BIOGRAPHY

Bobbie Dell Akin is a modern and contemporary performer, teacher, and choreographer whose work blends bold physicality with curiosity-driven experimentation.

About Me

BOBBIE DELL AKIN is a contemporary and modern performer, teacher, and choreographer whose work blends technical precision with innovation, experimentation, and originality. Her artistic practice is rooted in honoring individuality within community while pushing the boundaries of form, meaning, and performance.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Bobbie Dell received her early training with Peach Pit Dance Company, Candler School of Dance, and Marist School’s Advanced Dance Company. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Kentucky in May 2025, earning dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance and Integrated Strategic Communication through the College of Fine Arts and the College of Communication and Information. During her collegiate career, she performed in multiple mainstage and student-produced concerts and served as Dance Captain for the 2024 MainStage Musical Footloose. She also choreographed for both student-produced concerts and the South Regional American College Dance Association (ACDA) Adjudicated Concert, representing the University of Kentucky in March 2024.

Bobbie Dell has performed at festivals and venues including the American College Dance Association (three consecutive years in different cities), Big Muddy Dance Festival, Dumbo Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, and the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities, where she was invited to perform for Bill T. Jones. In summer 2024, she trained internationally at B12 Dance Festival in Berlin with artists including Laja Field and Vim Vigor.

Following graduation, she performed as a dancer for Theresa Bautista in a work presented at Lou.Co.Lab in Louisville, KY (August 2025). She is currently a dancer with Dance Canvas, working with Christina Carlos for the 2026 Dance Canvas Annual Concert. Bobbie Dell is an active freelance dancer, teacher, and choreographer, having taught and created work for studios and schools across Louisville, Lexington, and Atlanta. She remains committed to pursuing new artistic opportunities that challenge, expand, and deepen her creative voice.

Artistic Statement

Bobbie Dell Akin values individuality within community and creates work that balances abstraction with meaning. Her choreography begins with questioning and physical exploration, allowing movement to emerge through experimentation rather than fixed narrative. She is drawn to imagery, sensation, and collaboration as tools for discovery. Rooted in modern, contemporary, ballet, and jazz technique, Akin honors technical foundations while actively pushing against their limits. She views technique as a framework for freedom, using structure to support risk, vulnerability, and personal expression. At the center of her work is connection. Akin’s choreography invites curiosity and reflection, encouraging audiences to feel before they define. Driven by a deep passion for dance, she creates work that respects tradition while continually searching for new possibilities within movement.

Education

2017-2021

Marist School

Atlanta, Georgia

Bobbie Dell attended high school at Marist School, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Bobbie Dell was a member of the Advanced Dance Company at Marist from 2017-2021.

2021-2025

University of Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Bachelor of Arts: Dance

Bachelor of Arts: Integrated

Strategic Communication

Bobbie Dell Akin holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance and Integrated Strategic Communication from the University of Kentucky, where she was deeply involved in both colleges. Through the Dance program, she performed extensively in university productions while studying modern, jazz, ballet, choreography, and improvisation. Within Integrated Strategic Communication, she gained expertise in marketing, advertising, and communication, and served as a Teacher's Assistant.