
REEL.DANCE.MUSIC
The Full Story
About Artistic Director
Maia Claire Garrison, also known as Maia Claire, is a dynamic interdisciplinary artist based in Orange, New Jersey. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Reel.Dance.Music, a company dedicated to dance education, music, and video production. Currently serving as an artist-in-residence at Luna Stage in West Orange, she is also the founder of Sequence of Leaps, an enrichment initiative devoted to empowering and supporting neurodivergent children and youth.
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Over the years Garrison has worked as a professional dancer, choreographer, entertainer, producer, recording artist and dance video director. She launched her performance career as a child acrobat with The Big Apple Circus and grew up immersed in two dynamic artist communities in New York City and Rome, Italy. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she toured extensively as a featured dancer, singer, actress with the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women across the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
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From 1995 to 2001, driven to develop her choreographic skills, she founded and directed M’Zawa Danz, receiving multiple grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Along with some of her contemporaries, she played a key role in popularizing the synthesis of modern dance with African diasporic dance forms.
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Garrison's choreographic works have been presented at Aaron Davis Hall, Artscape 2000, Bennington College, Brooklyn Museum of Art, City College, The Children’s Museum, Central Park Summer Stage, Celebrate Brooklyn, Connecticut College, Dance Place, Dance Space Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Dance On The Square, Florida State University, Gawanus Arts Exchange, Jacob’s Pillow, The Kitchen, The Knitting Factory, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, The Manhattan Mall, The Miller Theater, New Jersey City University, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, NYC Technical College, Putnam County Dance Project, Playhouse 91, IS 89, 651 Arts Brooklyn, Rutgers State University, Summer in The Square, SUNY Potsdam University, SOTA (Garth Fagan Dance/Rochester), St. Stephen’s School of Rome, Symphony Space, Syracuse University, Wave Hill, World Trade Center Plaza, Young People’s Performance Festival in NYC and most recently at Barefoot Dance Center's Student Concert, Arts on the Lake 'Taking Flight' performance with Putnam County Dance Project, Middlesex College 21st Annual Spring Dance Concert and at West Orange Hispanic Foundation's Noche Latina.

Photo Credit: Alasan Moses Trinn
















​A former dance faculty member at her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College, Garrison also served as a Teaching Artist for The Joyce Theater Education Program in New York City and has taught various ongoing classes and master classes at institutions such as Ballet Tech, Florida State University, Manhattanville College, New Jersey City University, SUNY Potsdam University, St. Stephen's School in Rome, and the University of Hong Kong.
Most recently, she worked as a Restager for Urban Bush Women at Amherst College, created choreography for Middlesex College in New Jersey, and adjudicated Playhouse Square's Dance Showcase in Cleveland, Ohio. She currently leads her signature classes at Luna Stage and various other venues in the New Jersey Oranges, while also acting as Interim Chair with the Orange Special Education Parent Advisory Council for the Orange school district.
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Reel.Dance.Music is dedicated to cultivating creativity, inspiring growth, and advancing professional development through dance education, music, and video production. With innovative programming, dynamic performance productions, and meaningful collaborations, Reel.Dance.Music empowers children, youth, and adults to express themselves artistically, strengthen their skills, and achieve new heights related to their personal development and professional journeys.
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To learn more visit www.maiaclaire.com
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