Artistic Director

Regina Perry-Carr, Artistic Director of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago (MDT).  Perry-Carr is the 4th Artistic Director in the notable, historic  forty-nine year old organization. A native of  Chicago,IL, Perry-Carr began her formal dance training with her mother Regina Taitts and ballet instructor, Charlene Rose(Cecchetti technique) at the age of three. Perry-Carr continuously trained in dance throughout elementary school and highschool under the tutelage of her mother's dance program located in the Oak Park YMCA and with Nunufatima created by Taitts. 

 

In 1991,she began training with Najwa Dance Corps and Mama Andrea Vinson. In 1994, Perry-Carr was accepted into the workshop training program of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago under the direction of Mama Amaniyea Payne.

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Perry-Carr owes much of her training & development in Muntu, to Mama Vaune Blalock,  former principal dancer of MDT.  Perry-Carr advanced through the ranks of the Muntu becoming an apprentice and  in 1998 matriculating to the main company becoming one of their full-time teaching artists and  principal dancers. Perry-Carr began teaching and performing nationally and internationally with Muntu and later independently.

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 After taking leave from the company, in 2008 Perry-Carr founded and  served as Artistic Director of  Nunufatima Dance and Crafts Company, a non-profit performing arts and education organization dedicated to educating, entertaining and cultivating community through all forms of performing arts.

Perry-Carr  has performed for numerous venues, which include theater, television and film. Her teaching and choreographic credits include elementary and high school, park districts, arts organizations, dance studios, professional dance companies, and theatrical productions. Perry-Carr was able to study and dance  with African Dance legends;  Baba Chuck Davis, Arthur Hall, Baba Kwame Ishangi, Papa Abdoulaye Camara,  Mama Amaniyea Payne,  Idy Ciss and Moustapha Bangoura.

 

Regina is a dancer extraordinaire, believing dance is not only movement but requires body, mind,and spirit. Regina is commended for having a beautiful poise which radiates the stage and warms the hearts of those seeking to learn the technique and the  beauty of African dance.

 

Perry-Carr is credited with being a wife, mother, dancer, choreographer, director and producer. Perry-Carr has  thirty plus years of training and twenty-four years of teaching experience in West African Dance. She  has grown to understand being a  lifelong student of this ancient and amazing art form called African Diasporic Dance is an honor. Perry-Carr  has  spent more than thirty years honing her  dance craft. She thrives teaching and empowering others through movement and song. As the Artistic Director of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, she passionately teaches about cultural transformation, understanding, and education of our rich African and African American dance traditions.