A New Decade of Dance Films

Kierah KIKI King

Kierah {KIKI} King received their BFA in Dance with a minor in Black World Studies from Columbia College Chicago with the class of 2020.  A native of Hartford, Connecticut, KIKI was homeschooled in their family’s café where they learned the power of service, education and creativity as central to life. KIKI’s work in Chicago comes from their passion and commitment for social justice, activism, and community building that present themselves through forms of media, performance, choreographic work and different forms of workshops and events throughout the city of Chicago.

Patricia Nguyen

Patricia Nguyen is an artist, scholar, and educator based in Chicago and Charlottesville. She earned her Ph.D. in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. She has performed and exhibited at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Chile, Prague Quadrennial, Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Milwaukee Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Network, and Nha San Collective in Vietnam. She is an award-winning memorial designer for the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial Project. Patricia is also the co-founder and lead artist of Axis Lab, a community-based arts and architecture organization focused on inclusive and equitable development for immigrants and refugees.

Jenn Po'Chop Freeman

Chicago-based burlesque artist Jenn Freeman also known as Po’Chop uses elements of dance, storytelling, and striptease to create performances and inspire students and collaborators across the country. Creator and author of the blogzine, The Brown Pages, Po’Chop is a Board Member & Cast Member, for Jeezy’s Juke Joint, an all black burlesque revue, performs on Netflix’s Easy (Season 2), appears in music videos for songs by Jamila Woods and Mykele Deville, and creates and performs experimental dance films such as LITANY. Recognized as a 2022 United States Artist Fellow,  a 2021 Foundation of Contemporary Art Artist Grantee, a 2019-2020 Urban Bush Women Choreographic Fellow and a 2018 Chicago Dancemakers Lab Artist, Po’Chop was dancer in residence at Rebuild Foundation in 2020.