Saleemah E. Knight

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Saleemah E. Knight is an American concert and commercial dance choreographer, dance educator, and dance expert. She is an adjunct assistant professor of dance at Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at the University of Southern California, where she teaches classes in jazz dance and dance history.

Knight is known for her original choreography created for recording artists, as well as for her performance as a featured dancer in Disney's Broadway theatre production of The Lion King. She has appeared as a featured dance instructor and dance expert on Country Music Television's Made show in 2011.

Video Saleemah E. Knight

Education

Born in San Diego, California and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Knight graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2005 and received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance at the University of California, Irvine in 2013. Knight has been formally trained in ballet, modern dance, tap dance, Hip-hop dance and jazz dance at companies including: Gus Giordano's Giordano Dance Chicago, Broadway Dance Center, Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio, River North Chicago Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and The Millennium Dance Complex.

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Career

Dance Performance

As a featured dancer of the Broadway theatre production of The Lion King (musical), Knight performed with the ensemble live on ABC's Dancing with the Stars (U.S. TV series) during a special segment by Macy's, "Stars of Dance," as well as on the 37th Daytime Emmy Awards, hosted by Regis Philbin, on CBS.

Knight performed with Beyoncé at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. She was the principal dancer of Ludacris' What Them Girls Like featuring Chris Brown and Sean Garrett. Additional notable performances include dancing with Jamie Foxx, Jillian Michaels, and Tyrese.In 2004, Knight performed at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards as a featured dancer with the Pussycat Dolls.

Knight's contemporary dance work entitled "The Drowning" was performed at the American Cancer Society Benefit Concert located in Beverly Hills, California. Knight has performed in contemporary ballet works choreographed by Donald Byrd.

Professional Choreography

Knight conducted movement coaching and artistic direction for Latino rap artist Daddy Yankee's "Limbo" music video and was the choreographer for his "La Noche de Los Dos" music video, both directed by Jessy Terrero. Knight choreographed the "Que Viva La Vida" music video for international Puerto Rican pop music artist Wisin and also the "La Malquerida" music video for Latin pop music artist Chiquis Rivera. Knight has worked as a choreographer for MTV Southeast Asia and The Bay to the A Tour.She has conducted artist development for Tami Chynn, a singer, songwriter and dancer with Akon's Konvict Muzik.

Master Instructor of Dance

Knight is an invited guest master teacher for dance and higher education at renowned institutions such as Debbie Allen Dance Academy, the University of California, Irvine, [[Loyola Marymount University] and Southeast Missouri State University. Knight has also taught as an invited guest lecturer and instructor at Dance Teacher Magazine's "Dance Teacher Summit" as well as Break the Floor Production's Aria Ballet Intensive at "Dancerpalooza".