Saleemah E. Knight

Saleemah E. Knight is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary artist in concert and commercial dance, a dance researcher, choreographer, master teacher, TV-personality, lifestyle mentor and professional dancer. She is a full time Assistant Professor of Practice and an original founding faculty at the highly-acclaimed University of Southern California, Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Saleemah graduated Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Arizona, School of Dance. As a graduate fellowship recipient, she received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in dance from the University of California, Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Knight’s performance and choreographic credits include: Disney’s, The Lion King Broadway Musical, Beyoncé Live at the Billboard Music Awards, The Daytime Emmys, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, ABC’s Live! with Regis and Kelly (presently ABC’s Live! with Kelly and Mark), Country Music Television (CMT), Chris Brown and additional internationally recognized choreographers, artists and televised productions. Knight’s background includes training in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Tap, Modern, and Hip-Hop Dance from outstanding private schools and dance masters throughout the United States; they include, yet are not limited to: The University of Arizona School of Dance, the University of California, Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, River North Dance Chicago, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, The Edge Performing Arts Center, Millennium Dance Complex, Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio, Steps On Broadway and Broadway Dance Center.

Saleemah’s performance credits encompass many well-known choreographers and entertainers. Knight was selected to perform the work of celebrated concert dance choreographer Donald Byrd in the World Premiere of “The Harlem Nutcracker”. The premiere garnered nation-wide attention and a televised debut on CBS Network’s “Sunday Morning”. As a trainee of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Saleemah also danced the works of globally celebrated choreographers such as Bill T. Jones, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Bebe Miller. She has danced the politically charged work of UCLA faculty Victoria Marks, entitled “Not About Iraq” and also performed the work of Contemporary Ballet choreographer Jodie Gates, honoring the Rite of Spring, entitled “Sacre Project”. Knight is a past select company member for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago II. In addition to her concert performance credits Saleemah has performed commercially with The Pussycat Dolls, Tatu, and Matisyahu at the MTV Movie Awards. She is featured on the Jillian Michaels Fitness DVD series entitled, “No More Trouble Zones” and “Banish the Fat, Boost Your Metabolism”, currently streaming worldwide. Saleemah danced lead with Chris Brown in Ludacris’ music video, “I Know What Them Girls Like” and made a guest appearance in Oscar award-winning actor and musician, Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It On the Alcohol” music video. She was also featured on Gatorade’s Mission G, Episode 3 of “Leave It On the Floor” featuring wellknown artist, Will.I.Am of The Black Eyed Peas. Knight danced on tour with actor and recording artist Tyrese for the “TGT Tour” alongside recording artists Ginuwine and Tank featuring Jamie Foxx. She also danced with Tyrese on the Transformers Movie and The Fast and the Furious movie promo tours. She has appeared on Country Music Television (CMT) as a featured dance instructor and television personality for the series, “MADE”. Her performance abilities have deemed her the recipient of The University of Arizona’s Medici Fine Arts Scholarship, the Brian Friedman Millennium Dance Scholarship, the Gus Giordano Scholarship, Coca Cola’s Leadership Scholarship, as well as fellowships and awards at the University of California, Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts.

Saleemah’s choreographic expertise has grabbed the attention of entertainers worldwide. Knight choreographed for designer Christian Audigier’s Ed Hardy Fashion Show featuring former America’s Next Top Model winner, Whitney Thompson. She has been the select choreographer for various performers, ranging from performances for networks such as MTV Asia, to “The Bay to the A Tour”, featuring well-known recording artists E-40, Rick Ross, Lil’ Jon, Busta Rhymes and Bosko Kante. She has also done artist development for Akon’s former singing sensation, Tami Chynn. Saleemah’s contemporary work entitled “The Drowning” was performed at the American Cancer Society Benefit Concert in Beverly Hills, California, with charitable contributions benefiting cancer patients across the United States. Saleemah has also provided movement coaching for Latin rap artist Daddy Yankee’s “Limbo” music video, which has garnered 1.4Billion+ Youtube views, and was the choreographer for Daddy Yankee’s “La Noche de Los Dos” music video (200M+ Youtube views), both directed by Jessy Terrero of Cinema Giants. Knight was also commissioned by Cinema Giants to choreograph the “Que Viva La Vida” music video (208M+ Youtube views) for international Puerto Rican pop artist, Wisin (formerly of Wisin y Yandel) as well as the “La Malquerida” music video (9.7M+ Youtube views) for Latin pop princess, Chiquis Rivera. Saleemah has provided movement coaching for recording artist Wiz Khalifa as well as created choreography for the live performance of Jan and Dean’s legendary hit “Surf City” on behalf of the Cigna Healthcare memorial gala.

