Kujo's Bio
Of Jacob “Kujo†Lyons, former L.A. Times critic Lewis Segal says, “there is no more-brilliant choreographer in Los Angeles.†(televised interview, Channel LA36)
Recently featured as one of the L.A. Times’ Faces to Watch in 2008, Kujo directs and choreographs a small, award-winning dance company called Lux Aeterna that is now making major waves in the L.A.-area dance scene. Kujo’s eclectic, hybrid choreography has been called “drop-dead awesome†by the L.A. Times, and draws from his vast experience in breaking/break-dancing, as well as his more recent training in ballet, modern dance, and Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatic partnering, or “body-to-body.â€
Lux Aeterna regularly performs to sold-out crowds at major hip hop and contemporary dance festivals, such as the San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest, Celebrate Dance, L.A. Dance Invitational, the Lester Horton Dance Awards, and Breaking the Cypher at the huge Ford Amphitheatre, an evening-length hip hop dance/theater show that Kujo also co-directed. Kujo and Lux Aeterna were presented with a 2007 Lester Horton Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance for their work in breaking choreographic boundaries.
In preparing for this revolutionary choreographic work, Kujo took a tangent from his remarkable b-boy career, beginning to study dance more formally. He’s studied modern dance (Limon technique) and ballet with Dr. Paula Thomson from Toronto, postmodern dance (Cunningham technique) with Rudy Perez from New York, and acrobatic partnering with Stephan Choiniere of Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity.
A staple of the b-boy world for 16 years, Kujo is internationally recognized for his explosive, unorthodox, and pioneering style. After bursting on to the international scene in the music video It’s Like That by Run DMC, Kujo (along with his legendary crew, Soul Control) helped to blaze trails in power moves and creative freeze transitions. He’s competed in major international competitions in Germany, England, and Korea, and now judges some of the world’s biggest b-boy battles, such as Battle of the Year in Germany, Eurobattle in Portugal, and Red Bull’s BC One in South Africa.
A creative daredevil as well as a b-boy, Kujo also trains in Parkour/free running, and can currently be seen back-flipping into a pair of jeans in an online stealth advertisement for Levi’s, which is currently one of the world’s most-watched videos.
Kujo teaches world-wide as well, spreading awareness of the dynamic art of breaking through master classes and workshops in studios, dance conventions, and colleges in places like Canada, Germany, Italy, Holland, Japan, and South Africa. He’s also taught at the elite level, with special workshops for the Red Bull Beat Riders and Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam. Kujo has been teaching ongoing weekly breaking classes at the world-renowned Edge Performing Arts Center for over 6 years.
Here is an article about me 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
Next up: BreakFest 2008!
Also in July: "Montage," by Wonderworld Entertainment and featuring Lux Aeterna Dance Company!
WONDERWORLD ENTERTAINMENT Presents "MONTAGE" A Grand Show of Circus Daring and Skill Featuring Former Artists of Cirque Du Soleil at El Portal Theatre Six Performances Only July 25-27
CAST:
Starring former members of Cirque Du Soleil.
PERFORMANCES:
July 25-27, 2008
Friday, July 25 at 8pm
Saturday, July 26 at 2pm, 5pm & 8pm
Sunday, July 27 at 2pm & 5pm
TICKET INFORMATION:
Call 818-508-4200 or 866-811-4111 or order online
ElPortalTheatre.com
WHERE:
El Portal Theatre – Mainstage
5269 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
At the corner of Lankershim & Weddington
PARKING:
Complimentary parking at the corner of Weddington & Bakman and across Lankershim in the NoHo Commons Retail parking lot...just follow the red signs.
Link to the video below:
www.ElPortalTheatre.com/Montage.html
"Breaking the Cypher" returns!
Saturday August 9th 8pm and Sunday August 10th 7pm 2008
El Portal Theatre
5269 Lankershim Blvd E.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
And later this year, I'll be co-directing, and performing in, the JUiCE Hip Hop Dance Festival!
Footage from some master classes I taught in Denver, Colorado:
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Our "Guys backflip into jeans" viral video was featured on ABC News' "Good Morning America"!
Check me out in this viral video, "Guys backflip into jeans"! Over 3.6 million views on Youtube so far!
Here's a story on Celebrate Dance from Dance Channel TV, featuring Kujo and Lux Aeterna:
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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.
My new website: krazykujo.com .
My new demo reel , edited by Alex "Zensei" Mercado .
My judge's showcase at "Euro Battle" in Portugal, May 2006.
I am an utterly epic individual. My conversations - on the rare occasion that I have something beyond a mere superficial exchange of greetings - are epic. My relationships with women are epic. My friendships - the ones worth mentioning - are epic. The stories I tell through my dancing are epic. The themes and choreography exhibited by my dance company are likewise epic. My favorite movies are epics! A life worth living should be nothing less.
I make the impossible possible.
I'm almost entirely deaf; despite that, I make a living as a professional dancer. And WHAT.
Bboy/Anti-Bboy. One or the other, depending on who you ask. However, if you ask me, I would say that I prefer to exist as both that and not-that at once: a walking contradiction.
Founding member of the world-famous Soul Control Crew : December 1995 to 2008 and beyond.
Dance instructor (at The Edge in Hollywood, and world-wide). Edge classes: Sundays, Intermediate class at 2:30pm and Beginning class at 3:30pm. Check the ad.
World traveller (26 countries and 24 states so far). Since I'm bored shitless at 2:30am, I shall now proceed to list those 26 countries in chronological order:
1. Germany (6 times)
2. Mexico (5 times)
3. Italy (6 times)
4. Canada (13 times)
5. England
6. Thailand
7. New Zealand
8. Australia
9. Norway
10. Korea (4 times)
11. Holland (4 times)
12. Switzerland
13. Poland
14. Spain
15. Denmark
16. France (3 times)
17. Austria
18. Japan (4 times)
19. Singapore
20. Portugal (4 times)
21. Greece
22. China
23. Martinique
24. Ireland
25. Russia (2 times)
26. South Africa
Producer of dance films: "Kujo: The Flying Water Buffalo" (2000), "Detours: An Experimental Dance Collaboration" (2002), and "Detours: Extended Trails" (2004).
Occasional Hollywood stuntman with the Hollywood Ninja team .
Full-time student of Kinesiology at Cal Stage Northridge.
Circus artist, working with the Wonder World circus company in Los Angeles.
Avid reader. See insanely extensive book list below.
Lover of wisdom, student of life and all things philosophical, religious, and spiritual: Kabbalah , Hinduism, Rosicrucianism , the Egyptian mystery schools, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Zen, Christianity, Gnosticism , Islam, Sufism , Baha'i , Religious Science , Conversations-With-God-ism ....
...All in all, the most normal/psychotic, intellectual/idiotic, mature/puerile, and exciting/boring person you've never met - but should!