Zahra Carpenter

Zahra Carpenter, a Washington, D.C. native, is a dance educator advocating for safe dance environment guidelines, onsite or local dance healing practitioners, and acceptance for many minority dancers. Teaching an array of dance genres to students who may have yet to be exposed to or otherwise cannot afford to take in a private dance studio is an honorable duty of service. She created a dance healing education entity by combining dance education, science, psychology, somatics, wellness, nutrition, and strength conditioning in a whole-person approach entitled Dancing Soulz LLC. Dance has been a source of peace, creativity, fitness, life coaching, mental health therapy, and character building for Zahra, and she wants to share these benefits with everyone, regardless of age, background, or artistic ability.

Zahra’s passion for dance began early when she attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. She received a BFA in Modern Dance/Dance Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She became a GYROTONIC® Instructor and GYROKINESIS® Apprentice via the Beyond Elements program at Elements Fitness and Wellness Center while becoming a BASI Pilates Instructor. As the 2023-2024 Trinity College London Scholarship recipient, she completes her MFA in Dance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in 2024 while becoming a Safe in Dance International provider. She became a Performing Arts Medicine Association member, a One Dance UK International member, and then a founding member of the Personal Safety for Dance Group during her time in London.

Zahra joined the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science in 2006, aiming to immerse herself in cultivating ways to heal dancers while diversifying the dance science culture. After attending numerous conferences, it was clear that she was within a beautiful tribe, ready to make her voice heard and presence felt while becoming an underrepresented community representative. Zahra happily joined the Safe Dance task force, Dance for Health Champions, and the Intersectionality task force to provide a minority dance educator’s point of view on underserved issues within the IADMS community. She is currently serving as an IADMS Board Member.

As a Dance Science Specialist, Zahra provides lectures and workshops that intersect dance and health in the United Kingdom and the United States. She advocates for safe dance environment guidelines, urban public school dance class funding, onsite or local dance healing practitioners, and acceptance of many beautiful BIPOC dancers. Zahra has created a foundation in holistic healing dance-arts medicine to meet her elaborate dream of becoming a leading Black-Indigenous American dance healer.

Degrees:

• MSc, Dance Science, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, England, 2024
• BFA, Modern Dance/Dance Education, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
• Holistic Health Coach Certificate, Institute for Integrative Nutrition/Purchase College SUNY