As a dance educator and researcher Saleemah has been the invited guest for numerous dance panels and workshops, for her research in dance studies. At USC, Knight was enlisted in 2014 as founding faculty, alongside a small group of scholars, to write the original curriculum for the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Knight designed eight original courses for the school, ranging from required general education (GE) theory courses, to syllabi for dance technique classes, resulting in Kaufman School’s official inception into USC in 2015. Saleemah’s original research on the history of jazz dance, its interplay with contemporary ballet and the invisibilization of bodies of color in classical ballet, plays an integral role in upholding the Black dance practice arm of Kaufman School. Knight is known for her integration of movement and history within studio teaching, as part of performing embodied research in studio practice. She has conducted discussion panels and seminars on “The Importance of Teaching Cultural Practice and the Foundational Origins of Jazz Dance in the Studio” and “College Conversations for Your Dancer/ Child”. Prior to professorship at USC, Saleemah taught as a professor on faculty at the University of California, Irvine and Santa Ana College in Jazz, Modern and Hip Hop Dance. She has also taught Modern and Jazz Dance technique as a guest instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and as a graduate associate at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a prominent figure in jazz dance research and technique instruction, Saleemah has been an invited guest speaker and master instructor at Loyola Marymount University, Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s pre-professional trainee program, Tremaine Dance Convention, CLI Studios, Laguna Dance Festival, Ballet Plus Miami, New Century Dance Project, Dance Teacher Magazine’s “Dance Teacher Summit”, Dance Educator’s Collective, Break the Floor’s “Dancer-Palooza”, Dance One’s “The Dance Awards”, Revel Dance Convention’s “Summer Dance Fest” and Velocity Dance Convention, among many other nationally and internationally recognized dance organizations, workshops and festivals. Saleemah is a recurring guest instructor at the prestigious Debbie Allen Dance Academy and Debbie Allen Middle School where she teaches guest master classes and sets original repertoire on advanced level, pre-professional youth. Knight has also been an international guest master teacher and choreographer for St. Petersburg, Russia’s DAR Jazz Festival, “an educational and creative jazz dance festival, that focuses on the breadth of jazz dance from classical and Broadway styles to contemporary jazz and modern dance”. In the spirit of accessibility, Knight continues to offer free dance outreach classes to low-income inner city artists.

On faculty at USC, Saleemah E. Knight currently teaches studio classes in concert, contemporary, Broadway, commercial jazz and preprofessional development in commercial dance for Bachelor of Fine Arts Dance Majors. Knight has also reimagined the course “Dance Leadership” which specializes in “the business of dance”, including the visualization of hybrid careers, financial literacy for dancers, building a dance company/ organization and developing a professional brand for BFA Dance Majors. Saleemah developed her original lecture/ theory course, “Dance in Popular Culture”, which serves as a GE to the entire student population at USC and is one of the top arts-focused general education courses university-wide. Dance Teacher Magazine featured Knight as a leading university professor in jazz dance; for her original design course “Dance in Popular Culture”, Knight was the recipient of USC’s “Academic Excellence in Teaching Award”.

Saleemah E. Knight is currently a featured historian on the international award-winning film and documentary, UPROOTED: The Journey of Jazz Dance, which premiered on HBO Max and at film festivals worldwide. On UPROOTED Knight appears alongside dance legends such as Debbie Allen and Chita Rivera, notable choreographers such as Mandy Moore, Andy Blankenbuehler and Josh Bergasse, and renowned scholars such as Thomas F. DeFrantz. She continues to bring her academic expertise, professional and vibrant attitude to recording artists, dance training programs, performing companies and academic universities worldwide.