Here is an article about Kujo in the L.A. Times, from the Sunday, December 30th, 2007 issue:
Faces to Watch in Dance for 2008
JACOB 'KUJO' LYONS
BREAK DANCER-CROSSOVER CHOREOGRAPHER WHO'S NOT SLOWING DOWN
THE B-boy/break-dance scene is a world unto itself, and although Lyons has been a fixture in it for 15 years, the rest of us discovered him only recently, when he turned up as a stunt dancer for various local companies -- doing handstands on ice, for example, or fearsome gymnastic whirling balances that even L.A.'s hell-for-leather modernists don't attempt. But he didn't stop there: He slowed down complex steps for maximum control and even found a dimension of lyricism in them, and he premiered his inventive crossover choreography at some of the Southland's most prestigious showcase events.
At 31, he still dances brilliantly and heads his own company (Lux Aeterna), but he also helps create opportunities for others in such portmanteau events as "Breaking the Cypher," which he co-produced at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in October. He's obviously poised for breakout success in 2008, and it's possible that commercial dance will gobble him up ASAP. But some of us are hoping that his street style and aptitude for contemporary dance theater will keep him grounded and intent on exploring realms of physical prowess that no one in any academy ever envisioned. – Lewis Segal, LA Times
The next major endeavor for Lux Aeterna will be a premiere for the festival "Celebrate Dance 2008," to be held at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on March 15th, 2008.
Celebrate Dance 2008
8pm Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Alex Theatre
216 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale CA 91203
Tickets: 818-243-ALEX
Visit CelebrateDance.org or AlexTheatre.org for more information and ticket info.
Here is Lux Aeterna's new demo reel! Edited by Ameenah Kaplan.
And here is a new version of "Sephiroth," performed at the San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest in November 2007.
Choreographed by Jacob "Kujo" Lyons and dancers
Performed by Amy "Catfox" Campion, Steve Cisneros, Sara "Ms. Mighty" Fenton, Mariesha "Gifted Element" Griffin, Jacob "Kujo" Lyons, and Animal "Anibal" Sandoval
This is the promo video for "Breaking the Cypher," an evening-length work that premiered at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood in October 2007.
Co-Artistic Directors: Jacob "Kujo" Lyons & Amy "Catfox" Campion
Choreography: Jacob "Kujo" Lyons (Lux Aeterna Dance Company), Amy "Catfox" Campion (Antics Performance), Sara "Ms. Mighty" Fenton (Get Down Dolls), and Pei Pei "Peppa" Yuan (Outer Circle)
This is the film and dance sequence performed by Lux Aeterna Dance Company as part of the evening-length show "Breaking the Cypher," performed at the Ford Ampitheatre in October 2007.
"Lux Underwater"
Directed by Alex "Journey" Mercado
Choreographed by Jacob "Kujo" Lyons and the dancers of Lux Aeterna in collaboration with Alex Mercado
Performed by Amy "Catfox" Campion, Steve Cisneros, Sara "Ms. Mighty" Fenton, Jacob "Kujo" Lyons, and Anibal "Animal" Sandoval
"Beached"
Choreographed by Jacob "Kujo" Lyons and the dancers of Lux Aeterna
Performed by Amy "Catfox" Campion, Steve Cisneros, Sara "Ms. Mighty" Fenton, Mariesha "Gifted Element" Griffin, Jacob "Kujo" Lyons, and Anibal "Animal" Sandoval
Lux Aeterna performing our second piece, "Sephiroth," at Carnival:
Lux Aeterna performing our first piece, "Navaras," at the San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest:
This was a sneak preview of one of the pieces we premiered at "Breaking the Cypher," a show co-directed by Amy "Catfox" Campion and myself, at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. The piece is titled "Decyphering" and was co-choreographed by Amy and myself.
This is our second demo video for Breaking the Cypher, edited by Sara "Ms. Mighty" Fenton.
And here's the application video we sent to the Ford Amphitheater for Breakin' The Cypher. This video features four groups: Lux Aeterna, Get Down Dolls, Antics Performance, and Outer Circle. Enjoy!
Lux Aeterna Acrobatic Dance Company
Founder, Director, and Choreographer
Jacob "Kujo" Lyons
REVIEWS:
"...Combined flamboyant gymnastics with surging modern or jazz dance - components juxtaposed with ultimate flash in Jacob "Kujo" Lyons' large-scale showpiece "Navaras," in which the women provided the choreographic flow and the men the explosive flips and vaults."
