Rahila Naomi Stadem Coats

Rahila Naomi Stadem Coats is a mixed Black and White dancer, choreographer, administrator, and teaching artist. Her artistic exploration ranges from working with people from varying backgrounds and assisting them to mold a performance that shares their story or composing work in collaboration with artists from different mediums and cultures, instigating kinesthetic and verbal conversation. She studied dance at Gustavus Adolphus College, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Ghana-Legon, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. Rooted in Mni Sota, she decided to move to Chicago in 2020 to find more connection to the city where her father was raised. Since her relocation, she was awarded as the 2021 Synapse New Works Artist, worked administratively at Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and taught at Red Clay Dance Company and Academy. She continues to collaborate with artists in the Chicago and Minneapolis- St. Paul metropolitan areas while teaching at Red Clay Dance Company.