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Carlos R. A. Jones
(He/Him/His)
- Professor + Chair
-
(585) 395-2023
crjones@brockport.edu
Office: Hartwell Hall 145
Bio
Carlos R. A. Jones has enjoyed a vibrant career as educator, performer, director, choreographer and scholar.Prior to arriving at SUNY Brockport to assume the department chair position, Jones was professor of Theater and Dance at Buffalo State University where he held several positions including chair of the Theater, coordinator of Africana Studies, associate dean of Arts and Sciences, and interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. Professor Jones is also an artistic and educational consultant for the Salve Regina University dance program in Newport, Rhode Island. His work at Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, UCLA, St. Cloud State University, and University of California- Irvine, round out his other academic positions. He has developed and implemented several dance education projects and programs in the K-12 sector through is work with the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, Tapestry Charter School, M.U.S.E., and Bethune Theatredanse/Infinite Dreams, a California based not-for-profit dance company specializing in classes for children and youth with disabilities and impairments. In the private sector, Jones founded and directed the Los Angeles dance training facility Academy 331 Fine Arts Center. He was founding artistic director of Teen Dance Company of the Bay Area, creative advisor to In-Sync Youth Dance Theater, and served as resident artist for Pleien children’s dance company.
Jones began his professional career as a performer and then transitioned to director and choreographer. From concert dance to musical theater to television and film, Jones’ work has appeared on a variety of venues. He landed in the movies I’ll Do Anything, Dance with Me, and Uptown Girls and was featured on the television series Cybill, Howie, the Nanny, and the Drew Carey Show. Among his theatrical credits are Sugar, Man of La Mancha, It’s a Pretty Good Life and Sesame Street Live to name a few. His theatrical directing and choreography credits include: Hairspray, The Magnolia Ballet, Beehive, Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope, Four Guys Named José, West Side Story, Black Nativity, She Hysteric a one woman show with SNL veteran Ellen Gleghorne, Once Upon a Mattress under the direction of television icon Carol Burnet and Hair directed by Broadway legend André DeShields. In addition, he has created dance segments for television and film, including the award-winning film short, Insurance Inc. On the concert stage, Jones has compose works for Jazz Antiqua Dance and Music Ensemble, Rhythmically Speaking, Movement Source Dance Company, Dance Spectrum Alaska, Adage Repertory, Bethune Theatredanse and his self-named, Carlos Jones and Company. He is regularly sought after to composed major jazz works for dance programs across the country.
Jones’ research has seen in several commissioned concert dance works, theatrical productions, and in two seminal books; Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches and in the award-winning Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanists Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century, of which he was also co-editor.
Education
MFA - University of California - Irvine
BA - University of Missouri - Kansas City, Conservatory (Dance with a secondary emphasis in Music)
Areas of Specialty
- Jazz Dance - pedagogy, research, and education
- Tap Dance Technique
- Musical Theater Direction and Choreography
- Arts Administration
- Academic Leadership
- Mentoring undergraduate and graduate creativity and research
Courses Taught
Jazz Dance - Dance for Musical Thater - Dance for the Commercial Industry - Graduate Research Methods - Graduate Pedagogy - Choreography and Composition - Choreography for the Camera
Research Interests
Jazz Dance Creation and Pedagogy and Black American Arts
The Black American dance experience sits at the center of Jones’ research. Specifically, Jones returns to the origin of jazz dance to reclaim omitted histories and ignored social context to construct a framework for creative and pedagogical scholarship. Through his investigations, Jones aims to - liberate bodies that boldly channel connections to cultural heritage, ignite critical conversations that speak about erased narratives and eradicate the infantilizing of diasporic dance forms, guide pedagogical and creative practices that centers the social and kinetic elements of Black American dance, and disrupt ideologies that diminish the world impact of Black American dance.