Director

Zakiya Atkinson is an educator, artist, and administrator committed to cultivating arts literacy and social change. She is the director of Zaman Dance Theatre Collective and an Assistant Professor and the Single Subject Credential Coordinator for Dance at California State University, Long Beach. Prior to this appointment Atkinson served as the Supervisor for Fine and Performing Arts at Cranford Public Schools and before that post spent ten years as a dance educator at Memorial High School in West New York, NJ. During her tenure there, Atkinson collaborated to develop a Performing Arts Academy while creating and implementing a dance arts curriculum. 

Atkinson’s professional credits include stage, television, print, and live events. She has also toured school districts as an arts education performer and was a Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleader (NFL) for four years.

Atkinson has served on the faculties at New York University, William Paterson University, and Bronx Community College. She founded the Essex County MetroWest Dance Festival and Modern Renaissance X, events merging student and professional artists throughout New Jersey and surrounding areas. Atkinson employs the arts in community spaces as a tool for transformation and has facilitated community based programs locally and internationally. She has been the recipient of an NEA Learning & Leadership grant and fellowships with Body Politic Laboratory at Gibney (NYC), Bates Dance Festival, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Atkinson has also presented her research and practice at arts, education, and social justice conferences.

Atkinson received a B.A. in Communications and Theatre from Temple University, MA in Dance Education from New York University, and a Certificate in Holocaust & Genocide Education from Saint Elizabeth University. She also holds K-12 Dance and Supervisory Certifications.

Atkinson is a doctoral candidate in the Dance Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University and is currently conducting a research study, Towards Community Dance Educator Preparedness: Facilitating Inclusive, Culturally Responsive, and Transformative Experiences for Diverse Communities and Groups. Atkinson’s research interests include critical and transformative pedagogies, arts integration, and the impact of sociocultural factors on arts education and community practice.