Candice Michelle Franklin
Creator of Jazz Ain't Dead®
Biography
Dance Artist, Choreographer, Music Producer, Executive in Arts Leadership
Dance Activist and Creative Director specializing in Live Concerts and
Theatrical Events featuring Jazz Dance, Historic Jazz Dance,
Street Dance Styles and Jazz Music reimagined.
Candice Michelle Franklin, born and raised in the world of live jazz music and jazz dance, is a New York–based professional dancer, choreographer, and music producer. She is the Artistic Producing Director of her own live urban jazz music and dance production, JAZZ AIN’T DEAD®, as well as the Artistic Director of Cumbe RISE, an open community dance company and performance workshop series produced by Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance.
Miss Franklin holds a B.A. in Dance from the University of Kansas and received her conservatory training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Committed to deepening her knowledge of jazz and jazz-adjacent forms, Franklin has traveled internationally to study and perform. Her training includes the DVIDA rhythm syllabus at the Ballroom Dance Teachers College of New Mexico and Afro Brazilian Zouk with world-renowned artists Carlos and Fernanda. She twice traveled to Swing's Camp Hollywood in Los Angeles and Sweden's renowned Herräng Dance Camp, on full fellowship as a legacy dancer for the Al Minns Next Generation Project in Lindy Hop, studying under the direction of Denise Minns-Harris, world-renowned duo Marie N'diaye and Felix Berghäll, and legendary jazz dancer and film choreographer Chester Whitmore. She continues her dance education as an ongoing IDTC certification candidate in the technique of Katherine Dunham.
A 2024 NYSCA grant recipient, Franklin’s choreography has been presented by Cumbe, Jazzmobile, Lincoln Center’s Summer in the City, Yale University, Joyce SoHo, Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, Harlem Arts Festival, Harlem Summerstage, BAMcafé Live, NYC Department of Education DECC, Webster Hall, and MTV/Viacom. Her choreography has also been presented at several casinos such as Turning Stone, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Borgata, and Caesar’s. Moreover, her choreography includes work for recording artists Courtney El, Art Auré, Bollywood recording artist SHAKTI, and Grammy Award–winning artist Macy Gray.
Franklin teaches extensively as a dance educator for the Departments of Education in New York and New Jersey and serves as an instructor for special dance education projects with DEL Dance Educators Lab, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and The Joyce. She has presented at leading jazz conferences, including Uprooted and The Legacy Jazz Conference in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. Her teaching is also featured in Urban Stomp, a 2025–2026 installation at the Museum of the City of New York.
Currently, Miss Franklin is on faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, Kean University, and the Joffrey Ballet School, where she also serves on the audition tour team. Franklin holds an MBA in Music Business from Berklee College of Music/SNHU, is a founding member of iDANZ Inc., a proud SAG-AFTRA member, and continues to produce, choreograph, and teach throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Biography Updated December 2025
