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 performance works include I’m Not Daedalus Yet (2025), I’m Thoreau Waiting (2023), which premiered at Space Station Residency in St Louis; Fast-Paced World (2023), choreography for an original composition by Mendel Lee; Tangent Spaces: The Book, The Guide, The Ritual (2022), a multimedia work combining visual art, short fiction, and performance; and Untitled (Ode to a New Atlantis) (2021), a collaboration with composer Miles Hancock and featuring dance students at UIUC.

Follow Jakki on Instagram @jakki_kalogridis for her latest creative adventures