photo credit - Brandywine Reyes
Rashana Smith is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, Artistic Director of Motor Dance, and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin, she moved to Seattle to continue dancing and ended up adding a technical certification and career as well. Currently, Rashana is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Dance and Technology at The Ohio State University.
Rashana has performed the works of Susan Marshall, Heywood "Woody" McGriff, Llory Wilson, Claire Porter, Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Megan Lyle, A.C. Peterson and Krisen Day. She was a founding member of Tom Truss Dance Company as well as a member of Dixie Fun Dance Theatre in Seattle. In Austin, she performed with the physical theatre company Tongue and Groove Theater directed by David Yeakle.
Focusing on offering diverse dance works, Rashana's choreography and teaching spans modern dance, improvisation, ballet and jazz for children, musical theater and dance for camera projects. She has presented original choreography and performed nationwide in festivals such as Big Range Austin Dance Festival, Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, Bumbershoot, Islewilde Festival, The No-Name Film Festival and the National College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center.