Umi IMAN – Dance/USA Artist Fellow

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Image Description: A photo of Umi IMAN. She is smiling and has deep brown skin. She’s wearing a grey hijab with her black hairline slightly showing. She has cowrie shell earrings, deep red lipstick, and a mauve pink button-up shirt with white stripes. She’s also wearing gold and white cowrie shell bracelets, gold and tan rings, and a charcoal grey skirt. Photo by Awa Mally.

Umi IMAN

she/her

Atlanta, GA | Mvskoke/Tsalagi & Brooklyn, NY | Lenape

Umi IMAN is an Emmy-nominated artist, dance educator, and Indigenous art curator based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Brooklyn, New York. She comes from a Black American, Caribbean, and Tsalagi (Cherokee) Native American lineage. As an archivist of dances from the African diaspora and a Jingle Dress dancer on the Southern and Eastern Pow Wow circuit, IMAN’s work centers self-discovery, connection, joy, and liberation through movement.

She is the co-artistic director and founding member of the dance duo Al Taw’am, alongside her twin sister, Khadijah Siferllah. Together, they are among the world’s first acclaimed Muslim hijabi dancers. Founded by La’Kisha Hollmon, Al Taw’am has made a global impact through residencies and performances that foster storytelling and multidisciplinary dialogue in Black and Indigenous communities worldwide.

IMAN’s artistic practice spans continents and communities. She has collaborated with organizations such as Each One Teach ONE (Berlin), Volcano Arts Center (Hawai‘i), and SE.S.TA (Prague). She has also contributed to academia, teaching at institutions like Harvard, Yale, and the University of Minnesota, and serving on faculty at Emory University and Spelman College—the nation’s top-ranked HBCU for 18 years. Despite her accolades, IMAN considers her greatest achievements to be the continuation of her ancestors’ legacy, her spiritual connection to the divine through art, and her commitment to holistic community wellness.

Currently, she is expanding her impact as co-founder and executive director of Sequoia Ascension, a community organization focused on the well-being of Atlanta’s Black and Native communities through dance, wellness, and housing initiatives. As a dark-skinned Black American, Caribbean, Native, Muslim woman, IMAN sits at the intersection of many communities, building upon her identity to artistically amplify their voices. Not just advocating for their survival, but for their full and wholesome thriving.

Learn more about Umi IMAN:

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Image Description: Photo of Umi IMAN dancing at a powwow in Atlanta, Georgia. She is dancing the Jingle Dress Dance, wearing a sacred regalia known as the Jingle Dress. IMAN’s dress, like others of its kind, is adorned with rows of metallic cones that create sound as she moves. The Jingle Dress Dance is a healing dance that originated with the Ojibwe people and is now embraced across many Native communities. Another Jingle Dress dancer appears in the foreground, and the powwow arena is surrounded by spectators. Photo by Paige Mitchell.
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Image Description: Umi IMAN dances the Jingle Dress Dance against a white background, wearing a sacred regalia known as the Jingle Dress. IMAN’s dress, like others of its kind, is adorned with rows of metallic cones that create sound as she moves. The Jingle Dress Dance is a healing dance that originated with the Ojibwe people and is now embraced across many Native communities. Another Jingle Dress dancer appears in the foreground, and the powwow arena is surrounded by spectators. Photo by Mia Usman.
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Image Description: Umi IMAN stands against a white background and wears a sacred regalia known as the Jingle Dress. IMAN’s dress, like others of its kind, is adorned with rows of metallic cones that create sound. She speaks to an audience and gestures with her hands. In the foreground, three heads of the audience members are visible. Photo by Mia Usman.

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