. Also he has received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Master’s Grant from Pregones Theatre. he has also danced for Toby Armour, Tina Croll & Jamie Cunningham, Larry Clark, Doug Elkins, Lawrence Goldhuber, Beth Lipton, Nora Laudoni, Antonio Ramos, Amy Pivar & Freda Rosen, Sarah Pogostin, Mary Ellen Strom & Cindy Lee, Merián Soto and Dawn Watson. Most recently he along with Mr. González received a Bessie award for lifetime achievement.