Jessica Tong

JESSICA TONG (Rehearsal Director, she/her) was raised in Salt Lake City, where she attended the University of Utah and danced as a member of Utah Ballet. Tong went on to dance with BalletMet Columbus, Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech, and Hubbard Street 2 before joining Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where she performed for 11 years. 

Upon retiring from performance, Tong became Rehearsal Director and  was appointed Associate Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in spring 2020. During her tenure, she oversaw Hubbard Street’s first-ever all-virtual Season 43, which presented five new dance films free of charge to online audiences, and created programming that forged new collaborative relationships with Chicago DanceMakers Forum and Final Bow for Yellowface. 

Named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2009, Tong has served on national grants panels and mentorship programs,  led movement classes throughout the United States, and continues to translate works as a repetiteur. She was a founding board member of Gold Standard Arts Foundation and most recently returned to performance with Robyn Mineko Williams & Artists in the multidisciplinary work, To Leave You. Tong joined Kyle Abraham Dance Vanguard in 2022.