Ezra Myles
Founder / Artistic Director
Ezra Myles is an award-winning Choreographer, Illustrator, Poet, Videographer, Event Producer, and Arts Educator based in Oakland, CA with over a decade of experience in events, public service and performing arts. Inspired by his upbringing in Newark, NJ, Ezra creates and curates art experiences that bridge the gap between the shared cultural legacies of the African Diaspora. He weaves digital media and dance with public service, arts programming, and events to engage and empower BIPOC communities through the lens of Carnival as a multiethnic celebration of liberation, resilience, joy, and heritage.
MEDIA Gallery
My oRIGIN Story
Ezra's creative journey began early. Upon graduating The Pingry School in 2010, he had won multiple competitions on a youth stepping team, co-founded The Pingry School’s first student-led hip-hop dance team, illustrated original comics, studied Art History at Johns Hopkins University and Cartooning at the School of Visual Arts.
In 2011, spurred by an absence of Hip-Hop dance opportunities at his undergraduate alma mater, Trinity College, Ezra co-founded Elemental Movement Dance Crew, Trinity’s first, co-ed, all-styles hip-hop dance group. As co-captain and choreographer with Ella Wechsler-Matthaei, Ezra successfully fought to expand access to dance for students of all social, economic, cultural, educational backgrounds and abilities. As a part of his BA in Studio Arts with a concentration in Illustration, he studied Visual Arts and Communication Studies at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago in 2013. This helped Ezra hone his wide ranging talents into a multimedia artistic vision of community empowerment modeled after the Jouvay Popular Theatre Process, first conceived by his late mentor, Trinidadian playwright, director, and cultural icon, Tony Hall. During his time at Trinity, he also developed his public speaking skills as a spoken word poet, and gained experience as an event planner and stage crew member through his work with the student-run Event Support Team.
In 2015, Ezra pivoted his career track from visual arts to performing arts and public service administration when he became one of the principal dancers and volunteer social media & marketing manager for SambaFunk! Carnaval Explosion, an Oakland-based nonprofit arts organization that focuses on community-based cultural arts programming. While representing the organization, he placed as first runner up in the 2017 Carnaval San Francisco King and Queen Competition in the King category. He has taught dance classes to youth across the Bay Area, and performed with such musical greats as Sheila E, Dwayne Wiggins of Tony, Toni, Toné, and Howard Wiley.
Over the last five years, Ezra has supported live and virtual performances, fundraising campaigns, and events with companies and organizations like the National Institute for Mental Illness, LiveNation, Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, Joe Goode Performance Group, and most recently Cal Performances’ AileyCamp Program. He is the founder and creative director for MylesBeyond Entertainment, an event and media production company that provides comprehensive event, design, and entertainment services to arts professionals, arts organizations, and local businesses. Ezra Bristow currently works as the Events and Communications Coordinator at the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at UC Berkeley. Prior to joining IGS, he worked as a Production and Programs Coordinator and Dance Faculty at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts for 3 years. Ezra joins the UC Berkeley community with over a decade of professional experience in event productions, entertainment, communications and media.
