Raja Feather Kelly
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Raja Feather Kelly | |
|---|---|
 Kelly interviewed on HowlRound in 2021 | |
| Born | 1986 or 1987 (age 38–39)[1] |
| Education | Connecticut College (BA) |
| Known for | Choreography |
| Awards | Doris Duke Artist Award (2025) |
| Website | thefeath3rtheory |
Raja Feather Kelly is an American dancer and choreographer based in Brooklyn who is notable for his "radical downtown surrealist" productions which combine "pop and queer culture".[2][3] He has choreographed numerous theatrical productions, including Fairview and A Strange Loop.[2] He is the artistic director of his dance company called The Feath3r Theory,[1] and he serves as the artistic director of the New Brooklyn Theatre.[4]
Kelly grew up in Fort Hood, Texas and later in Long Branch, New Jersey,[2] where he graduated from Long Branch High School and was selected to participate in the theater program of the Governor's School of the Arts.[5] He attended Connecticut College where he studied English and poetry and dance, graduating in 2009.[2][6]
Career
Reviewer Sara Aridi in The New York Times wrote that "one leaves a performance of Raja's infected by his curiosity, love of craft and just plain outrageousness."[1] His choreography was described in Vogue magazine as combining social dance with the black vernacular.[7] Critic Brian Schaefer in The New York Times wrote that Kelly's choreography has a "lighter touch, a flirty wink and a queer sensibility" that "treats pop culture as a kind of religion itself."[8] A prime influence of Kelly in his approach to dance was the American visual and pop artist Andy Warhol.[9][8] Kelly has raised money for dance production by hosting telethons out of his apartment.[10]
In 2020, Kelly directed and choreographed an Off-Broadway production of We're Gonna Die by Young Jean Lee. It opened in Second Stage Theater's Tony Kiser Theater on February 4 and was scheduled to run through March 22.[11]
Awards and honors
In 2025, Kelly received a Doris Duke Artist Award, "the largest prize in the United States that is dedicated to individual performing artists" from the Doris Duke Foundation.[12]
In addition, he has received the following awards and honors:
- National Dance Project Production Grant, 2019[13]
- New York Live Arts (2019)[1]
SDCF Commission Award (2019)[14][15] - Randjelovic-Stryker Award (2019)[4]
- Harkness Promise Award (2018)[16]
- Carthorse Fellowship (2018)[9]
- Solange MacArthur Award (2016)[9]
- Dancemapolitan Award (2016)[9]
- NYFA Choreography Fellow (2016)[9]
- Dixon Place Dance Artist (2015)[9]
- Dance Web Scholar (2009)[9]