Choreographer
The Galveston Texas native, Dacia James-Lewis, has been imprinting her love of dance with audiences since her pigtail days.
Introduced to ballet, jazz and tap as a kid, Dacia developed a curiosity for the world of fine arts early. From there, her love of dance grew and in January 2005 Dacia packed up her car and headed to the city of “Bright Lights.” She hit the ground running as a freelance production assistant for commercials, television shows and films. It was when she landed the job as an assistant on the set of the critically acclaimed 2006 musical drama -- Dreamgirls that things began to change. With the gift of dance and a learned skill in television production under her belt, Dacia began dreaming a bigger dream for herself.
Dacia received what most would call her “big break” when she was asked to move to the other side of the camera. She hit the Grammy stage with Kanye West in the performance of a lifetime to the five times multi-platinum single, “Gold Digger.” She continued her work as a production assistant to pay the bills and in her spare time, auditioned for various dance jobs. As she enhanced her skills, many windows of opportunity opened. She began to saturate the dance scene in music award shows and commercials, working with multi-platinum and Grammy Award winning artists like Usher, Stevie Wonder, Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Black Eyed Peas, Ludacris, Ashanti, Jaime Foxx, Cee Lo Green and more.
Dacia made several appearances on shows like VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Soul Train Awards, Fashion Rocks, MTV Awards, and television’s top rating reality show Dancing with the Stars, to name a few. But her talent doesn’t stop there; she was introduced to the big screen and has emerged in film and television. Dacia can be seen in feature films such as Footloose, Dreamgirls, Stomp the Yard2: Homecoming, Diary of a Tired Black Man, and many episodes of the hit Nickelodeon television show Fresh Beat Band.
After many years of dance Dacia has transitioned into her dream world of choreography and artist development. She has worked as an assistant choreographer on Fox Network’s no. 1 entertainment program American Idol along with shows such as: X-factor, BET Honors, El Networks, Rossi & Michelle Show, and Stompin’. She has also inspired the commercial campaign stage with her work on Pantene Pro-V’s Dare to Compare campaign and the 2012 national Weight Watchers Campaign Commercials featuring the Academy Award winning Jennifer Hudson. From early morning shows like Good Morning America to the Late Show with David Letterman, Dacia’s choreography is captivating this country performance after performance. Her work has also been seen on the CBS Early Show, BET’s 106 & park, Essence Music Festival, NAACP Image Awards, as well as MTV’s Rob & Big. She continues to make her
mark across the globe traveling to such places as Japan, Taiwan, and Korea where she had the opportunity to work with artists and groom the international superstars of tomorrow. With artist development, Dacia is able to work closely with the artist to pull the passion of performances out. “It’s exciting to see the finished product. I love working with new & upcoming artist. They have a sense of drive that fuels my fire.” Dacia ignited the super stardom of the Grammy nominated, Nigerian sensation, Tiwa Savage. She also helped bring out the inner diva of America’s Dreamgirl, Jennifer Hudson and had the great honor of working on the creative direction and choreography for Hudson’s “I Remember Me” Tour. Each day is a day of new opportunities, so be sure to stay tuned as Dacia James-Lewis continues to leave her footprints in the world of choreography.