Jay T. Jenkins

Jay T. trained as a musician, in piano and trumpet; he studied with Joe Benjamin who played with Duke Ellington. As a dancer he trained in jazz dance technique with Phil Black and William Chaison and in modern with Joan Palladino. Jay T.'s has developed a choreographic movement vocabulary that combines classical and stylized jazz, modern, tap, punk/hip hop. He choreographs in feature films, music videos, industrials and for recording artist's concert tours. He choreographed the feature House Party directed by the Hudlin brothers and has worked with Prince, Salt N Pepa, Chaka Kahn, Cyndi Lauper, the Time, Color Me Badd and many others. He attributes his success in staging movement for musicians which doesn't detract from their playing for live concert performances to his own background as a musician. He has choreographed concert pieces for Ohio State University Dance Theater, the Bolles Dance Company, Princeton University Dance Theatre and Kean Dance Theatre. Jazz A class that works through the fundamentals of jazz technique and vocabulary, emphasizing the basic positions and the use of contraction to build strength. From there Jay T.'s teaching philosophy is the same whether he is teaching Jazz or Jazz/Funk; a desire to show students how to bring out the feeling in the choreography! Music ranges from the musical styles of the 30's and 40's to the present day. Jazz/Funk Jay T.'s Jazz/Funk class combines classical and stylized jazz vocabulary with Hip-Hop in combinations that allow the dancer again to connect to the feeling of both the music and the choreography.