Kiki Lucas seems rather young to have accomplished what she has. After earning her B.A. in Dance from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, she moved to Los Angeles, where she pursued her career in dance before finally coming to Houston in 2005.
Now she helps run the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center, a nonprofit organization which offers contemporary dance classes in jazz, ballet, tap, hip-hop, modern dance and yoga for both children and adults.
What she does: Kiki Lucas is the resident choreographer and senior dancer at the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center. She is also director of the Met Too Youth Company. With a strong background in dance, she has trained and performed in everything from classical jazz and ballet to musical theater.
When she's not working at the Dance Center, she's teaching at centers all over the Houston area. In her spare time she's an independent choreographer, touring and teaching in different dance cities including New York, Chicago and San Francisco -- as well as other countries, including Argentina, where she has taught in Buenos Aires the last three years.
What inspires her: It is dancing itself that inspires Kiki Lucas. She has always danced. "I've been dancing since I was three." But she didn't know she would end up being a choreographer. It was during her junior year in college that she really started getting into it. Kiki was part of a student choreography showcase from which she was handpicked to go to nationals and choreograph at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
"That was my first big gig and first motivation for being a choreographer. It was like, wow, I didn't know I had that in me."
If not this, then what? Kiki sees herself as a very artsy person and says that if she weren't a choreographer, she would definitely be doing something else in the arts.
"I love music. I sing. I paint. I do a lot of poetry. I'm a very artistic person. I don't ever see myself behind a desk."
If not here, then where? Right away she says that if she weren't living in Houston, then she'd be back in L.A. "I loved my life in Los Angeles. I had a great time. I miss it every day."
But she has also been very happy here in Houston, "Houston's a great city. There's a lot to offer in the city. It's a great art environment and I use that to grow everyday."
What's next: The Houston Metropolitan Dance Center is preparing for its upcoming fundraiser, Flash Dance; which per press materials will be a night of "mingling with the dancers, drinks, nibbles and of course dancing." Kiki and the other artistic staff have also been constantly preparing for the center's April concert, Signature Works.
As for herself, Kiki is getting ready to head back to South America, to teach dance in Argentina and later in Colombia. She will also be teaching intensive workshops in Florida and Hawaii in August.
More Creatives for 2012 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page).
J.J. Johnston, theater director Mary Margaret Hansen, artist Richard Tallent, photographer Viswa Subbaraman, opera director Emily Sloan, sculptor and performance artist Sonja Roesch, gallery owner Enrique Carreón-Robledo, conductor Sandy Ewen, musician Camella Clements, puppeteer Wade Wilson, gallery owner Magid Salmi, photographer Carl Williams, playwright
