Together
Created and Performed by: Helen French & Alexander Jones
Music: “Together” by Judd Greenstein
Costumes by: Hilka Standridge
Helen French
Helen Hansen French, a distinguished dancer, choreographer, and arts advocate, is a St. Petersburg native whose career has spanned the national and international stage. She earned her BFA from The Juilliard School and her MFA from Hollins University. In 2001, she joined the renowned Buglisi Dance Theatre in New York City, rising to principal dancer and rehearsal director. Hailed as “altogether luminous” (NYC Village Voice) and “generous and radiant” (ArtsHouston), she has toured globally and played a pivotal role in staging BDT’s works at esteemed institutions such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pieve International School in Italy, and North Carolina Dance Theater. Her diverse performance career includes collaborations with Karen Reedy Dance, a residency at White Oak Dance with Adam Hougland, and engagements at the Guggenheim’s prestigious Works/Process series.
As a choreographer, Helen is passionate about collaboration, exploring the intersection of dance and other artistic disciplines. Her work has been featured in theaters, museums, galleries, and unconventional performance spaces. A multi-year recipient of Individual Artist Grants from the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and Creative Pinellas, she was honored as the 2021 Artist Laureate for Creative Pinellas. She co-produces Beacon, a celebrated performance series at the Palladium Theater, where she serves as an artist in residence and was a 2021 and 2022 Palladium Creative Fellow.
Helen is also a dedicated educator, having served on the faculties of The Juilliard School and George Mason University. She currently teaches at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School and Creative Clay, an organization that empowers individuals with disabilities through the arts.
Beyond her artistic work, Helen is a passionate advocate for the arts. She served on the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance board, including a term as chair, and now is working at the Palladium Theater as a development associate, helping drive its Capital Campaign and programming efforts. Through her dedication to artistry, education, and community, Helen strives to contribute to and uplift the cultural landscape in her community.
Alexander Jones
Alexander Jones, founder and executive artistic director of the downtown St. Pete international non profit dance+ company projectALCHEMY, is a graduate of University of South Florida, recent MFA graduate Hollins University studying dance. Jones received training from the LINES Ballet BFA Program under direction of Marina Hotchkiss. He has had the opportunity to work with Alonzo King, Bill T. Jones in Serenade/The Proposition, and Doug Varone in The Rite of Spring. He has performed in Tunisia, Africa with the University of South Florida on behalf of the American Embassy and the Tunisian Dance Federation. A native Floridian, Jones is a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association and current performer at Walt Disney World in stage shows such as Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas, Dream Along with Mickey, Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage . He is an alumnus of ArchCore40 in NYC and works closely with choreographer Jennifer Archibald as her choreographer assistant in the Florida Dance Festival. In 2012, he choreographed and directed his first evening length work entitled First You, Then The Rest at the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg, FL. In the Spring of 2013, Jones joined Yow Dance Company and had the honor of choreographing works for the company for both Spring Into Dance and the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Later that Fall, he returned to the Studio@620 to premiere his second evening-length work, Contact. Jones participated in Project GenYes! at the Studio@620 made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation premiering his third evening-length work, Uncovered: Power of the Being at the Studio@620. In 2016, Jones became the Artistic Director of Collective Soles Dance making it his mission to connect the Tampa Bay area through collaboration. The following year Alex was one of the resident choreographers at the Florida Dance Festival where he premiered his latest work behind the Front. Jones is on faculty as an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa teaching techniques classes that help students prepare for both concert and commercial stages. Community and collaboration are at the forefront of Jones’s dance works with the company, as well as in and around St. Pete. He served as the Dance Artists in Residence at the Studio@620, assisting in dance programming alongside Bob Devin Jones.
