Alyssa
(Uhh-lee’sa) Gregory

Bio:

Alyssa (Uhh-lee’sa) Gregory, originally from Northern Virginia is a Chicago-based performer, choreographer, teaching artist, and arts administrator. She holds a BFA in Dance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Masters of Arts in Performing Arts Administration from Roosevelt University. During her time in Chicago, she has worked with companies and artists such as The Moving Architects, Joanna Furnans, Kristina Isabelle, The Leopold Group, Jenn Freeman, and Erin Kilmurray. Her work has been presented at the Chicago Fringe Festival, Salonathon, The Fly Honey Show and the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Alyssa teaches dance at Incite Dance Center in Skokie, Illinois and has worked as associate choreographer for The Fly Honey show for the past six years. Alyssa proudly serves as a Board Member for Links Hall. She is currently the Marketing Communications and Membership Manager at The Arts Club of Chicago, Social Media Manager for Honey Pot Performance and Social Media Manager for The Fly Honey Show.

About The Process:

Dreaming, tinkering, note-taking, messing around. Rehearsing, redoing, undoing, rolling upside down. The Process turns the spotlight on what happens long before an audience shows up. Through interviews with Chicago dancemakers and performers, this podcast is about the process, the value in the work and the working, and unpacking the methods by which we create dance. Through my performance residency with Arts & Public Life I will bring the audience into the room to witness the process of dance making for Season 2 of The Process. I would like to follow the creative process of a South Side Chicago dance artist for an entire season.  At the conclusion of Season 2 we will have an in person works-in process showing and a live taping of The Process.

“In the last few years, I’ve realized a high priority for myself is to amplify independent Chicago dance. When I participated in Chicago Takes 10 and worked with Arts + Public Life I could tell that this institution understood and respected Black creative voices. A partnership between Arts + Public Life and the The Process podcast will give a South Side independent dancer/dancemaker space to feel their work being affirmed and validated. By design dance is exclusive. Through this partnership Season 2 will not just be about the creative process of dance but also about the process of dance conversation.

I am a dancer, a dancemaker, a dance teacher, and a dance administrator, but my heart’s ambition is in facilitating valuable artist-centered conversations, being an approachable colleague in the field, and building and deepening our community of dance artists. Making Season 2 of my podcast will not be merely one of the many dance-related things I do, but it will be THE ideal way for me to contribute my passion and vision to the dance field. The partnership with Arts + Public Life will allow my podcast to be seen and heard by a wider audience and help showcase the value in the work and the working, and unveiling the methods by which we create dance through a Black perspective. We deserve more opportunities to tell our stories the right way.”