Upcoming Events

Sukie will present her Workshop, Sitting In Discomfort: An Ally’s Perspective at the National Dance Education Organization’s annual conference in October 2022, in which she will delve into the sustenance required to maintain one’s activist stance, especially in the face of racial harm caused in the sphere of public education. Questions for white allies will address the consequences of owning one’s allyship in the context of dance education.

Recent News

My new Choreography Reel is available on Vimeo!!! It features the talented students of GCU’s Original Dance Department (2010 – 2020) including Ted Williams, Michelle Bissonnette, Monique Streety, Janessa Hill, Jillian Nelson, Elijah Figueroa, Destiny Magee, Savannah Hale, and more.

Sukie taught Dunham Jazz to rave reviews at the Dunham Technique Conference 2022, held at the University of Southern Indiana.

Sukie completed her certificate program in Diversity and Inclusion at Cornell University in May 2022.

Sukie’s choreography, “Vulnerable is the New Brave,” set on Verve Dance Company at Glendale Community College, took place April 29 – May 1, 2022 at their Spring Dance Concert JOIE.

Listen to Sukie’s podcast episode on culturally relevant and brain-based pedagogy with Dance Education Canada

See my latest creative project here:

When the Eye Begins to See

When the Eye Begins to See (T. Roethke) is a testament to the quickening pace of my creativity as I began to incorporate what I learned through a period of struggle. When we no longer deny the “yes within ourselves (A. Lorde),” we will know who we are and what we can accomplish. This film took place on Washoe, Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute, Western Shoshone, and Mohave land. (For more background, please visit my Vimeo site.)

Who is Sukie Keita?

“Sukie Keita’s dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion shines in all her actions. She is passionate around developing relevant artists who are cognizant of the depth of history around the art of dance, especially in the specialties of jazz and modern dance.”

— Rachel Velarde, DMA

Biography

Inspiring people to get up and groove for decades, dance educator and artist Sukie Keita grew up as a ballet-trained bunhead with a split-tap personality. She began her performance career in New York City, appearing in a range of productions including an off-Broadway house musical and a music video with Whitney Houston. She became hooked on the Dunham Way of Life after meeting Katherine Dunham at a New York City Public School teacher-training conference in 2000 and earned her Dunham Technique teaching certification in 2012.

Returning to Michigan and performing with InSync Dance Theatre, Sukie earned an MFA at the University Of Arizona School Of Dance. She performed with Orts Theatre of Dance, Thom Lewis Dance, and New Articulations in Arizona as well as projects with Jenny Showalter, Suzy Guarino-Hall, and Ojeya Cruz Banks. After leading several K-12 public school dance programs. Sukie went on to found degrees in dance and dance education at Grand Canyon University, training culturally competent dance educators and blazing a trail as a social practice dance artist and decolonizing dance pedagogue within a socially conservative setting.

Sukie serves with the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification as Chair of the Pedagogy Committee, supporting candidates in the process of becoming certified teachers of Dunham Technique. She also served for 10 years on the board of the Arizona Dance Education Organization as president and higher education representative, establishing empowering dance programs for youth including Dance @ The Core, the AzDEO College Expo, and the AzDEO Summer Leadership Camp.

Sukie lives in Phoenix and teaches at Estrella Mountain Community College. She also creates, produces, and consults with @SukieDance.

“After many efforts to arrive at some conclusive decision when thinking of dance, I have decided upon this, that dance is not a technique but a social act and that dance should return to where it first came from, which is the heart and soul of man, and man’s social living.”

— Katherine Dunham

Sukie Keita: Selected Repertory on Vimeo

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