BodyMoves StreetMoves Dance Company (BSDC)
Company Director:
Zahra “Miss Z” Carpenter - This Native Washingtonian started dancing at the young age of five years. Throughout her adolescent and teen years, she participated in cheerleading, pom-pom, and volleyball in addition to her dance training. Her love of dance, lead her to Duke Ellington School of the Arts (DESA) under the direction of Lynn Welters.
There, her knowledge of dance expanded and her passion for teaching began. She started as a student teacher with the TADPOLE program, teaching beginner Modern Dance in the Horton and Graham techniques. She soon advanced to teaching beginner level Modern Dance and choreographing. Before her Ellington experience ended, she joined the DESA Dance Ensemble, where she performed all over the DC metropolitan area for artists such as Stevie Wonder, and international tours to Hong Kong, Beijing, Xi’an, and Amsterdam.
She received her BFA in Modern Dance with a secondary concentration in Dance Education at the University of the Arts (U/Arts) in Philadelphia, where she was taught by the best including: Gabriel Masson, Wayne St. David, Pat Thomas, Jeanine Osayande, Ruth Andrien-O’Neil, Faye Snow, Andrew Pap, Barbara Sandanato, Carol Skarloff, Ronen Koresh, and the Late LaVaughn Robinson. She was able to have intensive training with Philadanco II and the Philadanco Training Program under the direction of Donald Lunsford, III.
Other training included U/Arts Summer World of Dance, 2000 Feet, International Dance Festival, the Ailey School Summer Program, and Koresh School of Dance. Her experience at U/Arts nourished her choreographic skills leading to a review in the Philadelphia Inquirer calling her “appealing” and “emotionally charged”.
While in Philadelphia, she was able to teach throughout the city with Point Breeze Performing Arts Center, Philadelphia Dance Alliance’s Neighborhood Dance Exchange, The Honorable Luis Munoz Marin School, and Wordsworth’s ASSURE Program just to name a few. She has worked with many artists and in multiple theatres as a stage manager and lighting designer.
Upon her return Philadelphia, she continues to teach dance and use dance as a platform for mentoring youth & teens throughout the Washington Metropolitan area.