about ayo
Ayo Janeen Jackson (b. 1978) is a multidisciplinary artist and former professional dancer known for her innovative exploration of movement and form. Originally from North Carolina, she studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, earning a BFA in Dance. Jackson has had an illustrious career in dance, performing with renowned companies such as The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Ballet Preljocaj. She also performed in Julie Taymor’s Turn Off the Dark on Broadway.
In addition to her dance career, Jackson has cultivated a rich visual arts practice. Her work incorporates photo and video imagery, textiles, sculpture, and text, with a focus on healing and addressing themes of racial and gender inequalities. Her body-based font, Tar Baby Code, is a signature element of her practice, reflecting on the history of Black resistance and using coded vernacular to reclaim narratives. She is also the creator of Don't B. Ashy Body Butter for the Soul, a product that humorously addresses Black identity and skincare.
Jackson holds a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is an award-winning artist, receiving accolades such as the Princess Grace Award and the Artrepreneur Award in 2022. She recently made her directorial film debut with Tear Suture Scab and continues to contribute to the arts through exhibitions, DEI initiatives, and community-building efforts.
Ten in Search of a Nation, the AFRICOBRA MANIFESTO:
(B) This is a big one . . . Shine—a major quality, a
major quality. We want the things to shine, to
have the rich luster of a just-washed ’Fro, of spitshined
shoes, of de-ashened elbows and knees
and noses. The Shine who escaped the Titanic,
the “li’l light of mine,” patent leather, Dixie
Peach, Bar-BQ, fried fish, cars, ad shineum!
AWARDS
2022 Artrepreneur Award (UNCSA)
2021 LMCC Artist-in-Residence GOVERNORS ISLAND
2021 NYSCA/NYFA Fellow: INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS
2014 PRINCESS GRACE AWARD in DANCE
EDUCATION
2018 MFA Interdisciplinary Arts
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1999 BFA Contemporary Dance
University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, NC
background
2020 Tick Tick Boom, NETFLIX
2019 Saturday Night Live Dancer
2018 Carmen Jones, Assistant-Choreographer to Bill T. Jones/ Movement Liaison to the production, Classic Stage Company, New York, NY
2015 An Octoroon, Choreographer, The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Superfly, Associate-Choreographer to Bill T. Jones/ Movement Coordinator, New York, NY
2010-2012 Spiderman, Turn Off the Dark on Broadway, New York, NY
2006-2009 Ballet Preljocaj, Aix en Provence FRANCE
2006 Dancer, Grendel (Opera) dir. Julie Taymor, Los Angeles Opera Center, Los Angeles & Lincoln Center, New York
1999-2005 Dancer, Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company, New York, NY
EXHIBITIONS
2024, Redemption! The Black Unicorn Wormhole | Indiana University
2024 Every Woman Biennial, 67 Great Jones Street
2024 Screening of TEAR SUTURE SCAB at NYU
2021 Comfort Riddle, Mineral House Media & Wavelength Space
2019 Every Woman Biennial, Space at 222 Bowery
2018 Liberated Soles, Moving Body, Moving Image-Film Festival, Barnard College, New York, NY
2016 Applied Color, Harlem Arts Festival, La Maison d’Art, Harlem, NY
2015 Solo Performance, Africa’s Out! Inaugural Fundraiser, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY
RESIDENCIES
2017 PASS Residency, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, Staten Island, NY
2016 Elsewhere, Greensboro, NC
2016 Sundance Theater Lab, Marrakech, Morocco
teaching experience
2019 CORNELL UNIVERSITY Ithaca, NY (Guest Artist)
2018-19 BARNARD COLLEGE New York, NY (Substitute Teacher)
2013-15 University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA (Adjunct Professor-School of Dance & School of Theater)
2013 SUNY Purchase, Purchase NY (Rehearsal director for Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company)
2001 Hollins University, Roanoke VA