Christina "Jo Jo Dancer" Gerard-Sylla possesses over 30 years of professional performance experience beginning in 1991 as a hip hop background dancer with such artists as RP Cola, Act-a-Fool, and UGK. After a decade of touring, the desire to learn the origins of hip hop prompted her to perform and study under world renowned drummer, dancer and griot, Djeli Moussa Diabate, for seven years. With the blessing of her master and elders from Conakry, Guinea, West Africa, Christina founded KoumanKe'le'(kuma kelen) African Dance & Drum Ensemble in 2003 where she currently serves as Artistic Director.
Mrs. Gerard-Sylla's desire to positively impact and empower today's youth set her on a journey to become an Arts Educator with SHAPE Community Center and Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (M.E.C.A.) from 2002 until the present. She has been an Arts Instructor for KIPP Schools, Houston ISD, Stafford ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Alief ISD, Aldine ISD, CASE, 21st Century After-School, as well as, served as an Adjunct Professor at Houston Community College-Northwest. As a lecturer, Mrs Gerard-Sylla has presented for Colorado's Creative Strategies for Change: Social Justice 101, Houston's Society for the Performing Arts, Houston Arts Partners' annual conference-The World Classroom, Houston Community College-Central, Houston Grand Opera-Religare Music Series and The Imani Institute. Other professional experience includes Artistic Director and principal dancer with Kuumba House Dance Theater, under the direction of Lindi Yeni and Dimakasto 'Mama D" Hampton: principal dancer with Djeli Kunda West African Drum & Dance Ensemble under the direction of Moussa Diabate and dancer with WonLande Dance & Drum Company directed by Mohamed Diaby. Christina also served as artistic director of the Impilio Cultural Dance Troupe where she created and choreographed the 60- minute traditional dance ballet, The Seven Gifts of Kwanzaa. Discovering Houston's lack of exposure to master African diaspora dance instructors, in 2008 Christina created the Kipekee African Diaspora Dance & Drum Festival and helps host the national conference in Houston, Texas annually.
In 2013, Christina founded the Uaminifu Youth Ensemble to better serve the children of our community. The year 2014 saw the creation of the Kuaminika Dance Academy once Mrs Gerard-Sylla realized our children needed to study more before they performed. In 2019, Christina felt a personal shift toward theater and film after being cast as a soloist in the new Coming to America 2 movie starring Eddie Murphy. December of 2021 saw Christina's acting debut in the role of 'Aunt Daisy" in the Cultural Arts Initiative's Houston's Urban Nutcracker production. Currently, Mrs Gerard-Sylla continues her own cultural studies with annual trips to Africa, instructs the rhythmic bodies and hands of future generations of traditional dancers and drummers, performs professionally across the USA and Mexico, while sharing the world of dance and culture with her husband, Moussa, daughters Nonde, Iona Makota, Xolani and grandsons, Ayden and Khailin.
