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CJay Philip

'It’s not your talent that gives you value, but what you do with it.”

2025 Speaking Engagements

  • Jan 24 – Maryland Thespians Festival
    • Keynote
  • Feb 3 – Kennedy Center: Any Given Child Exchange
    • Keynote Panel
  • Feb 20 – Gordon Feinblatt LLC. Game Changers Luncheon
    • Keynote
  • April 25 – CCBC Dance Program
    • Masterclass & Discussion
  • May 19 – Beth El Sisterhood Closing Meeting
    • Keynote

Director | Choreographer | Singer | Songwriter | Actress | Playwright | Poet

Biography

CJay Philip an award-winning actress/director/choreographer, and Artistic Director of Dance & Bmore, a multidisciplinary Baltimore-based ensemble presenting a unique fusion of movement, music, theatrics, and spoken word in their socially conscious and interactive works. Dance & Bmore also designs innovative multigenerational programs to stimulate the imagination and strengthen relationships while building a sense of community and well-being.

Before moving to Baltimore, CJay began her career with the Maude Baum Modern Dance Company and Burundi African Dance in upstate New York. She made her Broadway debut in Big the Musical, appeared in Street Corner Symphony, on Broadway, and was Dance Captain for Hairspray on Broadway. She has toured as Lorrell in Dreamgirls and Paulette in Legally Blonde. CJay has written four works for the stage, including a musical adaptation of Carmen which enjoyed a sold-out European run and the Baltimore production is recognized for artistic excellence in the 2022 and 2023 Tony Award Playbill.

She has directed and choreographed hundreds of musicals and performance events around the world including: The Who’s Tommy, Once on This Island, Ragtime, Marvin’s Trial, the Philadelphia Presidential Summit, the Emmy-award–winning NBC broadcast of the McDonald’s Gospel Fest, the Baltimore African American Festival, WOW (Women of the World) Festival at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and an Upfront for Essences Magazine.

As an arts educator, she’s been program director for the HOPE for kids School of the Arts in NYC and the Baltimore Story Tree Gang addressing social issues through comic storytelling and community talk-backs led by teens. CJay was founding director of the Children’s Theater Production Company at the Gordon Center for the Performing Arts. She taught Interdisciplinary Collaboration at the Baltimore School for the Arts and Musical Theater at Baltimore Centerstage. CJay was a host and producer of the online series The Baltimore Arts Scene and Dance & Bmore Live. CJay is the recipient of a Baker Artist b-grant, a Baltimore Social Innovators Award, Dance Break NYC Award, a Champion of Courage Award, and a 2023 Weaver Award. She is a Robert W Deutsch Fellow and a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow.

CJay's Work

Credits

Broadway Performances:

  • Hairspray (Dance Captain)
  • Street Corner Symphony
  • Big The Musical

Touring Performances:

  • Dreamgirls
  • Legally Blonde
  • Hairspray

Dance Companies:

  • Maude Baum and Co.
  • EBA Dance Theatre
  • Burundi African Dance Troupe

Theatre Directing and Choreography:

  • The Fabulous, The Forefathers, and The Forgotten (Writer, Director, Choreographer)
  • Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope (Director Choreographer)
  • Sweet Charity (Director Choreographer)
  • Seussical (Director)
  • The Wizard of Oz (Director)
  • Black Music Fest: Spotlighting Quincy Jones (Director Choreographer)
  • Voices of Carmen (Writer, Director, Choreographer)
  • Marvin’s Trial (Director)
  • Antigone (Director)
  • Shine (Director)
  • The Who’s Tommy (Choreographer)
  • Once On This Island (Choreographer)
  • Oliver (Choreographer)
  • Once Upon A Mattress (Choreographer)
  • Ragtime (Choreographer)
  • Your Arm’s To Short Too Box With God (Choreographer)
  • Little Shop of Horrors (Choreographer)
  • And more…

100s of Events:

  • Baltimore by Baltimore Fest 2024
  • Upfront for Essences Magazine 2015
  • 50 Fest Extravaganza at Centerstage Director/Choreographer 2012
  • WOW women of the world Festival 2012 at Joseph Meyerhoff
  • Baltimore African American Fest 2010/2011 Main stage Director
  • Miss Black USA in Las Vegas 2008
  • Drowsy Chaperone spoof on stage at Broadways Marque Theatre
  • JFK Memorial
  • Emmy Award Winning McDonald’s Gospel Fest
  • Presidential Summit 2000

Director of Theater for Young Audiences:

  • DAB TCG Adventures
  • HOPE worldwide Story Tree Gang
  • Alice’s Phonics Fantasy
  • Young Playwrights Festival Centerstage
  • Whadawedo
  • Refrigerator Story
  • Read A Book
  • Cindy – A Cinderella Story

Arts Education:

  • Broadway Classroom (Master Classes)
  • Global Arts To Go (Teacher training workshop leader)
  • Founding Director of Children’s Theatre at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts
  • Wingspan Arts (Site Director)
  • Hope For Kids School Of The Arts (Program Director)
  • John Hopkins Center for Social Concern, CSC Dance Consultant.
  • Camp Center Stage
  • Baltimore School for the Arts – Interdisciplinary Collaboration
  • Journey to Broadway
  • Camp Carmen
  • Lyric Modell Broadway Camp

Awards

  • 2024 Excellence in Theater Education Award Winner
  • 2024 Influential Marylander Winner
  • Honorable mention for Excellence in Theater Education in 2022 and 2023 Tony Playbill
  • 2023 Mac Maclure Spirit of Leadership Award
  • 2023 Weaver Award Aspen Institute
  • 2019 Arts Advocate Award
  • 2018 Champion of Courage
  • 2017 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow
  • 2016 Baltimore Social Innovation Award
  • NYC Dance Break showcase for League of Broadway Producers.
  • Choreographer-Emmy award winning NBC McDonald’s Gospel Fest
  • Mary Sawyers Baker Award b grant winner

Mentored By

  • Dr Pearl Primus
  • Mercedes Ellington
  • Hope Clark
  • Liz Lerman
  • Sherwin MacKintosh
  • Susan Stroman
  • Jerry Mitchell
  • Jack O’Brien
  • Marion Caffey
  • Yo Yo Ma
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