"My work is deeply rooted in the act of ODE-MAKING — choreographing poems & love letters to the artistic treasures that have shaped our cultural landscape, breathing new life into the echoes of the past."
Jessi Stegall (she/her) is a choreographer based in Chicago, IL. She has been a choreographer-in-residence with DanceWorks Chicago, Boston Center for the Arts, the National Center for Choreography (Akron), New Dance Partners (Kansas City) Hot Crowd Dance Company, Little Fire Artist Collective, Fever Dream Dance Collective, Harvard ArtLab, National Parks Service, and was featured as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” (2022). In 2024, she premiered her first evening-length (65 min) production, “The Theremin Vignettes”, at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, MA, produced by Global Arts Live. In 2025 she was an emerging choreographer at Springboard Danse in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2026 she will create new works for Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance, Point Park University, and Boykin Dance Project. Jessi’s approach to choreography is guided by ode-making: crafting poetic responses and love letters that honor and amplify the voices and visions that resonate through time. As a dancer, Jessi has performed works by Raja Feather Kelly, Jill Johnson, Ilya Vidrin, Ali Kenner Brodsky, Mariel Pettee, and Jamila Glass. In addition to her work in dance, Jessi holds an M.S. in Bioethics from Harvard University with a focus in Narrative Ethics, a B.S. in Expressive Art Therapy from Lesley University, and is an alumna of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.