With the dance industry thriving in Los Angeles, it’s important to encourage the choreographers who are creating and developing their work in this town. Club Jeté, which recently celebrated its sixth anniversary, has become a hub for well-established and new choreographers to get their pieces in front of industry professionals.
Club Jeté’s producer, Tiffany Billings, has created a monthly showcase that has attracted choreographers from all over the globe. It bills itself as “LA’s premier dance experience” and September’s show had artists flying in from Italy, Japan and Canada.
Billings explained to Dance Dish why this international impact means so much to her.
“It’s the community coming together and supporting each other. To come here once a month and see the camaraderie, support, passion and love — that’s exactly why I created this show,” she said. “I want the choreographers and performers to feel safe to try something new because the stage is so small and the audience is a foot away. I want them to try something out of the box.”
Club Jeté has seen many familiar dance industry faces perform on that stage over the years like Tony Testa, Fik-Shun, Kyle Hanagami and Season 14 So You Think You Can Dance contestant Robert Green. This year, Billings decided to expand her reach with the monthly showcase.
“In 2017, it was my mission to get new and upcoming artists to give them an opportunity on my stage,” she explained. “This fiscal year from September to September, we’ve had 198 original dance pieces on that stage and that’s around 2200 dancers in one year with one show a month. We are already booked through March of 2018.”
Billings has seen Club Jeté alumni go on to book the tour of The Lion King, work with Lady Gaga, appear as a contestant for SYTYCD and even gain admission to the revered arts school, Juilliard. She knows that her blueprint for Club Jeté is working.
She is aiming to take the show to a bigger level in the next few years by taking the show internationally. Billings attributes the success in the dance industry over the last decade to a community more focused on dance history and what that means moving forward in the arts.
“As an educator and producer, I can see how we are redirecting our dance community and that has a lot to do with the support in the media and the shows that are on TV, in film or on the web.”
Club Jeté’s next showcase is Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 10:30 p.m. at Rage Night Club in West Hollywood. Visit their website for more information.
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