B i o g r a p h y
Photo By Dennis Johnston
Director and Founder Ja’ Malik was inspired to create Ballet Boy Productions in response to the growing number of deaths in America of young black men.
Ja’ Malik credits his dance training as a life-saving opportunity while growing up in the often rough urban neighborhood of Cleveland Ohio. In 2022 Ja' Malik was appointed Artistic Director of Madison Ballet. Now in his second season in 2023 he was named Interim Executive Director.
“BALLET SAVED MY LIFE… AND I WANT TO OFFER THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES TO OTHER YOUNG MEN OF COLOR"
- JA’ MALIK
A former member of Cleveland Ballet, Oakland Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Nathan Trice Rituals, City Dance Ensemble, Ballet Hispanico, and Ballet X.
Ja' Malik is quickly becoming an in-demand choreographer based in Harlem New York. So far has created works for North Carolina Dance Theater 2, Oakland Ballet, and CityDance Ensemble of Washington D.C. for which his work “Broken Prayers” was considered a "high point..." and was mentioned as "a choreographer who shows a fine eye" by Pamela Squires of the Washington Post.
He has also self-produced his own work in Harlem Stages E-Moves 10th anniversary season and The 2009 Reverb Choreographic Project.
In 2010 Ja' Malik was invited to present his work in Ballet Builders 20th anniversary and final presentation, E-Moves 11, the historic 92nd Street Y Noon Dance Series and The Young Choreographers Showcase where he was named a "Choreographer to Watch" by Roslyn Sulcas of The New York Times for his ballet “The Hour Before”.
In 2012 Ja’ Malik’s solo “A Love Sonnet”\*Farewell* was chosen as a Division 1 Finalist in the 15th annual Choreography Festival presented by the McCallum Theater of Palm Desert California. Performed to great reviews and audience applause by Principal Dancer Brooklyn Mack of The Washington Ballet.
In the fall of 2013 Ja’ Malik created a new work “Brief Company” for The Columbia Ballet Collaborative in NYC which garnered rave reviews, “Ja' makes excellent use of the classical ballet vocabulary in a contemporary setting and his dancers met all the demands of the choreography with both energy and artistry” Philip Gardner, Oberons Grove. In winter 2014 a new work “Variations On A Grosso” was created for Craig Salstein’s Intermezzo Dance Company.
2015 saw Ja' Malik venture into the theater world. He choreographed the play “Miss Julie” by August Strindberg on the August Strindberg Repertory Co. Later that year he created his second new creation on Craig Salstein’s Intermezzo Dance Company "Journey To Pandora".
Ja' Malik is the proud recipient of the 2016 CUNY Dance Initiative Residency. This residency, in partnership with Kingsborough College, provided him with space and time to workshop material for a new ballet which will premier in 2019. He is also the proud recipient of the 2016 Project Plie Scholarship from American Ballet Theater to become a certified ABT Curriculum Teacher.
2018 marked the relaunch and full realization of Ballet Boy Productions.
Ja' Malik is a 2019 Choreographic Resident apart of UNCSA's Summer Choreographic Institution. His new ballet will premiere July 20th in Winston-Salem NC.
August 2019 marked the final Performance of Ballet Boy Productions at the 38th Annual Battery Dance Festival in NYC, NY.
Ja' Malik has served as Assistant choreographer to Camille A. Brown on The Public Theater's 2019 production of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls..."
