has toured the world with dance theater companies from New York, India, Ireland, and Belgium.
She has performed for everyone from Coretta Scott King to the Dalai Lama. Through multiple bands from South Africa
and Jamaica, she has opened for Ben Harper and Burning Spear. Treva has taught Singing at Def Dance Jam along with
Dance at City Center, NYC, Manhattanville College, The Kitchen, Sydney Kahn's Summer Institute and West Hollywood
Elementary. She has also taught Sculpture and Puppetry among her other extensive endeavors.
We are proud to welcome Treva Offutt to BB's Kids!     (bio and res below)
 
 
 
                                                   
 

Treva is a singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, and visual artist who combines these forms through an improvisational performance base. She has taught visual and performance workshops in conjunction with performances all over the country and abroad. Over the years, Treva has had the honor of working with many dynamic dance/theater/music ensembles including: Roger Guenveur Smith’s Iceland, Fred Ho’s Big Red Media in the martial art opera, The Further Adventures of Monkey, Yoshiko Chuma’s School of Hard Knocks, and The Living Room Project, Patricia Parker Nelson’s PaNic with The William Parker Quartet, Belgium’s Remote Control Productions, Ireland’s Daghdha Dance Company, India’s Adishakti Theater Company, and New York based Urban Bush Women. She has also had the great fortune to work as a vocalist with: Jamaican sacred and folk music ensemble Ancient Vibrations (also vocal arranger), the African Pop group Afro-Blue, the South African ensembles-Shyingoma, Osha, and Lucky Ngema and Friends, Mexican vocal project Choro Tajin, Phillip Hamilton, the David Murray Big Band, Sabir Mateen and Jeff Shurdett, Hammiett Blueit, Craig Harris,
Dan Zanes and Friends, and with her own 8 member ensemble, a duo with guitarist Barry Salmon, and her new trio Lulutoy. In addition, she has written three plays, is a member of SAG, and was a curator at The Kitchen for 7 years. BB's Kids is very fortunate to have Treva with us!
 

Teaching:
City Center Dance in the Schools Program- 1998-99 Dance Instructor NYC boroughs
Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum 1998-99-Sculpture instructor for 6th graders in Queens
Lower East Side Girls Club 2000- Identity and empowerment through masks/ improv
Manhattanville College 1999-01- Guest Dance Professor, Jazz for seniors
                  Choreographer for production of The Bacchai
Pre-Freshman instructor- minorities in science/math
Def Dance Jam 2003-04- Vocal coach and music director for able and disabled youth
The Kitchen 1998-2005-Workshops in dance, music, visuals and theater
The Kitchen’s Sydney Kahn Summer Institute 1998-2003 Integrated Process Instructor. Accredited through Sarah Lawrence College
BAX 2005 –Co-leader for teaching artists workshop on introducing global issues into arts curriculum
West Hollywood Elementary School 2007- Choreography class and Everything Girls class for K-6 through The Boys and Girls Club after school

Panels and Residencies:
NYFA 2003 -Performance Art/Multidisciplinary Performance
NYSCA 1999 -Playwriting
Arts Partners 2000- Selection of grant proposal awards for development phase
The Fringe Festival 1999 - “The place of theater in history.”
Animating Democracy National Exchange on Art and Civic Dialogue 2001-2003
-Met with artists, institution directors, dialogue specialists, and funding agencies for workshops and discussions on how to make dialogue central and relevant to artists, events, communities and organizations.
IRT 1990– (Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers)- Philips Academy at Andover
-A summer intensive for college juniors and seniors interested in pursuing graduate studies in education.
APPEX 1996-97- (Asian Pacific Performance Exchange) housed at UCLA funded by the Ford Foundation bringing together diverse artistic disciplines represented by 11 artists from all over Asia and 8 artists from around the USA for intensive exchange and development of collaborative works.
Mabou Mines Resident 1998- Developed a dance/ theater/ puppet/ musical entitled: Amba: The Adventures of a One Woman Posse

The Kitchen1998-2005-Director of Education and Outreach/Curator of Family Programs
Education-1991 BFA with Honors, Rhode Island School of Design, Illustration/Animation
Treva Offutt Education and Outreach Biography Breakdown

Urban Bush Women 1991-1996
-Completed Undoing Racism workshops with Lloyd Daniels- How to work within and relate to diverse communities
-Dramaturgical intensives with Steve Kent- included theater game development for teaching and community residencies based on Augusto Boal and Joseph Chaikin techniques
-Junebug Productions- Residency in New Orleans within the Tremé Community through music, theater, dance, and (developed and taught mural workshop with teens), addressing culture, history, and violence in the area (oldest African American Community in the country)
-Development of the Urban Bush Women Summer Intensive Leadership Workshops
-Work with Ilê Aiyê and Oladun from Brazil through dance in community both in Salvador and in the USA.
-Participation in Dance Africa through Chuck Davis in Florida and Chicago
-Workshops in Miami within the Haitian and African American Communities focusing on tensions and history through dance, music, theater, and visual work.

