Jasmine Guy

Jasmine Guy – performer, director, writer, and choreographer – was born in Boston and raised in Atlanta. She honed her first discipline, dance, at the Northside High School of the Performing Arts and the Atlanta Ballet before launching onto New York and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. A natural singer and actress, Guy performed on Broadway in many musicals, including "Leader of the Pack," "The Wiz," "Grease" and "Chicago" (as "Velma Kelly").

Her television career exploded on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World, when she played the iconic southern belle "Whitley Gilbert," for which she won six consecutive NAACP Awards. Her other television roles include the mini-series Queen with Halle Berry; The Vampire Diaries; Anne Rice's Feast of All Saints; The Boy Who Painted Christ Black with Wesley Snipes; NYPD Blue; Melrose Place; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; The Parkers; Touched by an Angel; and Showtime's hit series Dead Like Me, starring Mandy Patinkin. On the big screen, Guy's first film role was in Spike Lee's School Daze. She co-starred with Eddie Murphy in Harlem Nights, and also starred in several independent films: Klash; Guinevere; Diamond Men; and The Heart Specialist with Zoe Saldana.

In 2004, Guy wrote the critically acclaimed book Evolution of a Revolutionary (Atria Books), which is the story of Afeni Shakur, Black Panther and mother of slain rap artist Tupac Shakur. This story chronicles the rise and fall of Shakur's life in an uplifting tale of resilience. In the words of Afeni Shakur, "We want to tell people like me that are going through the hardest and most frightening things in their lives that they can get to the other side."

In Atlanta, Jasmine Guy the director stamped her mark on the timeless African American classic "for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf" for Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. She also directed and choreographed the musical opera "I Dream," a beautifully moving story of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., starring Quentin Darrington, at the Alliance Theatre. Her additional stage directorial credits include: the world premiere of "Brownie Points," written by Janece Shaffer, at Theatrical Outfit; Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" at Spelman College; and "The Colored Museum" for True Colors Theater Company.

Guy most recently starred onstage in the True Colors productions of "Miss Evers' Boys," "Blues for an Alabama Sky" and "Broke-ology." She was featured in Pearl Cleage's "The Nacimera Society," directed by Susan Booth for The Alliance Theatre.

There are no medium limitations for Guy's abilities. She has performed on stage, screen, and television. She directs and writes, and has also toured with her debut self-titled album (Warner Bros. Records), which produced three top-ten hits and music videos in the early 1990s.

It is the culmination of these experiences that she loves to share with audiences all over America, at universities, conferences, workshops, and corporate and other special events. She is honored to speak at varied events for diverse groups of people.

In Guy's own words, "I have been fortunate to perform in many 'different worlds,' excuse the pun. My life is an adventure! Working with greatness is my biggest high. The creative mind intrigues me, teaches me, and inspires me to be more than I ever thought I could be on my own. I celebrate my diversity as someone who speaks several languages. Having a voice in dance, acting, music, and directing just gives me an entrée to travel more freely to miraculous places."