Background

Jackie is a native of Clairton PA with a BS degree in Physical Education, Norfolk State University and an Algur H. Meadows Fellow, Southern Methodist University where she obtained an MFA in Dance. 

Stokes has served as an Assistant Professor of Dance and Artistic Director for Orchesis Dance Theatre of Virginia State University; Hampton University Terpsichorean Dance Company; the Dance Collective Dance Theatre of Benedict College, and as an Assistant Lecturer in the Dance Program at Coker College. She will present, "Dancing It Out Through Creative Movement, Jazz to Line Dancing" at the 2022 South Carolina Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Conference, and previously presented “Celebrating 60 Years of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre” at the South Carolina Council for African American Studies Conference; and has been a Master Teacher at the National Black College Dance Exchange, the Southeast Regional American College Dance Festival and International Music Camp at the International Peace Gardens, Dunseith, ND.

She co-presented “Harnessing the Power of Joy” at The Collegium for African Diaspora Dance at Duke University. Stokes is committed to dance education and the historical connections of dance in society. She is particularly dedicated to the research of Katherine Dunham and preservation of her legacy. Jacquelyn was commissioned to set a Dunham-inspired work, “A Gathering of Women” on CoMo Dance Company, Columbus, Ohio.

Teaching

Hip Hop Dance, African Dance, and others.