Christopher J. Peacock was born in Thomaston, Georgia, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. While in the first grade, he discovered a passion for the art of dance after observing a rehearsal for a school-wide program. He began his formal training at Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey (KCFAA) where he studied ballet, modern, and jazz. While attending classes at KCFAA, he continued his study of ballet at Kansas City Ballet. He continued his training by studying various styles of dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Christopher, a graduate of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Speech Communication. While attending college, dance and choreography continued to pique his interest. After graduating, he found employment at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy. He served as the Director of the Young Entrepreneurial Spirits Program as well as the Dance Director. He taught ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop classes to elementary and middle school students who performed at school functions, special events, programs, and annual dance recitals.
In 2003, Christopher joined the staff at Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA) as a teaching artist and instructed hip-hop classes. His artistry and attention to detail displayed during performances caught the attention of many Arts and business organizations throughout the community. He was invited to feature his choreography in the opening of Kansas City Public Television’s (KCPT) “Get Smart with the Arts” TV Special. He also organized and choreographed a city-wide flash mob as one of the many pop-up performances that took place throughout the city during the Fringe Festival later that same year.
Christopher continued to expand his artistic horizons by co-creating and organizing a Christian hip-hop dance crew entitled, “D.U.I.” which stands for “Dancing Under the Influence of Christ”. This allowed him the opportunity to experience concert-level performances. Because of the unique entertaining qualities this dynamic group offered, D.U.I. was featured as the opening act for several Gospel artists such as Tye Tribbett & Greater Anointing, J-Moss, John P. Kee, Rizen, Israel & New Breed, DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet, as well as local artists in the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan area.
In 2007, Christopher decided to pursue a professional dance career and began traveling to New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Texas, Las Angeles, Seattle, and Denver to further cultivate his technique and artistry as a performer and choreographer. As his talents in dance and choreography continued to mature, he began to receive invitations to collaborate on various projects which allowed him to experience professional opportunities as a performer. As a result, Christopher is an experienced dancer, stage director, and choreographer and has served in all three capacities for professional stage plays, music videos, theater productions, and dance performances throughout the years. As a result of these rich experiences, Christopher has performed as a member of several dance companies as well such as Storling Dance Theatre, Premiere Ballet of Kansas City, Owen Cox Dance Group, Dramatic Truth, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Imago Dei Dance Company, and Williams Henry Contemporary Dance Company.
In 2010, and in the spirit of giving back, Christopher began offering free ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop classes to the youth of the Parker Square Community and were held at the Gus Owen Community Center in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2012, Christopher was invited to serve as a group leader for the summer at KCFAA’s annual Ailey Camp. He was quickly promoted to ballet instructor the following year. Later that same year, he was invited to join the KCFAA staff as a teaching artist and taught modern, jazz, and ballet classes for elementary and high school students.
In 2013, Christopher was hired as the Arts Coordinator at Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. In this position, he was responsible for student recruitment, weekly meetings with the arts departments, coordinating the audition process, developing arts and business partnerships, establishing internships, job-shadowing, on-the-job training opportunities, research philanthropic and grant opportunities to support the various art programs, just to name a few. In 2015, Christopher launched Victory In Motion Contemporary Dance Company (VIMCDC) as a creative outlet for spiritual expression and operates in the spirit of excellence. The company strives to create original performances that positively impact our culture and community.
Currently, Christopher serves as the new Director of Arts Education at KCYA. His primary responsibilities are focused on teaching artists, supporting the various arts programs, and developing new programs that demonstrate the transformational power of arts integration in education. In addition to managing teaching artists and program quality, Christopher also serves as the lead representative for the Kennedy Center Partners in Education program. This partnership is between Liberty School District, Shawnee Mission School District, the Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College, and KCYA and provides free professional development to teachers in order to enhance their understanding and encourage the utilization of arts integration programming. Christopher’s education, experience, and passion for the arts are never lacking as he continues his pursuit to grow and reach even more people, schools, organizations, and communities.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.”
-Maya Angelou