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Kevin Iaega Jeff
Modern
Biography:
Kevin Iega Jeff began studying dance formally at age thirteen. He trained at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts, Darvash Ballet School, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center before matriculating into The Juilliard School. As a dancer he has been praised for his technical brilliance and rigor, his dramatic power, and the singular ability to perform and bridge different dance forms in a seamless manner, whether it be ballet, modern, contemporary, or African American dance.
At the age of twenty one, Iega founded his first company,
JUBILATION! Dance Company in New York City.
JUBILATION! was created out of a need to provide a forum
for African-American artists to be nurtured holistically
through the arts. For ten years the company toured
nationally and internationally, helping to bring the stories,
histories, and art of the African American people as well as
his unique approach to contemporary dance to a global
audience.While continuing to perform as a dancer, it was
at JUBILATION! that Iega began his life long pursuit of both
choreographing new work and directing a company that
would train a new generation of dancers and
choreographers. In 1994, he left New York to take up an
appointment as Artistic Director of the Joseph Holmes
Chicago Dance Theater.
In 1995, he co-founded Deeply
Rooted Productions in Chicago where he continues to
serve today as Artistic Director. As a choreographer, Iega
has created more than fifty works, ranging from solos to
large-scale company dances, where he pushes
contemporary dance to take cognizance of different voices
and aesthetics. He primarily creates for Deeply Rooted,
but also continuously receives commissions by other
companies to create new works for them, such as the
Alvin Ailey Dance Ensemble, River North Dance Company,
Dallas Black Dance Theater, the Cleveland Contemporary
Dance Theater, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble,
and the Wylliams/Henry Danse Theatre.
In 2005, Iega was named as one of the Juilliard School’s
100 Outstanding Alumni in celebration of the school’s
centenary anniversary. Among his other awards are those
from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National
Council for Culture and Arts, and the BTAA Best
Choreography award for Church of Nations. He received a
Merit Award from the International Association of Blacks in
Dance, and joined their Board in January 2006. Most
recently, Iega was awarded the 2009 Chicago Dance
Makers Forum Grant to support the creation of I Am
Deeply Rooted, which premiered in the Spring of 2010.
Iega has served as artist-in-residence at Howard
University, the University of Las Vegas, Goucher College,
SUNY Purchase and at Purdue University’s Black Cultural
Center. His work has been featured in several films,
including Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It, and in the
Broadway shows Comin’ Uptown and The Wiz. Iega’s
Walls premiered at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA. In
2003, Iega and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Associate
Artistic Director Gary Abbott co-choreographed Jagged
Ledges, featuring Tony Award-winning spoken word artist
Staceyann Chin. In 2006, he and Abbott were
commissioned to choreograph Three Brazilian Dances for
the Chicago Sinfonietta, which premiered at Chicago’s
Symphony Hall.
As Iega reflects on fifteen years at Deeply Rooted, he
states: “I want my work to grow truer, more focused, and
relevant over time. My art is born out of human
examination, and my desire to communicate authentically
informs what I create. For me dance is a perfect catalyst. It
reveals the inner voice, reflecting who we are and who we
strive to become.”