Jacqueline (Jyoti) Sinclair is an Akashic record reader/spirituality teacher and freelance choreographer who uses spiritual concepts and channeled guidance to create art in various forms from space activations, photoshoots, art installations, to movie productions. Additionally, she teaches dance master classes and Kundalini yoga practices nationwide.
Previously, Jyoti cherished a 33-year career with Joel Hall Dancers & Center, moving from professional jazz dancer to Artistic Director. As Artistic Director, she amplified LGBTQ voices through artistry. Simultaneously, she was a devoted public high school educator who wrote and implemented dance curriculum that grew into a thriving arts program for students over her 28 year career.
She has been recognized by Crain's Chicago Business as a "Notable LGBTQ Executive”. Additionally, she was featured in: Chicago Tribune, WTTW, Windy City Times, and choreographed a Leonardo Di Caprio produced Apple TV series titled The Shining Girls.
Jyoti holds a BA in Dance from Columbia College of Chicago, a secondary teacher’s certification from Northeastern Illinois University, and an MA in Theatre from Northwestern University. She is certified through Kundalini Research Institute.
Media
WTTW
Chicago Dance Companies Unite for Black Dance Legacy Project
When an artistic director faced an "unprecedented strugggle," she found an experiential approach to business to move forward. Learn More
Chicago Reader
Joel Hall Dancers tap the spirit of the phoenix again. In LEGACY: Phoenix^5, the company celebrates the past and looks to the future. Learn More
Chicago's Notable LGBTQ Executives
In 2018, Jacqueline was included on the first ever Crain's Chicago Business Notable LGBTQ Executives list. The LGBTQ leaders come from a wide range of sectors—finance, tech, nonprofits, media, the arts and more. All have demonstrated that they are advancing their industries, workplace equality and civic engagement in Chicago. Learn More
Chicago Tribune
SummerDance 2019 is a celebration of dance in Chicago! Read about the Joel Hall Dancers performance of Y2 Day here. Learn More
In the summer of 2018, the Chicago Tribune featured Jacqueline Sinclair's appointment of Artistic Directorship and Joel Hall's move to Emeritus. Celebrating the 45-year Urban Jazz Dance history and the new vision for the future. Learn More
Crain's Chicago Business
When an artistic director faced an "unprecedented strugggle," she found an experiential approach to business to move forward. Learn More
The Art of Authenticity
Art, Personal Balance, Spirituality and Jazz. Jacqueline shares her story on the podcast, The Art of Authenticity, beginning with her passion for dance in high school and her early and instinctual attraction to jazz. She continues to explore how she ‘just knew’ that dance is what she wanted to do and how she had to find a way to make this a reality. This ‘knowing’ that she refers to is difficult to pinpoint but is also something ever present in her life. She does identify the intuitive feeling and the influence that the act of dancing had on this intuition and she had serious realization while actually dancing, accessing trance-like states and what she calls her sweaty epiphanies. Learn More
Crain's Chicago Business
Dancing into a new era
When an artistic director faced an "unprecedented strugggle," she found an experiential approach to business to move forward. Learn More
Logan Foundation Artist Grant
In 2021, Artistic Director Jacqueline Sinclair was an awardee of The Logan Foundation’s highly competitive Artist Grant. She joins a group of twenty Chicago-based artists working in the arts sector and forging their own paths. Learn More
Photos
Over 30 Years of Dance
