Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Profile & Resume
A native New Yorker, Kevin Iega Jeff began choreographing at nineteen at The Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center in Jamaica, Queens, NY. In 1982 he founded JUBILATION! Dance Company in Brooklyn, NY, which toured internationally for over ten years. JUBILATION! began Jeff’s pursuit to choreograph new works and direct a company that would train new generations of dancers and choreographers. In 1995, he co-founded Deeply Rooted Dance Theater in Chicago where he continues to serve today as Artistic Director. Jeff has created more than fifty works, ranging from solos to large-scale company dances. He’s choreographed for renowned theater companies throughout the United States and abroad, and continuously receives commissions for new and repertory works by internationally renowned companies. Jeff is often invited to provide master dance instruction at leading colleges, universities, festivals, and cultural institutions world-wide.
Kevin Iega Jeff collaborated with Chicago’s Goodman Theater on By the Music of the Spheres during the 2002/2003 Season. He appeared on Broadway in Com'in Uptown and The Wiz. His direction and choreography credits include Black Nativity at Penumbra Theater; Oedipus the King at Hartford Stage; and the international tour of Porgy and Bess. Regionally, Mr. Jeff has worked with the Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, featuring Roberta Flack; the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Ensemble; Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble; Wylliams/Henry Dance Theater; River North Dance Company; the Dallas Black Dance Theater; SUNY Purchase and Howard University dance programs; the D.C. Contemporary Dance Theater; and the 1996 Summer Olympics Festival. Other regional work includes Grit & Grace, Swamp Gravy, Cross Tides and Scrap Mettle SOUL, all with Community Performance Inc. His television performances include the 1994 Academy Awards where he danced the role of The Beast in Beauty and the Beast. Film work includes choreography for Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It. He is the recipient of the 1996 Best Choreography Award from the Black Theater Alliance for Church of Nations, and the National Council for Culture and Arts and International Association of Blacks in Dance merit award.
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Performance History
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater evolved from New York’s JUBILATION! Dance Company, which Kevin Iega Jeff founded in 1982. Upon joining forces with Gary Abbott in Chicago, the company evolved to become Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. Highlights of the 30-year performance history, including both international and domestic venues listed below.
International Performance History:
Margaret Cain Tours, Including the Calgary Center for the Arts - Canada The Brasilia International Dance Seminar and Competition - Brazil Spectacles Plus - France Gianna Nicollette Tours - Germany, Italy Madrid Arts Festival - Spain Migros Steps Festival - Switzerland
US Performance History:
Pickard Auditorium - Selma, AL Broward Center for the Performing Arts – Ft. Lauderdale, FL Whitehall Theater – Kansas City, KS The State of Kansas Tour, Salina Arts and Humanities, including the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts - Salina, KS Detroit Music Hall - Detroit, MI The Ordway Performing Arts Center - St. Paul, MN The New Jersey Performing Arts Center- Newark, NJ Brooklyn Academy of Music – Brooklyn, NY Aaron Davis Hall -New York City, NY The Apollo Theater – New York City, NY The King Arts Center - Columbus , OH The Annengerg Center - Philadelphia, PA Miller Auditorium - Slippery Rock, PA Carver Center – San Antonio, TX Perot Theater – Texarkana, TX
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected]
Colleges and Universities:
Pepperdine University – Los Angeles, CA Saddleback College – Mission Viejo, CA University of California/San Diego - San Diego, CA El Camino College - Torrance, CA Northeast Missouri State University - Maryville, MO Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College - New York, NY The Hostos Center for the Arts at Hostos College – Bronx, NY Western Carolina University - Cullowhee, NC Western Washington University – Seattle, WA University of Wisconsin - Madison , WI Purdue University, Lafayette, IN
Performing Arts Conferences:
National Performance Network Conference - Los Angeles, CA The International Association of Blacks in Dance Annual Conference – Dallas, TX
Training Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, 1973 - 1977 New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts, 1974 - 1977 Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, 1975 - 1977 The Juilliard School, 1977 - 1979 Darvash Ballet School, 1978 – 1982
Honors/Awards New York Bessie Award Nomination, “Gula Matari”, 1984 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1984 & 1985 BTAA Best Choreography award for Church of Nations, 2004 Merit Award ,International Association of Blacks in Dance, 2004 USA Artist Nomination, 2005 Juilliard School’s 100 Outstanding Alumni, 2006 Chicago Dance Makers Forum Award, 2009
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected]
Instruction/Appointments Artist-in-Residence, Howard University, Washington, DC, 1994 - 2004 University of Las Vegas, NV, 2005 Goucher College, Baltimore, MD, 2005 Artist-in-Residence, Purdue University Black Cultural Center, 2005 - Present International Association of Blacks in Dance Board Member, 2006 - Present
Choreography/Commissions
Concert Dance:
Morning Mist (1979) Music: Tereu Nakamora “Birds” (8 minutes) Bernice Johnson Dance Company JUBILATION!
Signature (1979) Music: Ramsey Lewis Virtuosity in neo-classical and jazz fusion (15 minutes) JUBILATION!
Once Upon A Music Box (1979) Music: Broadway and film musical classics A celebration of Broadway and Movie musicals (20 minutes) JUBILATION!
