Makayla Peterson, teaching artist

Makayla Peterson is a dancer, choreographer, scholar, teaching artist, and Founder & Artistic Director of Monét Movement Productions: The Collective (MMPTC) founded in May 2020. She is a 2020 Temple University graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Digital Media Technologies. At Temple University, she trained under notable artists, presented four original works, and gained production experience working at Conwell Dance Theatre. Makayla is a 2019 recipient of the Temple University Diamond Research Scholars Grant where she explored the negative perceptions of Caribbean culture and dance forms present within American society and popular culture. This work is very important to her as she is of Trinidadian heritage, an aspect of her identity that constantly informs and shapes the way she moves throughout the world. Her research has been presented verbally and through movement at national and international conferences including The Global Caribbean Dance Conference, Caribbean Studies Association Conference, and the Collegium for African Diasporic Dance. Because of her scholastic achievements, she was awarded the Temple University Boyer College of Music and Dance Rose Vernick Scholar Award. As a choreographer, she was selected as a semi-finalist in the JCHEN Core Choreography Competition (C3) and was featured in their Artist Talks Series. She received her first commission at her high school Frank Sinatra School of the Arts for their 2022 spring dance concert. Her company's works have been featured in a plethora of festivals and showcases including the Mare Nostrum Elements Emerging Choreographer Series, COCO Dance Festival, Collective Thread Dance Festival, Atlantic Antic, Making Moves Dance Festival and so much more! Makayla currently dances with Enya-Kalia Creations and OKRA Dance Company and is a teaching artist with Notes in Motion and DMF Youth. She is a former member of CarNYval Dancers under the direction of Kiara Paige and former Program Coordinator for MOVE|NYC|.