Eastminster welcomes George Randolph as guest speaker for Black History Month on February 5, 2012.

George Randolph has over 25 years of international dance performance and education experience in Canada, Europe, and the U.S. His expertise has been leveraged as an adjudicator for many dance festivals across Canada and he was recently appointed to Dance Ontario’s board of directors. In 2010, George was selected to appear on the Ontario Black History Society’s poster commemorating Black History Month.

Currently, George is President of the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, which he founded in 1992 and through which he continues to nurture Canada’s performing arts talent. In early 2011, George co‐founded Show Choir Canada, which produces Canada’s only national show choir competition. Also in 2011, George was instrumental in establishing a recreational performing arts program for youth at the Stardust Academy in Amman, Jordan.

George first came to Canada in 1980 as a principal dancer with Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal. He performed with the company for two years, touring four continents. There he worked with one of Canada’s most respected contemporary choreographers, Brian Macdonald.

From 1977 to 1980, George was a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, performing at New York’s Carnegie Hall and City Center. He had the privilege of being coached by Alvin Ailey on the ballet Hard Times Blues, which Ailey also choreographed. George also worked with choreographer Talley Beatty, a protégé of modern dance innovator Katherine Dunham.

Born and raised in Red Bank, NJ, the home of Count Basie, George received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Hampton University, Hampton, VA, where he was a member of the Military Honor Society.