Aisatnaf (1980) Music: Lee Holdridge A woodland creature frolics (7 minutes) JUBILATION! State University Dance Program, Purchase, NY (SUNY Purchase) Subtle Changes, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, NY
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected]
Nia Keii…A Gift of Life (1982) Music: Joe Sample Nature’s elements in fluid expression. (15 minutes) JUBILATION! Dallas Black Dance Theater Dedication (1984) Music: Quincy Jones, Claus Ogerman and Patti Austin An ancestral elder passes the legacy of life onto children of the new world. (18 minutes) JUBILATION! Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Flack (1984) Music: Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones and Donny Hathaway A portrait of strife, despair and ultimate triumph (23 minutes) JUBILATION! Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Dallas Black Dance Theater
Gula Matari (1984) Music: Quincy Jones The core of the earth exposed. (9 minutes) Riverside Dance Festival JUBILATION! City University of New York Dance Department Bessie Award Nominee
In a Child’s Eye (1985) Music: Stevie Wonder and Gustav Holt A little girl’s dream journey into a world of good and evil. ( minutes) D.C. Contemporary Dance Theater JUBILATION! Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected]
Paintings (1985) Music: Claus Ogerman The evolution of a painting from sketching to bold strokes to color through insignia (18 minutes) JUBLATION!
Men Dancing (1988) Music: Fela Kuti Men dancing is inspired by the seven principles of Kwanzaa (20 minutes) Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY JUBILATION!
Church of Nations (1991) Music: Ennio Morricone and The Art Of Noise Questions war in the name of God (12 minutes) Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater JUBILATION! Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Wylliams/Henry Dance Theater University of Las Vegas, NV Marygrove College Dance Company
Seeds (1993) Music: Text: Carl Hancock Rux “We are the fruit” (10 minutes) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2
Pages (1993) Music: Bobby McFerrin (20 minutes) Text: Carl Hancock Rux The Apollo Theater, Harlem, NY JUBILATION!
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Walls (1996) Original Music: Peter Saltzman Inspired by “the wall” in Israel 1996 Olympics Dallas Black Dance Theater
Surrender (1997) Music: Terrance Trent Darby and Hans Zimmer Text: Shonnese C.L. Coleman Figures representing the trinity of spirit, mind and body (8 minutes) Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Tleftraeh (2004) Music: Antonin Dvorak Inspired by nineteenth century African-American family photographs. (8 minutes) The Ravinia Festival, Chicago Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Jagged Ledges (2004) Co-Choreography: Kevin Iega Jeff & Gary Abbott The plight of people living with HIV/AIDS Music: Text: Stacey Ann Chin Dance Africa Chicago Deeply Rooted Dance Theater MOVE!/Heaven (2004) Co-Choreography: Kevin Iega Jeff & Gary Abbott Inspired by the 1980’s club sceen Original Music: Janis Pendarvis, Raymond Jones, and Anthony Moten Text: Shonnese C.L. Coleman Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Naeemah’s Room (2005) Music: Ennio Morricone, Phillip Glass, and Bjork An intimate and stirring look at a loving yet troubled life (17 minutes)
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Wylliams Henry Danse Theater River North Dance Company Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
We Dance (2006) Music: Johann Sebastian Bach The people, the time, the beauty, the romance. (12 minutes) Wylliams Henry Dance Theater Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Ferrotype (2006) Co-Choreography: Kevin Iega Jeff & Gary Abbott Music: Traditional, Mavis Staples, and Nikki Giovanni Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Sky (2006) Music: Steve Reich Inspired by the sky (12 minutes) River North Dance Company Point Park University
Wild is the Wind (2009) Music: Nina Simone (8 minutes) Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Collage Dance Collective
Conversations (2010) Music:TBD Marygrove Dance Department Collage Dance Collective
I Am Deeply Rooted (2010) Music: Mahalia Jackson, Roger Eno, Baba Tumba, Anjey Satori & Loko Text: Shonnese C.L. Coleman and quotes from sung and unsung heroes; additional text provided by “I Am Deeply Rooted” book contributors.
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Living one’s true essence (23 minutes) Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Chicago Dance Makers Forum Award
Theater
Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1992) Living Arts, Inc., NY National Tour Choreographer
Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1993) Living Arts, Inc., NY International Tour Director
A Deeply Rooted Evening Featuring Roberta Flack (1999) The Auditorium Theater, Chicago Aaron Davis Hall, NY Deeply Rooted Productions Director/Choreographer
By the Music of the Spheres (2002/2003) Goodman Theater, Chicago Choreographer
Oedipus The King (2004) Hartford Stage Theater, Hartford, CN Choreographer
Black Nativity (2003 - 2005) Penumbra Theater Director/Co-Choreographer
Nefertiti (2007) Deeply Rooted Productions
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Director/Co-Choreographer
Elton John’s Aida (2009) Bailiwick Theater Company, Chicago Co-Choreographer
The Nativity (2010 & 2011) Congo Square & The Goodman Theaters Choreographer
Community Performance & Residencies
Camplex Heritage Center Performing Arts Summer Workshop, (1993-1999) Gillette, WY Founding Director/Co-Choreographer Salina Arts & Humanities, (1994-2010) Salina, KS Director of Dance Residencies
Scrap Mettle Soul, (2000-2005) Scrap Mettle Soul, Inc. Choreographer
Yoder Barn (2001 - 2005) Yoder Barn, Inc. Newport News, VA Choreographer
Goucher College (2005) Baltimore, MD Dance Residency Instruction
Always Expect Miracles, (2010) Asheville, NC Community Performance International
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Kevin Iega Jeff Choreographer / Director ______6909 S. Merrill Avenue #1w, Chicago, IL 60649 Tel: 773-592-9606 Email: [email protected] Choreographer
Celery Soup, (2011) Sanford, FL Community Performance International Choreographer
Higher Ground, (2009-2012) Harlan, KY University of Kentucky Choreographer
Jonesborough Yarn Exchange, (2011) Jonesborough, TN Community Performance International Choreographer
Land of Spirit, (2008-2011) Lavonia, GA Community Performance International Choreographer
Salkehatchie Stew, (2009-2011) Allendale, SC Community Performance International Salkehatchie Leadership Institute Choreographer
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