John Parks - BTP Director of Student and Faculty Affairs

John Parks was a member of the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as well as the dance companies of Jose Limon, Donald McKayle, Anna Sokolow, Louis Johnson, Ruth Carrier and many others.  He taught and choreographed for the National Ballet Company of Zimbabwe, Harvard Dance, and the Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica.

John was a cast member in the original Broadway production of The Wiz, where he also served as the assistant to the choreographer and the dance captain.  He then went on to appear in the motion picture version of the show starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.  Other films include Rage in Harlem and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X.

John is an alumnus of New York City’s High School of Performing Arts and the Juilliard School of Music.  He also trained at Clark Center, New Dance Group, Martha Graham School, and The American Dance Festival.

He has taught at the University of Michigan, Florida A & M University, Alvin Ailey School, and the Cultural Arts High School, and he assisted in the development of the dance program at Albion College and Borough of Manhattan College.

John is currently a professor in the College of Theatre and Dance at the University of South Florida.  He devotes his summers to choreographing and teaching for summer festivals and workshops – and at Broadway Theatre Project, where he has served as a longtime member of the faculty.