Djassi DaCosta Johnson

Djassi DaCosta Johnson is a native New Yorker, dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, photographer, writer, anthropologist and activist. A product of dance scholarship programs, growing up in New York City, Djassi studied at Harlem School of the Arts, Ballet Hispanico, Clark Center and as a fellowship student at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center while obtaining her BA in Anthropology and English from Barnard College, Columbia University. She has apprenticed, performed and toured with, Dance Brazil, Earl Mosley, Hernando Cortez, Bill T. Jones, Nia Love, Urban Bush Women, among others, and was a featured soloist with MOMIX for 8 years. Her choreography has been showcased internationally in films, music videos and performance piece collaborations with jazz musicians and visual artists such as Eddie Peake, Brendan Fernandes and Lia Chavez. Djassi’s love of fashion has infected her dance, and in 2002, she founded her line of women’s clothing, dja. She continues to design and currently has a line of bags and accessories as part owner of the store and artist collaborative Radical Women, based in Brooklyn, NY.