Umi IMAN

Umi IMAN is an Emmy-nominated movement artist, facilitator of healing, and indigenous arts curator based in Atlanta, GA. She is of a Black American, Caribbean, and Tsalagi Native American Lineage. Rooted in engaging Black and Native dances (folklore and Vernacular), her artistic practice serves as healing modalities for joy, self-discovery, release, and liberation. Currently, Umi IMAN is further developing her artistic practice as a professor at Spelman College and as co-founder and executive director of a nonprofit named Sequoia Ascension Inc., created with the intention of cultivating the well-being of Atlanta’s Black American and Native American communities through movement and healing. Additionally, she is part of the internationally renowned dance duo Al Taw’am.

IMAN nurtures and shares her artistry across many different spatial contexts. She’s collaborated with many global communities and organizations such as Core Dance in ATL, I.M.A.N in Atlanta/Chicago, SpringBoard for the Arts in MN, Each One Teach ONE in Berlin, Volcano Arts Center in Hawaii, SE.S.TA in Prague, The Facing Race Conference, The Nobel Peace Prize Forum, and the MN Secretary of State’s 50th Voter’s Rights Act Celebration, and many more. IMAN believes her greatest accomplishments as an artist include carrying on the legacy of her ancestors through art and experiencing how art keeps her in alignment with God and higher states of being and consciousness.