Dancer and St. Louis native Reginald Ray-Savage dies at 67

Before the world knew him as a force in jazz dance and a mentor who shaped generations, Reginald Ray-Savage was a young man from St. Louis who walked into the Muny, saw Rudolf Nureyev, and never looked back.

The dancer, choreographer, educator and founder of the internationally respected Savage Jazz Dance Company died on May 20, 2026. He was 67.

Born Reginald Ray Jr. on Sept. 5, 1958, he grew up in St. Louis and attended Soldan High School before graduating from Berkeley High in 1976. Sports were his focus then, but everything shifted in the late 1970s when a girlfriend took him to see Nureyev and Friends at the Muny. The performance left him stunned. He went straight to the University City Library, studying dance books and photographs to understand how Rudolf Nureyev moved the way he did.

That curiosity led him to the Katherine Dunham Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis — and to the beginning of a life in dance. He studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, West African and Dunham technique under legendary Dunham company alumni Norman Davis, Lenwood Morris, and his mentor Archie Savage. The Dunham school recognized his drive and paid for additional ballet training, and he traveled from the suburbs back to East St. Louis for evening rehearsals — often on foot or by bus, because he never learned to drive.

In honor of his mentor, he added “Savage” to his name when he joined the actors’ union, becoming Reginald Ray-Savage — a gesture Archie Savage embraced.

His St. Louis roots shaped him. He danced with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, trained at Webster University and Newton School of Ballet and Beutell School of Dance. He also performed with the St. Louis Black Repertory Dance Company, St. Louis Ballet, St. Louis Civic Ballet, St. Charles Civic Ballet, and at the Muny in The Music Man throughout the early 1980s.

His grit and work ethic earned him scholarships to major institutions including The Ailey School in New York and the Ruth Page School of Dance in Chicago. In Chicago, he trained with Larry Long, Delores Lipinski, Warren Conover and Homer Bryant, and danced with Joel Hall Dance Company, Ruth Page Ballet Chicago, Lyric Opera, Chicago City Ballet, American Festival Ballet, and touring productions of The Music Man and A Chorus Line.

Savage moved to Oakland in 1989. He quickly became a sought-after teacher at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts. His no-nonsense, old-school approach drew a devoted following.

“Underneath that gruff yelling exterior is a man whose sole purpose is to bring out the best in each person who crosses his life,” photographer Mark Kitaoka wrote in a 2015 living eulogy. “For those who truly wish to bring out the best in themselves, Savage is the right man for the job.”

In 1992, at the urging of his students, he founded Savage Jazz Dance Company. Over the next 30 years, he created more than 100 original works framed in the intentions, energy and cultural heritage of jazz music. The company toured nationally and internationally, including acclaimed performances at the Jazz Dance World Congress and a landmark engagement at Casa del Jazz in Rome — the first dance company ever invited to perform there.

“Once in a great while a rare person comes on the scene… who seems to reincarnate the lessons from his teachers and forebears,” Dance Magazine critic K.C. Patrick wrote. “It is this quality in Reginald Ray-Savage that gives the depth of heritage and authenticity to his company.”

In 2003, he joined the faculty of Oakland School for the Arts as Chair of the School of Dance. Over two decades, he built a program known for producing technically strong, resilient dancers — and grounded young people. His students went on to careers with San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Philadanco, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ailey II, Hubbard Street 2, River North Dance Chicago, Garth Fagan Dance, Disney’s The Lion King, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and major companies across Europe and South America.

“Reginald Ray-Savage is tremendously skilled at identifying talent and forging committed artists,” dance critic Rachel Howard wrote. “The public Oakland School for the Arts is fortunate to have him.”

His work earned numerous honors, including a Creative Artists Fellowship in Choreography from the City of Oakland, a GOLDIE Award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and multiple IZZIE Award nominations for his company’s performances. In 2022, he received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Rep. Barbara Lee and a Certificate of Recognition from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

Savage lived his life as a tribute to the teachers who shaped him. His respect for them was visible in every class he taught and every piece he choreographed. He poured into his students with the same intensity and generosity that had been poured into him.

The Black Choreographers Festival called him “an extraordinary artist, educator, visionary, and beloved member of the BCF family,” adding that his presence “uplifted community, nurtured younger artists, and embodied excellence with grace and authenticity.”

Dance Mission Theater remembered him as “widely known for his passion for Black dance, his discipline, and his decades of teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

With an inextinguishable spirit and a legacy that spans continents, classrooms and generations, Reginald Ray-Savage leaves behind a body of work — and a community — shaped by his discipline, his fire, and his belief in the transformative power of dance.

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