Sophiann Mahalia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, UNITED STATES - Current Philadelphia Artist, Sophiann Mahalia moved from Hartford, Connecticut to receive her BFA in Dance Choreography and Performance from Temple University. Sophiann graduated Summa Cum Laude and had the honor of being the recipient of the Rose Vernick Most Promising Performers Award.
Sophiann’s dance credentials include Equilibrium Dance Theatre, D2D: Dare To Dance, and Kariamu and Company: Traditions. She has trained under Lee Aca Thompson, who has influenced artists such as Michael Peters choreographer for Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and Dr. Kariamu Welsh, creator of the Umfundalai technique. She has studied West African, Modern, Ballet, Hip hop, Waacking, and Umfundalai with AQiida Gilbert, Dara Stevens-Meredith, Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Jillian Harris, Jolet Creary, Kun Yang Lin, Laura Katz Rizzo, Lee Aca Thompson, and Stephen Hankey.
Her recent works include music video Clarity for singing artist Saleka Night Shyamalan directed by Ishani Shyamalan and M. Night Shyamalan. Alongside this, she was one of the featured dancers for Ari Lennox’s Shea Butter Baby music video featuring J Cole. In the commercial world, Sophiann has had the opportunity to do work for companies such as BOMBAS, gone on tour with the Clothesline Muse starring six time nominated jazz singer Nnenna Freelon and performed in New Freedom Theatre’s Black Nativity directed by Rajendra Maroon Maharaj.
She promotes body positivity and strongly uses dance to tell the story that can’t be understood with just words, but movement. Sophiann Mahalia explores dance through her own experiences of the black dancing body by using her fusion of african, hip hop, and waacking to promote the limitless and regal qualities of womanhood within the black dancing body. She aspires to inspire other artists to take their artistry to the next level as she does the same.
COVID 19 has impacted Sophiann's career by making a tremendous decrease in her ability to work in as many dance opportunities. Dance jobs along with any theater jobs are very hard to come by and trying to find different ways of income has been a challenge. However, COVID 19 has pushed Sophiann creatively to where she is more focused on the topics that are important to her and she is putting in a lot more work and love into choreographing than ever before. Being able to choreograph has been part of her joy during this time.
The Reclamation Dance Project will explore and provide an inside look of the black woman/femme psyche in the climate of 2020 to present day. Through African-fused movements, we will delve deeply into themes such as ancestry and reclaiming one’s self from the social and cultural expectations of black women/femmes. From stereotypes such as “the angry black woman” when she speaks her mind to “the strong black woman” who is forcefully obligated to take on everyone’s hardships along with her own, this film will not only present the detrimental effects it has on her mental health, but the victory she finds when she is not held to these expectations through healing, self exploration, and community support.
Through the different perspectives of multiple black women/femmes, we open the space to acknowledge the unwitnessed experiences of the black woman/femme through movement and spoken word storytelling. The Reclamation Dance Project is about the reclaiming of the black woman. It is the reclaiming of not only her body, but every layer that comes with her. The monumental moment of envisioning her higher self in the first part of the production is the spark that takes the audience alongside her through this pilgrimage of reclamation. It is an invitation to important conversations around the erasure of black women, stereotypes pushed upon them, the lack of humanity she experiences in her lifetime, and the weight that she carries for racial and gender equality in history.
In reclaiming the black woman/femme’s body through The Reclamation Dance Project, we are providing a safe home space where black women/femmes have a judgment free zone to acknowledge traumas, begin their healing processes through art, and are provided long lasting connections with black women/femme artists who have found themselves and continue to find themselves beyond social and cultural constructs. This passion project has come to fruition to challenge society to not only hear but comprehend so that we can improve involvement in healing for black women/femmes and bring atonement to a group of individuals who have been overlooked for too long.