I was named directly after my grandfather, the late and revolutionary fashion designer, Jacques Heim, who in 1946 launched the first ever two piece bathing suit called Atome, later renamed The Bikini, and also invented le pret a porter, or Ready to Wear. Just as my grandfather broke ground in the fashion industry, I am trying to continue to challenge and break the mold of conventional wisdom surrounding dance, developing my unique and incomparable aesthetic of Architecture in Motion®.

 

I founded my company DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion in 1992 and have directed the company’s work ever since.

In 2017, I created five new performances based on DIAVOLO creations for NBC’s America’s Got Talent (2017). DIAVOLO appeared as one of the top ten contestants in AGT’s finale at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. I also recently directed DIAVOLO for a special appearance on Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde’s New Year’s Eve (2017), one of the most watched TV shows in France and Francophone countries. DIAVOLO also appeared on Helene Fischer’s Christmas Spectacular (2017).

 

I started working with the Military Veterans community in 2016, creating movement workshops. What we do is called Restoration. We restore their emotional, mental and physical strength. The workshops culminate into a live show with Veterans and Civilians, i.e., dancers. We performed at the historic Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and all over the country. Our show is called “S.O.S. Signs of Strength”. In October 2022, I was awarded the U.S. Army’s Meritorious Civilian Service for my work in the Veteran community. 

In 2004, I choreographed KÀ for Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas; a destination show featuring apparatus inspired by DIAVOLO structures and architecture. In 2010, I was invited to be a Creative Director for the Opening Ceremony of The 16th Asian Games, in Guangzhou, China. I also worked with Guy Caron and Michael Curry as consulting choreographer on Ice Age Live!, a “mammoth” arena show which had its world premiere at London’s Wembley Stadium in November 2012 and toured Europe.

In 2005, I was the Artistic Director for the Taurus Stunt Awards and returned in 2007 to stage a movement/stunt piece, “The Car”. With Center Theater Group, I created choreography for the stage play, The Stones. On television, my work has appeared on BBC America’s Dancing with the Stars and Bravo’s Step Up and Dance.

I taught movement and dance for many years at Ballet Pacifica, Cal State LA and UCLA. In addition to three USA Fellowship nominations and four Alpert Award nominations, I have received the Martha Hill Choreography Award of the American Dance Festival, the Special Prize of the Jury at the 6th Saitama International Dance Festival, a Brody Arts Fund fellowship, and a James Irvine Foundation Fellowship.