Director
Zakiya Atkinson, EdD is an educator, artist, and administrator dedicated to advancing arts literacy and social change. She is the Director of the Zaman Dance Theatre Collective and an Assistant Professor and Single Subject Credential Coordinator for Dance at California State University, Long Beach. Previously, Atkinson served for three years as the Supervisor of Fine and Performing Arts for Cranford Public Schools, following a decade as a dance educator/ program director at Memorial High School in West New York, NJ. During her tenure there, she collaborated to establish a Performing Arts Academy and led the development and implementation of dance curricula and arts programming across the district.
​
Atkinson’s professional experience spans stage, television, print, and live events. She has toured school districts as an arts-education performer and was a Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleader (NFL) for four years.
​
Atkinson holds an EdD in Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, an MA in Dance Education from New York University, a BA in Communications and Theatre from Temple University, and a Certificate in Holocaust & Genocide Education from Saint Elizabeth University. She also holds K-12 Dance and Supervisory Certifications.
​
She has served on the faculty, teaching courses at New York University, William Paterson University, and Bronx Community College. Atkinson founded the Essex County MetroWest Dance Festival and Modern Renaissance X, initiatives that brought together student and professional artists from New Jersey and surrounding regions. Committed to using the arts as a vehicle for transformation, she has facilitated community-based programs both locally and internationally.
Atkinson’s scholarly work investigates critical and transformative pedagogical approaches, arts-integrated instruction, and the ways in which sociocultural contexts shape arts education and community engagement. She has received an NEA Learning & Leadership grant and fellowships with the Body Politic Laboratory at Gibney (NYC), Bates Dance Festival, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
​
"My teaching and leadership in arts education has been informed by my commitment to increase equitable access to arts education; critical and transformative pedagogies; and my understanding of exclusionary practices and frameworks in the arts. I strive to create environments that are inclusive, culturally sustaining, and transformative. This occurs when we honor and integrate the lived experiences of our students and encourage them to have agency in their learning process."
Zakiya Atkinson
​This experiential session offers a sociocultural approach to dance making that draws from culturally responsive and culturally sustaining pedagogical frameworks and strategies. Participants will be guided through a process that uses cultural artifacts, socially charged media sources, and art from multicultural artists, as stimuli for dancemaking processes. At the end of the session participants will be able to implement the activities as presented or extract them to support their own objectives or units of study in dancemaking.
Dance G.irl
Join Zakiya Atkinson, Artistic Director of Zaman Dance Theatre Collective and CSULB Dance alum, Amber Cunnigan for this two part workshop.​
​
This dance and movement-based workshop provides participants with an outlet for creativity, self-expression, and identity exploration. We will work together to create Identity Stories.
​​​​​
This class is open to ALL girls and gender-nonconforming youth and teens.
More Dance in More Schools
"The California Dance Education Association recognizes the logistical and space challenges of providing dance education especially in schools where there is no dedicated dance space. This tip sheet is designed to help school community members, administrators and teachers with the resources to ensure that dance is available and accessible without barrier to all CA students.
Ensure that dance gets the funding it deserves. Share this tip sheet with your principal, district administration, and even your superintendent." (CDEA, 2024)
Join me at the following sessions:
You're An Outsider and That's OK: Multicultural Education in the Dance Classroom
Presenter: Zakiya Atkinson
Special Presentation: Prop 28 Dance Tip Sheet
CDEA and Guest Presenters: Zakiya Atkinson, Nicole Robinson, and Meghan Wiodarczyk
Dance Credential Convening
Presenters: CDEA and Dance Credential Program Leads
Meet me at NDEO 2023 for a panel presentation:
Paving Pathways to K-12 Arts Leadership
​
Panelists: Zakiya Atkinson, Jaqueline Olivares,
Rachel Swenson
Presentation Highlights
-
Community Dance Education Workshop: Moving Towards Liberation. New York University Steinhardt, Dance Education Program (2022)
​
-
Arts Are Education: Dance Focused Town Hall Webinar (Panelist). National Dance Education Organization (2021)
-
Sustaining a K-12 Dance Program in Changing Times (Presenter). National Dance Education Organization Conference (2021). Telling Our Stories: The Essentiality of Dance In Changing Times.
-
So, You Want Another Degree: Grad School and Beyond (Panelist). Telling Our Stories: National Dance Education Organization Conference (2021). Telling Our Stories: The Essentiality of Dance In Changing Times.
-
Dance Education in a Changing United States: K-12 Dance Education for Every Child (Panelist) : Dance/ NYC 2019 Symposium: Dance in a Changing United States, Hunter College. New York, New York
-
Cross-Curricular Connectivity: A Creative Approach to the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights (Presenter). Teaching the World Forum 2016, Rutgers University: GSE. New Brunswick, New Jersey
-
New Strategies for Holocaust Education/ (Presenter): Collaborative Conference on Holocaust Education: Looking to the Future (2016). College of Saint Elizabeth. Morristown, New Jersey
-
See the Need and Meet it: Artistry, Community, Leadership and Diversity in High School Dance (Presenter). National Dance Education Organization Conference (2016). Speaking With Our Feet: Advocating, Analyzing, and Advancing Dance Education. Arlington, Virginia
