About
Writer. Director. Choreographer. Performer. Scholar.
Jehbreal Muhammad Jackson
Jehbreal Muhammad Jackson is an artist and scholar who writes, choreographs, and directs story ballets for film. As a scholar, Jehbreal researches the histories and theories of ballet, ritual dances of the African diaspora, music, and race. She uses her findings as source material for her own artistic creations. Her forthcoming dissertation research is titled Enfleshing the Void: Capturing the Black Kin-Aesthesis of Haitian Vodou in George Balanchine’s Agon. Jehbreal analyzes Agon in relation to the Rada, Gede, and Petwo Rights of Haitian Vodou. She uses Agon’s evocation of the early modern French court, and blend of Afro -diasporic dances with ballet and court dances to argue for similar moments of cultural transmission at ballet’s origins. Jehbreal argues that Balanchine uses Hatian ritual dances to evoke the early modern French court and that the geometric dances of the court and classical ballet technique itself, are not just a product of the early modern European court, but rather of several cultural influences, including those from the African continent.
Jehbreal danced with Dance Theater of Harlem before freelancing in New York, Mexico, and Europe. She is also a vocalist featured on Samora Pinderhughes' Transformations Suite, Grief, Venus Smiles Not in the House of Tears, and Black Spring albums (touring nationally and internationally) after having also performed with Jon Batiste and Kris Bowers. Jehbreal received a BFA in dance from The Juilliard School, an MFA in dance from UC Irvine, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Theater and Performance studies at Columbia University.