Founders
“ Ryan and Quynn as co-leaders are incredibly creative and have impressive background individually which makes their work together over the top”
Temisha Richardson,
PGCPS
Ryan K. Johnson, M.F.A
Executive Artistic Director
Ryan K. Johnson, M.F.A is a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow for Choreography, an artist scholar who investigates and amplifies the oral histories of Black communities, generating sonic and kinetic sensory-driven immersive evening-length percussive dance performances infused with immersive sound and media technology, vocalization, and embodied storytelling as an archival practice. His work and research advance African Diasporic Percussive Dance, specifically Tap Dance, Body Percussion, Sand Dance, Gumboot in concert dance, and academia. Currently, Ryan Johnson is The Ohio State University Dance Department's first post-MFA fellow.
Ryan Johnson's career is studded with notable performances and recognitions. He has shared the stage with legends like Gregory Hines and Marvin Hamlisch, and has been part of prestigious productions such as Ayodele Casel's Diary of a Tap Dancer, a featured rhythmic performer in Música by Rudy Mancuso on Amazon Prime, BB&T Zelle Commercial, Step Afrika!, STOMP, Cirque Du Soleil, Broadway's After Midnight Tour, and The Washington Ballet. 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.
Ryan dedicates his work to his mother, Vanessa Jackson, grandparents, Barbara Jackson and Donald Richardson, and his Uncle Art Sommerville.
Quynn Johnson, Ed. M
Director of Arts Education
Quynn L. Johnson, Ed.M., is a multidisciplinary performing artist, International Arts-based Educator, and self-published author. Ms. Johnson is a graduate of Harvard University (Ed.M.) and Howard University (B.S.), and she is the recipient of the 2020 John F. Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project. Her performance highlights include being a soloist in the tour of Broadway's After Midnight (NCL), Chasing Magic by Ayodele Casel and Torya Beard, UnSung Shero’s by Dormeshia, Thank You Bill by Dormeshia, Derek Grant, and Jason Samuels Smith, Ryan K. Johnson's Zaz: The Big Easy, Latida Negro by Rafael Santa Cruz, Great Gatsby by The Washington Ballet, and Savion Glover’s TiiDii3000 Company.
As a global provider of arts-integrated educational programming, Quynn’s work utilizes tap dance, body percussion, and embodied storytelling to address social issues directly affecting underinvested communities while reconceptualizing educational approaches for young learners. Her global programming has impacted students across the United States, Uganda, South Africa, and St.Thomas, USVI, reaching 85,000+ youth from pre-k through 12th grade through assemblies, residencies, and professional development workshops. As the director of SOLE Defined's SOLE Stepz programming, she continues establishing innovative approaches to creatively integrate elements of tap dance with literacy and math, promoting 21st-century skills and education. To complement her work in the classroom, Ms. Johnson self-published a children’s book and workbook, Lucky’s Tap Dancing Feet.