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photo credit: Denise Allen
LELA AISHA JONES | FOUNDER, DIRECTOR Lela Aisha Jones is a native of Tallahassee, FL who resides in Philadelphia, PA. She is a movement performance artist that has come to understand dance as an “archival practice” and her body “as an artistic archive—a creative storage space for movement and culture derived from the individual and collective lived experiences of blackness.” Lela is the founder of FlyGround, her creative home, where she cultivates her artistry that intertwines personal history, diasporic movement, social commentary, and interdisciplinary methods. As the founder of FlyGround she directs her own artistic projects, the Dancing for Justice Philadelphia Initiative, and The Requisite Movers Program and Performances. Her most recent presented work is the Native Portals series which includes Lynching & Love (2012), Continuum of Action (2015 solo), and Release Mourning Clearing (2016). Through vignette style presentation, the first work in this series re-establishes the invisible history of U.S. lynching as well as asks questions about trauma and nation love. The last works from the series unravel and reinterpret black diasporic experiences of activism, witnessing, testifying, and lost practices of restoration to investigate processing continual cycles of trauma. Her works in development are Plight Release & the Diasporic Body: Jesus & Egun (2016) and Seeing Water other Ways in Kwabenya (2017). In these works important elements that arise are a critique and re-valuing of Afro-Centricity and African Centeredness, imagining blacknes as uncontainable/infinite and a look into shifts in environmental consciousness while traveling in Ghana. As a teaching artist Lela is rostered with Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, Live Connections (LCO), and Intercultural Journeys. Her areas of interests in education include the complexities of traditional and contemporary diasporic dances of African/Black heritage or descent, cultural exchange and understanding, consciousness (social, racial, environmental, gender, cultural, etc.), creating community through movement, and activism in the body. She also facilitates workshops, residences, and lectures at various colleges and universities which have included Bennington College, California State University San Bernandino, and Bryn Mawr College. Lela earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance at Florida State University and is a current doctoral candidate at Texas Woman’s University. She is a 2013 Dance USA Philadelphia Rocky Awardee, a 2015 Leeway Foundation Transformation Awardee and a member of the inaugural 2015 Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellows designed by leaders at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in NYC. In 2016, Lela was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. |
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JULIE B. JOHNSON | ADVISOR, STRATEGIST
Julie B. Johnson is a dance artist focused on intersections of creative practice, community interaction, and social justice. She is interested in dance taking place in and out of the studio, on and off the stage, and anywhere in between. Julie is a Dance Lecturer at Spelman College and serves as an editor of The Dancer-Citizen, an online scholarly journal exploring the work of socially engaged dance artists. She is thrilled to work with Flyground as an advisor and strategist, and also as a member of the coordinating committee for Flyground's initiative, Dancing for Justice Philadelphia. Julie earned her PhD in Dance at Temple University where her research focused on meanings and experiences of 'community' in a West African dance class in Philadelphia. |
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AIGNER PICOU | MOVEMENT ARTIST
Aigner Picou started dancing at a young age. She studied ballet, modern and african from elementary school through high school. In college, she focused her training on modern and african dance and performed with both ensembles. Most recently, Aigner has joined Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround as an apprentice. |
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photo credit: Julieanne Harris
ZAKIYA L. CORNISH | MOVEMENT ARTIST Zakiya L. Cornish is a new Orleans native currently residing in Philadelphia. She is a classically trained West African dancer and earned an MFA degree in Dance at Temple University. Her graduate research explored intersections of African American identity and West African dance. Zakiya performs with Kulu Mele African Drum and Dance Ensemble, with Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround, and teaches and presents choreography as an independent artist. |
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photo credit: Amari Ross
ARIELLE PINA | ADMINISTRATIVE & MARKETING ASSOCIATE Arielle Pina is a Philadelphia-based artist hailing from Boston, MA. She explores topics of equality with collaborators of many disciplines to create a cohesive, diverse body of work. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of the Arts, and received The Nadia Chilkousky Nahumck Award for Creativity and Dance-Making. She also attended the Headlong Performance Institute, a post baccalaureate in hybrid performance. Since graduating, she has shared her work at dance venues and film festivals in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Belgium and Paris. She is excited to be joining Enchantment Theater Company's Peter Rabbit Tales national tour, a story she has cherished since she was a toddler. |
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photo credit: Rocco Peditto
AMANDA L. EDWARDS | MOVEMENT ARTIST Amanda is from Mount Vernon, NY. She began her training at The Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she participated in the Community Program, Summer Programs, and the Pre-Professional Program. She attended Earl Mosely Institute of the Arts during the summers of 2013 and 2014. She graduated from The University of the Arts with honors in May 2015. Amanda participated in the Nomad Express Choreography Lab for three weeks in Burkina Faso, West Africa during summer 2016.She has worked with choreographers such as Iquail Shaheed, Jen McGinn, Olivier Tarpaga, Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Kim Bears-Bailey and Meredith Rainey. Amanda is currently a dancer with Dancespora, Putty Dance Project, Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround, and Klassic Contemporary Ballet Company. |
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photo credit: Julieanne Harris
PATRICIA "PEACHES" JONES | MOVEMENT ARTIST Patricia “Peaches” Jones is a movement artist specializing in dances and rhythms of the African Diaspora. She has been honored to study diasporic movement, rhythm, and culture for over 20 years with amazing artists and teachers from Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Cuba, Brazil, and the United States. In addition to her artistic practice, Peaches worked in public health for over a decade dedicating her time towards her other passion for healing communities. Currently, Peaches dances Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround and Kulu Mele African Dance and Drum Ensemble, Philadelphia’s premier African dance ensemble; she is a Program Associate for Young Artists of New Jersey and Eastern PA; and she is working to develop choreography, classes, workshops, and experiences that utilize the healing properties of diasporic rhythms and movement to cultivate physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being for individuals and community. |