Jade Charon's Biography
Jade Charon is an interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, filmmaker, and international dance educator, hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin based in Los Angeles, California. Charon received a MFA in Dance from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BA in Dance and Theater from Columbia College Chicago. Charon was awarded the 2020 Hicks Choreographer Fellowship from the School of Jacob's Pillow where she received mentorship from Dianne McIntyre and Risa Steinberg,
. In 2018, Charon was selected as the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellow from BAM(Brooklyn Academy of Music) . Through this fellowship she traveled to Africa, and researched Contemporary and Traditional African dance in the countries of Senegal and Burkina Faso to research and learn traditional and contemporary West African dance.
As a filmmaker, her films have been accepted in festivals and conferences such as: American Dance Festival Movie By Movers, The Outland Dance Project Dance Film Festival, and the national Women in Dance Conference. In 2016, Charon’s film Reverse, caught the attention of the New York Times, and she and her company were interviewed and featured by the New York Times and aired on their social media platforms. In 2017, The LA Times also mentioned Charon’s art activism in their article about protest dance in Los Angeles.
As an African American interdisciplinary artist, her own dance vocabulary mixes contemporary, modern, hip hop, gospel, and movements from the Afro Diaspora. In the commercial scene, Charon has performed as a background dancer for Kanye West.
Charon aims to use her art as ministry to uplift her community and was selected to give a Ted Talk on using dance as ministry for TedxUCLA. In 2013, Charon was selected to pioneer and design a dance program for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee through a national research study with The Wallace Foundation. This experience sprouted Charon into starting her own non-profit company, By Jade Charon Company. By Jade Charon has birthed films, arts curriculums, community outreach initiatives, and arts festivals, fusing art, education, mentorship, and social justice globally. Charon is also the founder 30:11 by Jade Charon LLC, a leotard and activewear line, designed to support all body types with the hopes of eliminating body shaming.
Tedx UCLA
FellowShips,Grants, & Awards
2020 Anne Weston & Hicks Choreographer Fellow at The School of Jacob’s Pillow
2020 UNCSA Semi- Finalist Choreographic Residency Choreographer
2019 Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs: Western Arts Alliance Scholarship Recipient
2018 BAM : Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship
2018 Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs: International Association of Blacks in Dance Scholarship
2017-2018 Dean’s General Scholarship Award, UCLA
2016-2018 University Fellowship , UCLA
2016-2017 Jean Irwin Scholarship, UCLA
2017-2017 Registration Fee Grant, UCLA
2015-2016 Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, UCLA
2007-2011 Opportunity Academic Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago
2007 NAACP AWARD/Scholarship
FIlM, Film Festivals, & Television
2020
“Gold”- Jade Charon, Director &Choreographer
Premiered in 2020 , Milwaukee, WI
“Champion Style” - Jade Charon Director & Choreographer
Premiered 2020, British Virgin Islands
“Be Outside”- Jade Charon, Director
Premiered 2020, Carson, California
“Duel” - Jade Charon Director & Choreographer
Screened at Fellows of Contemporary Arts Museum
2019
“Trilogy”- Jade Charon, Director & Choreographer
Women in Dance Conference Film Screening, Drexel University
2018
“A Silent Story”- Darrell Robinson, Director
Milwaukee PBS Television , 2018
“Recharge ” Jade Charon, Director & Choreographer
The Outlet Project Dance Film Festival, 2018
“Recharge” Jade Charon, Director & Choreographer
American Dance Festival: Movies by Movers, 2018
2017
“Reverse” Jade Charon, Director Choreographer
The Outlet Project Dance Film Festival, 2017
“ Street Dance Activism” Shamell Bell, Director
Dancer, The Los Angeles Times Documentary, 2017
2016
“ Reverse” Jade Charon, Director & Choreographer
The New Times Live Feed, December 2016
Conferences,Lectures, & Public Presentations
2020 Film Presenter : Take Me Home Event: Post-screening discussion about the identification with blackness, the body, and spirituality led by curator Jasmine McNeal. Fellows of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, March
2019 Film Presenter: Restore Film, Women in Dance Leadership Conference, University of Drexel, October
2020 Film Presenter : Take Me Home Event: Post-screening discussion about the identification with blackness, the body, and spirituality led by curator Jasmine McNeal., Fellows of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, March
2019 Panelist: Art & Entrepreneurship Panel, University of California, Los Angeles, April
2019 Panelist: Schoolin’ Life: Black graduate students navigating public white institutions, International Association of Blacks in Dance, January
2018 Guest Lecturer: Histories, Healing, and Movements, University of California, San Marcos , October
2018 Speaker and Performer: Dance As Ministry : From Compton to UCLA, Ted Talks ex UCLA , April
2017 Keynote Speaker: Take A Stand , Milwaukee College Preparatory School, November
2017 Guest Lecturer: Multicultural Psychology , Dr. Thema Bryant (Instructor ), Pepperdine University, November
2017 Guest Artist Presenter: Why I Choreograph , University Neighborhood High School , October
2017 Lead Panelist : Eliminating Body-Shaming in Western Dance , 30:11 Launch & Networking event, Signature Dance Company, April
2017 Keynote Speaker: Surveying Our Bodies and Finding Our Truths, Royals Inc , April
2016 Presenter: Creating High Quality Dance Programs in Non- Specific Youth Organizations, Signature Dance Company, December
2015 Presenter : Wake Up, Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Conference, May
2015 Presenter: Securing Community Partnerships, Engaging Parents & Community Stakeholders, and Youth Retention, Wallace Foundation , March
2014 Presenter: Dance Culminations in Free Public Spaces, Wallace Foundation and Boys &Girls Clubs of America Headquarter, August
Artist Statement
I fuse my upbringing in Black Christian Church and Hip Hop culture, to create work rooted in ministry and activism by way of live dance performance and film. How can I make a change in the world with the tools that I have? As a choreographer and filmmaker, I am interested in the process of creating culturally relevant work that brings awareness to the human conditions across the world through my Black, female lens. My interdisciplinary process of creating site-specific dance films and pairing it with live dance performance provides accessibility and inclusion to underrepresented communities in performance spaces.
My work is meant to be a catalyst for social change and be self-valuing to my community. By using movement vocabulary that merges African American Social Dances, Ballet, Modern, and West African dance, with an internal emphasis on Spirituality in performance, my works often provides opportunities of reflection and education for the participating performers and audiences while taking them on spiritual journey. My company and I aim to create work that inspires viewers and audiences to do something for their own community—a call-to-action. We facilitate dialogues amongst audiences, provide youth initiatives, community workshops, develop community arts curriculums, and artist opportunities for women of color emerging choreographers through our Restore Arts Festival.
Real change comes from real people.