Harmonizing biography, social history, music, and performance, George’s Zest Collective dance troupe celebrates the beauty and triumph of musical pioneers whose songs rang out despite America’s dark history of oppression.
Afro Blue is Gentry Isaiah George’s latest installment from his series Roots & Rhythms, designed to commemorate Black Musicians of the 20th century. Renditions of the Jazz standard ‘Afro–Blue‘ recorded by American Jazz Vocalist Abbey Lincoln and Cuban Percussionist Mongo Santamaria are the centerpieces for the new work.
Gentry Isaiah George is the Artistic Director of Zest Collective and Professor of Dance at his alma mater New World School of the Arts. At age eight, he began studying with Linda Agyapong at the Community Book and Dance Club and later with Vladimir Issaev at the Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida. In addition, Gentry was a scholarship student at The School at Jacob’s Pillow, The Ailey School, and The Miami Conservatory’s Thomas Armour Youth Ballet.
George is a recipient of a Level 1 YoungArts award, and is featured on HBO’s ‘Masterclass,’ also starring Jacques d’Amboise. In 2012 Gentry graduated from the Juilliard School and began dancing with Ailey II of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Later that year, he was featured in the NY Post as “one of three men to watch in Ballet.” George was also a member of Lustig Dance Theatre, Malcolm Low’s Formal Structure, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem under the Direction of Virginia Johnson.
Gentry has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, Ulysses Dove, Robert Garland, Martha Graham, Jose Limón, Ohad Naharin, Bronislava Nijinska, and more.
Gentry has created work for the Peter London Global Dance Company, New World School of the Arts, The Governor’s School for the Arts, Arts High School, Randolph College, and Cooperative Arts and Humanities High. In addition, Gentry choreographed and directed PianoSlam 14, presented by Dranoff 2 Piano and the Adrienne Arsht Center in April 2022.
To request materials in accessible format and accommodation to attend an event, please contact Eventz Paul at 305.576.4350 or email us, at least five days in advance to initiate your request.
Made with ♥ in Miami by Fulano
We are accessible and assistive listening devices are available. To request materials in accessible format and accommodation to attend an event, please contact Eventz Paul at 305.576.4350 or email us, at least five days in advance to initiate your request.
Eventz Paul is currently the Technical Director and Productions Manager at Miami Light Project. He has been a part of this organization since 2011. He participated in Miami Light Project’s first class of the Technical Fellowship Program held at The Light Box. He joined this program hoping to improve his existing theater skills. He received training from experts in the industry that mentored and further his theater technical skills. Now, he has successfully used his professional knowledge and has had the opportunity to work with various arts organizations and venues throughout Miami including Miami Theater Center, National Young Arts Foundation, the Colony Theatre and many more. He has become an instructor and conducts audiovisual classes to incoming technical fellows.
Beth Boone has been the Artistic & Executive Director of Miami Light Project since 1998, developing critically acclaimed artistic programs that have asserted the organization as one of the leading cultural institutions in South Florida. These programs include: the establishment of Here & Now, South Florida’s most respected commission and presenting program for community-based artists; premiere presentations of internationally acclaimed; pioneering historic international cultural exchange with Cuba; and the creation of The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse, a multi-use performance and visual art space in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District. She previously served as Associate Director of Development for Florida Grand Opera, Deputy Director for the Department of Cultural Affairs at Miami Dade Community College, Wolfson Campus, co-founded an Off Broadway theater company (New York Rep), and served for six years as a Program Associate in the Arts & Culture Program of the AT&T Foundation. She received a B.A. in Fine Arts from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and a MFA in Theater Arts from Brandeis University in Boston, MA.