James “Cricket” Colter is a world renown professional street dancer. He is also a well versed visual artist (sequential art, children’s book illustrations, etc) and director. Mr. Colter (Cricket) has taught globally at numerous hip-hop dance festivals including Bates Dance Festival and the Illadelph Legends Festival. Cricket was a featured dancer in the Disney movie Step Up 2: The Streets and has danced for various recording artists including, Boys II Men, KR...read more
James “Cricket” Colter is a world renown professional street dancer. He is also a well versed visual artist (sequential art, children’s book illustrations, etc) and director. Mr. Colter (Cricket) has taught globally at numerous hip-hop dance festivals including Bates Dance Festival and the Illadelph Legends Festival. Cricket was a featured dancer in the Disney movie Step Up 2: The Streets and has danced for various recording artists including, Boys II Men, KRS-1, Will Smith, Eve, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out-Boy and was a host MTV Japan’s "Dreamers" television show. He has worked with the legendary street dance pioneer Bill "Crutch Master" Shannon, Urban tap dancer, Tamango Van Cayseeleas and London’s best know urban theatrical word smith and curator, Jonzi D. Cricket has produced and directed various dance pieces in Philadelphia, New York City and London, including “Heroes,” a London based hip-hop theater show where he was acted as director and principal costume designer.
Mr. Colter is a part of the “Step-Fenz” dance crew, a NY based dance group that is known for its mix of Bboy and House dance. He is a founding member of Rennie Harris Pure Movement (RHPM) and has worked with the company for over 16 years. He is an original cast member of Rennie Harris’ Bessie award winning multidisciplinary hip-hop theater presentation, “Rome and Jewels.” During his time with RHPM, Cricket was involved in teaching and performing through out the globe and was the leader of Puremovements educational outreach program.
Cricket’s artistic mission is to push the limits of the various movements that exist in Hip-Hop and in other contemporary dance forms, by blending various art forms in order to tell a viable story on the concert dance stage, and rid the stigma that Hip-Hop is merely an athletic form of dance that can only be performed in a showcase setting. He believes through Hip-Hop, complex stories can be told and the boundaries of theater can be pushed by adding the urban/hip-hop aesthetic to costume design, set design, soundscapes, etc. Mr. Colter has recently founded his own company “Concept Kinetics” to accomplish the goal.
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