- Lewis Segal, LA Times
"The evening's last dance was a premiere entitled "Navaras." 11 skilled, athletic and energetic dancers, who moved to music by Juno Reactor, joined the choreographer/dancer, Jacob "Kujo" Lyons. Nicknames listed in the program for most of the performers in "Lux Eterna" (a movement within "Navaras"), added yet another dimension to the machinations."
- Diane Monroe, Beverly Hills Outlook
"L.A.'s Lux Aeterna Dance Company was something else altogether, a septet of capoeira-trained daredevils who strut like Cirque du Soleil characters before launching into flips or holding Gumby-like handstands that make yoga look like child's play. Jaw-dropping? Yes. Hip-hop? Not in my book. But it takes a festival like Micaya's to show us -- and challenge us to reconsider -- just how diverse, amorphous and all-embracing hip-hop can now be."
- Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle
"One real misfit was Lux Aeterna Dance Company from Los Angeles, a septet of sleekly buffed and painted. Theirs was an athletically showy but emotionally hard-edged physicality...."
- Rita Felciano, Dance View Times
"Los Angeles-based Lux Aeterna (a great name for a company) bowed at the festival with Jacob "Kujo" Lyons' Navaras, a seven dancer opus involving sculptural tableaux, body painting, sudden dives to the floor, infusions of Brazilian capoeira and extremely effective lighting."
- Allan Ulrich, Voice of Dance
"Later in the program, the brawny Lux Aeterna had a slightly different take, merging capoeira with hip hop beats in a more fully-realized work titled "Navaras", to the music of the same name by Juno Reactor. Colored in twining silver body paint against a blood red screen, the five dancers seemed tinged with the slime of urban dystopia. Less refined than gymnastic, nevertheless, the dancers made good use of their charismatic physicality, and Jacob "Kujo" Lyons' fearless tumbles across the floor, planches and gymnastic flares, while seemingly out of context, were impressive nonetheless."
- Mary Ellen Hunt, Contra Costa Times
DESCRIPTION
Kujo's Lux Aeterna Dance Company is a living experiment in movement fusion, seamlessly blending the raw aggression of Breaking and the powerful grace of Gymnastics, Capoeira, & the Circus Arts with the refined beauty of Ballet & Modern Dance, resulting in a refreshingly new & unique approach to performance art.
LUX AETERNA
"Eternal light" in Latin, Lux Aeterna denotes the very essence of human nature from which our wealth of creativity originates.
DANCERS
Jacob "Kujo" Lyons
Mariesha "Gifted Element" Griffin
Sara "Ms Mighty" Fenton
Amy "Catfox" Campion
Hokuto "Hawk" Konishi
Sarah Moser
Anibal "Animal" Sandoval
Steve "Xtra Credit" Cisneros
INSPIRATIONS
Pamela Brown:
"To dance is to express oneself. To dance ballet is to use oneself to express something beyond oneself."
Taking this thought as inspiration, Kujo has decided it is not the style of Ballet, per se, that facilitates the ability of the Ballet dancer to express something beyond himself, but rather the intention of the dancer or choreographer. With the proper intention as a starting point, the dancer or choreographer can then use any style of dance (or other movement form) in order to accomplish his lofty goals of, for example, displaying the magnificent beauty and sublime potential of the human being. With this intention in mind, it is equally possible that an unorthodox style of dance, such as Breaking (Break-Dancing), Boogaloo, or House, may be used in facilitating such a goal. While we don’t yet claim to have succeeded in expressing something so sublime as to beyond ourselves, this is indeed our creative goal.
Bruce Lee:
"Research your own experiences on the truth. Absorb what is useful… Add what is specifically your own… Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style."
With this philosophy in mind, we have developed an entirely unique and eclectic style of dance – fusing elements of Ballet and Modern Dance, Gymnastics, Capoeira, the Circus Arts, Breaking, Boogaloo, and House – which we refer to alternately as All-Terrain (or Alter-Reign) Dance, Contemporary Acrobatic Dance, Lyrical Breaking, etc. We have taken from each of these established styles what works, discarded what doesn’t work, added our own unique ideas, and wound up with something entirely our own.
Bruce Lee:
"If you think a thing impossible, you’ll make it impossible."
‘Nuff said.
Jacob Lyons, a.k.a. Krazy Kujo
Myspace: www.myspace.com/bigbadbuffalo
Website: www.krazykujo.com
..
Mariesha Griffin, a.k.a. Gifted Element
Myspace: www.myspace.com/rieshaelements
Sara Fenton, a.k.a. Ms Mighty
Myspace: www.myspace.com/msmighty
Amy Campion, a.k.a. Catfox
Myspace: www.myspace.com/bgirlcatfox
Hokuto Konishi, a.k.a. Hok, a.k.a. Bazilisk
Myspace: www.myspace.com/hok
