Raja Feather Kelly Explained

Birth Date:[1]
Nationality:American
Education:Connecticut College (BA)
Known For:Choreography
Awards:New York Live Arts (2019)
SDCF Commission Award (2019)[2] [3]
Randjelovic-Stryker Award (2019)[4]
Harkness Promise Award (2018)[5]
Carthorse Fellowship (2018)
Solange MacArthur Award (2016)
Dancemapolitan Award (2016)
NYFA Choreography Fellow (2016)
Dixon Place Dance Artist (2015)
Dance Web Scholar (2009)
National Dance Project Production Grant, 2019[6]

Raja Feather Kelly is an American dancer and choreographer based in Brooklyn who is notable for his "radical downtown surrealist" productions which combine "pop and queer culture".[7] He has choreographed numerous theatrical productions, including Fairview and A Strange Loop.[8] He is the artistic director of his dance company called The Feath3r Theory,[1] and he serves as the artistic director of the New Brooklyn Theatre.[4]

Early life

Kelly grew up in Fort Hood, Texas and later in Long Branch, New Jersey,[8] where he graduated from Long Branch High School and was selected to participate in the theater program of the Governor's School of the Arts.[9] He attended Connecticut College where he studied English and poetry and dance, graduating in 2009.[8] [10]

Career

Reviewer Sara Aridi in The New York Times wrote that "one leaves a performance of Raja's infected by his curiosity, love of craft and just plain outrageousness."[1] His choreography was described in Vogue magazine as combining social dance with the black vernacular.[11] Critic Brian Schaefer in The New York Times wrote that Kelly's choreography has a "lighter touch, a flirty wink and a queer sensibility" that "treats pop culture as a kind of religion itself." A prime influence of Kelly in his approach to dance was the American visual and pop artist Andy Warhol.[12] [13] Kelly has raised money for dance production by hosting telethons out of his apartment.[14]

In 2020, Kelly directed and choreographed an Off-Broadway production of We're Gonna Die by Young Jean Lee. It opened in Second Stage Theater's Tony Kiser Theater on February 4 and was scheduled to run through March 22.[15]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sara Aridi. December 18, 2018. The New York Times. Raja Feather Kelly Named New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist. June 29, 2019. June 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190616231946/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/arts/dance/raja-feather-kelly-new-york-live-arts-resident-commissioned-artist.html. live.
  2. Web site: Olivia Clement. December 5, 2018. Playbill. SDCF Commissions 5 Choreographers to Create Original Works Honoring Agnes de Mille: Raja Feather Kelly, Kitty McNamee, Al Blackstone, Jenn Rose, and Katie Spelman will debut their pieces at the Mr. Abbott Award Gala.. June 29, 2019. June 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629015728/http://www.playbill.com/article/sdcf-commissions-5-choreographers-to-create-original-works-honoring-agnes-de-mille. live.
  3. Web site: American Theater Editors. October 12, 2018. American Theater. SDCF Awards Go to Loretta Greco, Anne Kauffman, Raja Feather Kelly, Susan Stroman. June 29, 2019. June 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629015729/https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/10/12/sdcf-awards-go-to-loretta-greco-anne-kauffman-raja-feather-kelly-susan-stroman/. live.
  4. Web site: Staff writer. January 8, 2019. Connecticut College. Raja Feather Kelly '09 receives prestigious dance residency. June 29, 2019. June 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629015737/https://www.conncoll.edu/news/news-archive/2019/raja-kelly-residency/#.XRbCCbzYrnE. live.
  5. Web site: BWW News Desk. September 4, 2018. Broadway World. Misty Copeland to Open 2018 Dance Magazine Awards. June 29, 2019. June 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629015728/https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Misty-Copeland-to-Open-2018-Dance-Magazine-Awards-20180904. live.
  6. Web site: NEFA Grant Recipients . New England Foundation for the Arts . November 15, 2019 . December 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191207195210/https://www.nefa.org/grants/grant-recipients/raja-feather-kelly-feath3r-theory . live .
  7. The New Yorker, June 2019, Marina Harss, Dance:Raja Feather Kelly, Retrieved July 3, 2019
  8. Web site: Gia Kourlas. June 11, 2019. The New York Times. This Choreographer Can Make Your Play Move: Raja Feather Kelly, who has left his mark on several Off Broadway shows, specializes in what he calls "virtuosic behavior.". June 29, 2019. June 30, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190630152058/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/arts/dance/raja-feather-kelly.html. live.
  9. Burke, Siobhan. "On the Rise: Raja Feather Kelly", Dance Magazine, May 31, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2019
  10. Web site: Staff writer. June 11, 2019. Connecticut College. Raja Feather Kelly '09 featured in The New York Times. June 29, 2019. June 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629015730/https://www.conncoll.edu/news/news-archive/2019/raja-feather-kelly-featured-in-nyt/. live.
  11. Web site: Liz Appel. June 5, 2019. Vogue magazine. Theater Is Coded as a White Space—Jackie Sibblies Drury Is Changing That. June 29, 2019. June 27, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190627224839/https://www.vogue.com/article/jackie-sibblie-drury-fairview-pulitzer-interview. live.
  12. Web site: Staff writers. April 25, 2019. Dance magazine. Raja Feather Kelly. June 29, 2019. April 26, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190426063502/https://www.dancemagazine.com/u/rajafeatherkelly. live.
  13. Web site: Brian Schaefer. May 26, 2016. The New York Times. Raja Feather Kelly, Bowing at the Altar of Saint Warhol. June 29, 2019. June 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190616231941/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/arts/dance/raja-feather-kelly-bowing-at-the-altar-of-saint-warhol.html. live.
  14. Web site: Abigail Rasminsky. June 4, 2018. Dance Magazine. The Newest Old-School Fundraising Scheme: A Telethon Livestream. June 29, 2019. June 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629015728/https://www.dancemagazine.com/raja-feather-kelly-2571762868.html. live.
  15. Web site: Peikert. Mark. February 25, 2020. What Did Critics Think of We're Gonna Die Off-Broadway at Second Stage?. live. March 9, 2020. Playbill. March 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200315184525/https://www.playbill.com/article/what-did-critics-think-of-were-gonna-die-off-broadway-at-second-stage.

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