Born in Fort Hood, TX, Journy Wilkes Davis began his training at age fourteen under Shannon Greenberg and Dagoberto Nieves in Savannah, GA. During this time, he attended the Boston Ballet summer dance program on full scholarship. Afterwards, he joined the Signature dance ensemble in Rocky Mount, NC and continued his training under Cindy Mancini and Joseph Carow. In 2008, Journy joined the Columbia Classical Ballet under the direction of Radenko Pavlovich. In 2010, Journy moved to the Columbia City Ballet under the direction of William Starrett where he was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2012. While in Columbia, SC, Journy has danced roles in Mark Diamond’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Paul Taylor’s Company B, Balanchine’s Serenade, Donizetti Variations, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Scotch Symphony, Allegro Brilliante, Western Symphony, Emeralds, Stars and Stripes Forever, Who Cares, Lila York’s Celts, Lynn Taylor Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk, Rick McCullough’s Tryptych and Rite of Spring, as well as classics such as Majisimo, Satanella, Albrecht in Giselle, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, Snow King, Arabian and a Sugarplum Cavalier in the Nutcracker. Journy has been a guest artist with Anne Brodie’s Carolina Ballet, Hilton Head Dance Theatre, Coastal Ballet USA, Charleston City Ballet, Greensboro Ballet, USC Dance Company, and Montgomery Ballet where he has performed in such productions as Giselle, Don Quixote, Sylvia and Les Patineurs. Journy was a competitor in the first Boston International Ballet Competition in 2011 and attended the 2014 Jackson USA IBC as a non-competing partner. In 2016, Journy co-directed, choreographed, and danced in the H.E.R.O. Dance Benefit which partnered with Columbia Music Festival Association to bring professional dancers together for an evening of dance to support and honor our nation’s military. In 2016, Journy was awarded the South Carolina Art’s Commission Fellowship for Dance Performance. He was invited to dance with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet for their 2016 Season at the John F. Kennedy Center where the company performed Balanchine’s rarely seen Gounod Symphony. In 2017, he joined the American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey, where he performed in Kirk Peterson’s Carmen, Tears of the Moon, Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow, Paul Taylor’s Airs, Septime Webre’s Fluctuating Hemlines, and Douglas Martin’s Rite of Spring.

Sponsored by: Dr. James A. Wallace