Dance Careering in the US with Artist-in-Residence Jamal Story

Part 1: What is Dance Careering in the US?

Thursday, February 29
3:30 pm ET/2:30 pm CT/12:30 pm PT

Are you a dancer asking yourself where you want to take your career next? Join the Entertainment Community Fund for part one of this three-part series with Jamal Story exploring Dance Careering in the US. Each part of the series will include a Q&A session.

During Part 1: What is Dance Careering in the US? you’ll get to explore multiple dance forms, including concert dance/ballet, musical theater and commercial gigging, including teaching and performing on conventions. This part of the series will also explore:

• Discussion of unions, collective bargaining, contracts, etc.
• Barriers and struggles around the body
• Changes, trends and how to adapt

About Jamal Story

A Los Angeles native, Jamal began serious training at the Lula Washington Dance Theatre. He holds dual degrees in Dance Performance and TV/Radio Communications from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he performed with Dallas Black Dance Theatre and the Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, among others.

Jamal has danced with Donald Byrd/the Group, Madonna’s 2021 Drowned World Tour, Complexions and (as an aerialist and dancer) Cher’s Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. He has since performed in The Color Purple and Motown: The Musical on Broadway, serving as a dance captain on both.

An avid choreographer, Jamal has set works on several companies, taught as a full-time professor ad interim at the University of Missouri Kansas City and co-chairs the SAG-AFTRA National Dances Committee. Jamal continues his advocacy for educating young artists about changing the landscape of dance and has written two books, 12:34 and Toss in the Ether. Both are available on his website, jamalstory.com.

Jamal also serves as one-third of the host panel for Beyond the Thread, an online forum dedicated to unpacking and deconstructing conversations that happen on social media threads in a more conversational way.