Outreach:
-Identified and maintained community partners through Lila Wallace Arts Partners Grant
-Developed and oversaw a 9 month residency with seniors from The Fulton Houses, a neighboring housing project entitled The Fulton Mural Project:
-The Fulton Mural Project-2000- brought together 4 artists (writer, videographer, painter, and actor) and me to develop works for inclusion in a permanent mural on the grounds of the housing project, a chap book of poetry, as well as a performance and gallery installation at The Kitchen.
-Through Animating Democracy- created the support of a work to be expanded for community dialogue development through the jazz opera piece, The Three Willies based on the infamous Willie Horton commercials during the Dukakis/ Bush campaign of ‘88. (Partners included Liberty High School, The NYC Lab School, Humanities Preparatory Academy, and The New School for Social Research)
-The Development of The Kitchen Neighborhood Street Fair- Inviting the community to share their talents and wares while expanding The Kitchen’s audience.

Education:
-Selected teaching artists, developed, and oversaw workshops for Liberty High School an ESL school, The NYC Lab School (6th grade), P.S. 11(2nd grade), Hoboken High School (10th grade), and Humanities Preparatory Academy (at risk and truant high school students)
-These workshops included:
-Dance, literature, video, music, theater, shadow puppet, and mask work with various professional artists, and acrobatics with LAVA-an all female acrobatic troupe
Focus was on artist, teacher, administrative and student development, as well as shaping a framework for supporting this kind of work through The Kitchen. All workshops, were no less than 10 sessions long, and culminated in performances at The Kitchen with full technical support.
Curatorial:
-Creation and hosting of the Teen Poetry and Performance Workshop, Keepin’ It Real: Teen Poetry Shout Out, T.V. Lunch, The Dance Improv Game Show, and The Kitchen’s Lunch Break series (identifying and working with artists/companies already in the performance season to present a full performance at noon for the community and schools with Q and A for half of the cost of an evening show)
-Curating for each season a set of shows in every discipline to be presented once a month for a family audience.

DANCE/THEATRE
The Public Theater, and P.S. 122 NY, NY, Mass MOCA, MA, and REDCAT, LA,CA
Roger Guenveur Smith’s Iceland (acting,vocals, dance)
The Nate Holden Theater, LA,CA
Memorial tribute to Oscar Brown Junior (dance, vocals, improv)
The Joyce, NY, NY
Yoshiko Chuma’s Reverse Psychology Agenda 1: Japan (dance, vocals)
La Mama Etc., NY, NY
Theodora Skipitares’ Body of Crime II (dance, vocals)
The Kitchen, NY, NY
Anney Bonney’s Hybrid No. 21 Trance Encounters (dance, vocals)
NYC International Fringe Festival, NY, NY
Cleopatra: An Optical Illusion (choreography)
New Works Theatre Festival, Amherst, MA
Alva Rodgers’ The Doll Plays (acting)
Mabou Mines Residency Suite, NY, NY
Resident, Created Amba: The Adventures of A One Woman Posse, (dance/theatre/puppet/musical)
Adishakti Theatre Company, India, Prithvi Theatre Festival (Mumbai), The Asia Society (NYC)
Impressions of Bhima (acting, vocals, and percussion)
Remote Control Productions, Belgium (European Tour)
Planet Lulu, Lulu (dancing, singing, acting, and choreography)
Asian Pacific Performance Exchange (APPEX), LA, CA
Fellow collaborating with artists from six Asian countries, and America:
Myth of The Hero (acting, dancing, and singing/preaching)
Ky-Lan (set and puppet designer/creator, and singing)
Urban Bush Women, NY, NY (National/International Tours) 5 Years
Dancing acting, singing, visuals, community outreach, and teaching, Bones and Ash (lead character)

MUSIC
Lulutoy (Blues/Jazz /World trio)
Co-Founder, writer, and vocalist
Ancient Vibrations, (Afro –Caribbean drum and vocal ensemble) NY, NY 7 years
Vocal arranger, hand percussions, singer, and dancer
Sofrito, (Afro-Cuban drum and vocal ensemble), NY, NY
Founding member and vocalist
Afro-Blue, (African Pop ensemble) NY, NY
Lead vocals and dance
Osha (South African ensemble) NY, NY
Singer and dancer

ART / THEATRE
The Kitchen, NY, NY
Director of Educational/Outreach and Curator of Family Programming
Ancient Vibrations’ Ba’amyard, NY, NY
Set designer/constructor and vocalist
Sands of Time Dance Company, NY, NY
Exhibition of paintings/slides, Lincoln Center, Clark Studio Theatre
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Lee, MA
Theatre Lighting, and sound, set design and theatre maintenance
Trinity Reparatory Company, Providence, RI
Intern: props, scenery, painting, and carpentry
Karamu Theatre, Cleveland, OH
Assistant Technical Director
        COMMERCIAL WORK AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
EDUCATION
BFA with honors, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI – Illustration / Animation