christina jamilie massad
in the beginning...
My training began at 3 years old at The School of the Georgia Ballet where I trained in classical ballet and modern for 13 years under the direction of now Hamburg Ballet administrator Gina "Gigi" Hyatt-Mazon. Here I performed as Clara in George Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" at 10 years old. My training continued on at Powerhouse Dance Center for 2 years where I trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and hip-hop and began competition dance.
collegiate level
My training was taken to a new level during my collegiate years at Kennesaw State University's Department of Dance where I performed in works by national and international choreographers including Israel's Ambassador of Dance Ido Tadmor, Ella Ben-Aharon, Dr. Ivan Pulinkala, James Graham, Sean Nguyen-Hilton, Christine Welker and more. Between workshops with Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Vertigo Dance Company, Ate9 Dance Company, and several Gaga/dancer classes, my movement research ignited and began gravitating towards the Israeli contemporary dance scene. My senior choreographic work, "is rael i" was chosen to be presented in the 2018 Spring Concert out of 18 other dance works.
During my time at KSU, I was awarded the: "Outstanding Student" (2018) in my Media Studies & Entertainment major which included having the highest GPA among all of my classmates, the "Outstanding Senior" (2018) in the Dance Department scholarship as well as the "Outstanding Freshman" (2014) scholarship in my Dance major, was named to the President's & Dean's List (2014-2018), received the HOPE scholarship (2014-2018), served as the KSU Dance Company Social Media Officer for three consecutive years, and interned for Fly on a Wall. I also presented my research: "The Fascination with Israeli Dance: From Aesthetic trends to Gaga to Choreography and Everything In-Between" at RADnocular (2018).
dancing
I am grateful and honored to have danced professionally in stage works for The Atlanta Opera, Omar Román de Jesús of Bocatuya Dance Company from New York, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, Dr. Ivan Pulinkala, CoreDance's ChoreoLab with John McFall, Sean Nguyen-Hilton, Rachel Truitt, Nathan Griswold, Nadya Zeitlin, Angelita Itzanami Andrade of SOMOS, and Fly on a Wall. I've worked on set as a featured dancer in the music dance film, OneLife with dance industry filmmaker and choreographer, Otis Sallid and BarkBark Productions and as a dancer in Michael B Jordan’s Netfllix series, Raising Dion. I've also worked on set as the featured soloist dancer in the iann dior x Gunna "Strings" music video directed by Trey Lyons and ATLAS Productions.
teaching
I am currently teaching multiple levels of ballet, contemporary, and strength & conditioning at Footnotes Dance & Acrobatics. Through Fly on a Wall, I’ve created a new program titled Open Bounce where I teach dance to children who are currently experiencing homelessness or who have previously experienced homelessness at Restoration Atlanta (RATL) once a week.
choreography
I am currently choreographing a concert contemporary stage work for Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre's Student Company titled, "yalla" to premiere in Spring 2024.
I am also currently co-choreographing a new children's work for The Alliance Theatre for The Very Young set to premiere in March 2024.
In the past, my choreographic stage work, "is rael i" has been presented at the KSU Dance Senior Concert (2018), Modern Atlanta Dance Festival (MAD) 2019 and at Excuse The Art (2021). I've also choreographed competition pieces and am always open to those bookings.
