Lela Aisha Jones, Assistant Professor of Dance, Guest Artist in University of Florida's Swamp Dance Fest

Assistant Professor of Dance Lela Aisha Jones served as a guest artist in the "Swamp Dance Fest!", a three-week summer dance intensive presented by the University of Florida School of Theater and Dance. Jones worked with the school's faculty and students and fellow guest artist Elijah Alhadji Gibson on virtual classes, works-in-progress showings, artists' talks, and special projects. Collaborators for Jones' work included soundscape artist Alex Shaw and media and film artist Aidan Un with artistic contributions from the students. She notes, "These students are traversing a lot (as we all are) and yet they were remotely engaged with an earnest, dedicated flair... I just thought this was a real joy of a journey."

The festival culminated in streaming performances of works created, including both live performance and film presentations, from Friday through Sunday, July 31-Aug. 2, 2020. 

Lela Aisha Jones is a movement performance artist, an interdisciplinary collaborator, community-grounded organizer/curator, and the Founding Director of Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround, her creative research home. She earned a B.S. in Health Science Education from the University of Florida, an M.F.A. in dance from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. from Texas Woman's University. Learn more about Jones and the rest of the program's faculty on the Dance Program page.