Kujo

Interests: Dance theater - producing, directing, choreographing, performing
Profession: Producer, director, choreographer, performer, university student

Motto: Making the impossible possible!

Profile
Jacob "KUJO" Lyons has been active in the B-Boy scene for 15 years, and is committed to expanding the scope and vocabulary of the dance form, as well as teaching and demonstrating the versatility of breaking and illustrating its compatibility with other art forms. As a B-Boy, he is almost entirely self-taught, which gives him a raw, unique, and immediately recognizable style.

A founding member of the world renowned B-Boy crew "Soul Control," KUJO also known as "The Flying Buffalo", has toured nationally and internationally, performing, competing, judging competitions, speaking on panels, teaching, and sharing his ideas with dancers the world over. After appearing in the well-known music video, Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins: "It's Like That," KUJO made an impact on the world-wide B-Boy community with his explosive movements and his wild, unforgettable style, and has helped to influence the course of the dance's evolution over the past decade.

KUJO's credits include working on projects with some of the biggest names in the Hip Hop world. He's worked in music videos with such Hip Hop artists as Run DMC, KRS-1, Eminem, Pharaoh Monche, and Naughty by Nature, and performed onstage with Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, and the Wu Tang Clan. With his B-Boy crew "Soul Control," he has performed and competed internationally at such B-Boy events as Germany's Splash, England's UK B-Boy Championships, Korea's World Hip Hop Festival, and Leonardo DiCaprio's 24th birthday celebrity celebration in Hollywood.

KUJO often participates in the fiercely competitive arena of breaking as a guest judge, presiding over such events as the Battle of the Year competitions in Germany, France, Poland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Japan, Korea, China, and Russia; Red Bull's Lords of the Floor in Seattle; Parachute in New Zealand; the 604 Hip Hop Expo in Vancouver; and Floor Skills in Singapore. KUJO was also the first American B-Boy accepted into Montreal’s Cirque Du Soleil, and has most recently worked with them as a consultant on a project for their Las Vegas "The Beatles: Love" show, which was featured on CBS; "60 Minutes."

Since taking a step back from the competitive arena, KUJO now spends much of his time teaching. He has taught workshops and master classes all over Europe, as well as in Canada, Japan, Italy, and Australia, and currently teaches weekly classes at The Edge Performing Arts Center in Hollywood. He has also taught the art of breaking to the performers of Cirque Du Soleil's "Quidam."

KUJO also spends much of his time choreographing with his own dance theater company, Lux Aeterna, performing to wide critical acclaim at both Hip Hop and Contemporary dance festivals, such as the San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest, the Lester Horton Dance Awards, and the LA Dance Invitational.