About Johari

IT ALL STARTED WHEN…

#Liveinthemovement was always Johari Mayfield’s mantra as a dancer and teaching artist living in New York City. After training extensively in ballet with Sylvester Campbell, she received a scholarship to the Ailey School, where she studied for over two years. She has been a performer in NYC with Janet Panetta, Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, and Joan Miller’s Dance Players. As a choreographer, her work has been presented at several different venues including HERE Arts Center, The Gatehouse at Aaron Davis Hall, 45 Bleecker Theater, and Dance Theatre Workshop (now New York Live Arts).Currently, she is a teaching artist for the Misty Copeland Foundation, Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, Marquis Studios, and Eryc Taylor Dance Outreach.

In addition to dance, fitness, and choreography, Johari’s community outreach initiatives have included creating workshops for different communities to support recovery from life circumstances in the US and abroad. In 2019, as the opioid epidemic continued to be a major public health crisis, Johari shared her personal journey in recovery from substance use disorder through a dance theatre performance, as well as created workshops to support others, like herself, in recovery. Most recently, as a part of the DEL Facilitator in Training Program, Johari created "Building Resilience in Education: A DEL Workshop for Dance Educators and Classroom Teachers" to support teachers in developing strategies for overcoming challenges and fostering well-being after the pandemic.

Artist’s mission statement

"Double Dutch meets Martha Graham, meets African dance, meets…

fitness bio

Johari Mayfield is a dancer, choreographer, activist, healer, and…