MEET THE CO-FOUNDER
M.F.A
Co-Founder | Choreographer | Educator | Director
"Changing the world one Movement at a time."
-- Dara J. Meredith, M.F.A.
Education
B.F.A., University of the Arts
M.F.A., Temple University
Currently
Dance Department Director, West Philadelphia High School
Adjunct Professor, Temple and Drexel Universities
Certified In
Umfundalai and Progressing Ballet techniques
Select Honors
Best Choreography Award, National Dance Showcase
Rocky Award, Philadelphia Fringe Festival
Audience Choice Award, International Dance Festival, Stuttgart
HER STORY
Dara J. Meredith is an Atlanta native and self-proclaimed artivist whose work as a performing artist, choreographer, director, educator, and community advocate has earned her national and international recognition. She began her training under Dawn and Terrie “Ajile” Axam before earning her B.F.A. in Dance Performance/Education from the University of the Arts, where she received the Stella Moore Award, and later her M.F.A. in Dance Choreography from Temple University, where she was honored with the Rose Vernick Choreographic Achievement Award.
Her extensive performance career includes touring with Total Dance Theater in Senegal, West Africa, Sonia Sanchez’s Living Legends tour, appearing with Brian Sanders’ JUNK, performing in musicals Black Nativity, Body Snatchers, and Waheed Works. For two decades, Dara was Assistant Artistic Director (4yrs), Principal Dancer, and Rehearsal Director for Eleone Dance Theatre, where she performed works by highly acclaimed choreographers, Milton Myers, Shawn-Lamere Williams, Abdel Salaam, Dianne McIntyre, Christopher Huggins, and Tommie Waheed Evans, and Katherine Dunham.
She choreographed for companies, commercial projects, and major productions such as Danity Kane, Eleone Dance Theatre, Deeply Rooted Emerging Artist, Danse for Nia and Grace Dance Theater. After 15 years of choreographing the musicals at Philadelphia’s Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA), in 2023, Dara made her directorial debut with In the Heights and continues to direct and choreograph their musicals. She also co-founded and directed the DCNS Summer Dance Intensive for 20 years, and currently co-directs The Summer Intensive program held at Temple University.
As a choreographer, Dara creates meaningful, socially conscious work that challenges the status quo and uplifts voices often left unheard. Her evening length works, Beneath the Surface (exploring mental illness) and The Bridge of Our Roots (commissioned by the Delaware Art Museum), blend contemporary modern and African aesthetics with storytelling through the body, voice, rhythm, and silence. Her work has also addressed Apartheid in South Africa, the lived experiences of Black women in America, immigration displacement, and intergenerational perspectives of culture and identity. By centering representation, unity, and collective accountability, her choreography invites performers and audiences alike into dialogue, empathy, and edutainment.
She has also partnered with the Wilmington Library on numerous events, including choreographing tributes for A Different World Reunion and Lynn Whitfield, as well as the Creative Director for Dancing with the Stars of Delaware. Her choreography credits also include Delaware Theatre Company’s Home for the Holidays in the 302, City Fest Dance Jubilee and numerous works on Temple, Drexel, and West Chester Universities. She has served as Creative Director for the filmed production of Eleone Dance Theatre’s, Carols in Color and had her own work presented in the Diamond State Black Film Festival.
As an educator, Dara has taught at Temple University, Drexel University, University of the Arts, West Chester University, and Pennsylvania State College, and she currently serves as Dance Department Director at West Philadelphia High School while teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Temple and Drexel Universities. She also wrote the curriculum for the Pennsylvania Ballet’s Dance Chance Program and is certified in Umfundalai and Progressing Ballet techniques. Rooted in Horton, Graham, Release, Mojah, West African, Umfundalai, Jazz, and Ballet techniques, Dara’s teaching emphasizes codified technical training paired with cultural awareness, critical thinking, and creativity. Her adaptive classroom fosters discipline, collaboration, and empowerment, ensuring that students not only develop as artists, but also as socially conscious citizens.
Dara’s artistry and leadership have earned her numerous honors, including the Best Choreography Award from the National Dance Showcase, the Rocky Award from the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Ellen Foreman Memorial Award from Drexel University, the E Award from Eleone Dance Theatre, the Danse 4 Nia Award of Excellence, and the Audience Choice Award at the International Dance Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.
As co-founder of Core Artistry Collective, Dara continues to expand her vision, creating a safe and inclusive arts space alongside collaborator Trish Morris that nurtures creativity, resilience, and holistic growth. Whether on stage, in the studio, or in the community, Dara, a proud wife and mother of three, remains devoted to “changing the world one Movement at a time,” inspiring others not just to move, but to truly dance through life.
Learn more about the vision, the people, and the movement behind Core Artistry Collective.
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