Jakki is a New Orleans-based choreographer, performer, visual artist, and writer. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BFA in Studio Art from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Jakki worked as a professional costume designer for many years, creating work for private clients, dancers and choreographers, burlesque and drag performers, and award-winning musical artists. In 2016, she founded New Orleans Colorguard Arts, which offered programs teaching colorguard and dance through studio classes and workshops, a parading krewe, and stage recitals for local performers to showcase their talents.

Recent dance works include I’m Thoreau Waiting, which premiered at Space Station Residency in St Louis; Fast-Paced World, choreography for an original composition by Mendel Lee; Tangent Spaces: The Book, The Guide, The Ritual, a multimedia work combining visual art, short fiction, and performance; and Untitled (Ode to a New Atlantis), a collaboration with composer Miles Hancock and featuring dance students at UIUC.

You can get a behind-the-scenes look at these and other works-in progress at Jakki’s Patreon.

Follow Jakki on Instagram @jakki_kalogridis for her latest creative adventures