“ Ryan and Quynn as co-leaders are incredibly creative and have impressive background individually which makes their work together over the top”
Temisha Richardson,
Prince George’s County Public Schools
Ryan K. Johnson, M.F.A
Executive Artistic Director
Ryan K. Johnson is an award-winning choreographer, performer, scholar, and cultural worker whose work advances African Diasporic Percussive Dance through performance, education, and research. Described by Dance Magazine as "one of the foremost percussive dance artists in the U.S.," Johnson is a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow in Choreography and the first African American body percussionist to receive the honor. His artistic practice explores Black oral histories, cultural memory, and embodied storytelling, blending rhythm, movement, original music, and multimedia design to transform historical narratives into immersive contemporary experiences. He is a professor at Tulane University in the department of Theater and Dance.
Johnson's choreography and performances have been presented at leading venues including The Doris Duke Theater at Jacob's Pillow, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. His professional credits include Cirque du Soleil, STOMP, STEP Afrika!, After Midnight,a featured rhythmic performer in Música by Rudy Mancuso on Amazon Prime, BB&T Zelle Commercial,and collaborations with acclaimed artists Ayodele Casel and Torya Beard.
A recipient of the 2025 Arts Midwest Cultural Bearer Award and the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project Award, Johnson is recognized as a national leader in rhythm-based performance, cultural preservation, and arts education. His talent has been acknowledged with numerous awards, including The John F. Kennedy Center's Office Hours Residency in 2023, the 2021 Bakers Award, the 2012 Coppin State University Dance Legacy Award, and the 2010 DC Metro Award for Outstanding Individual Performance. He has also been a recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in 2008, 2017, and 2020.
Learn more at www.rkjdance.com
Quynn Johnson, Ed. M
Director of Arts Education
Quynn L. Johnson, Ed.M., is a multidisciplinary performing artist and international arts-based educator whose work sits at the intersection of rhythm, cultural legacy, and embodied learning. A graduate of Harvard University (Ed.M.) and Howard University (B.S.), she is a 2025–2026 Dance/USA Artist Fellow and the first percussive dancer to recipient John F. Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project.
As a performer, Johnson’s career include After Midnight (NCL), Diary of a Tap Dancer (A.R.T), Chasing Magic and The Remix (The Joyce Theater) by Ayodele Casel and Torya Beard, UnSung Shero’s by Dormeshia (Jacobs Pillow and The Joyce Theater), ZAZ by Ryan K. Johnson (National Tour), Latido Negro by Rafael Santa Cruz, The Great Gatsby with The Washington Ballet, and Savion Glover’s TiiDii3000 Company.
Johnson is a nationally recognized voice in the preservation and evolution of Sand Dance as a contemporary percussive practice. Her work centers rhythm as both archive and living language, expanding the visibility of sand dance within concert performance and interdisciplinary creation.
She reached more than 85,000 youth and educators annually through residencies, performances, and professional development fusing tap dance with literacy and math for learners across the United States and internationally.
She is also the author of Lucky’s Tap Dancing Feet, a self-published children’s book and workbook that extends her commitment to accessible, joyful, and rhythm-based learning for youth.
Learn more at www.quynnjohnson.com