Dinita Clark is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher whose work engages the vocabularies of street dance and hip-hop culture, creating dynamic performances that display polyrhythmic upper body and footwork patterns. Clark’s work is interested in challenging preconceived notions of hip-hop culture and creating opportunities for women within the dance form. Her teaching practice addresses the scarcity of training for women in the foundations of hip-hop dance and provides accessible dance education to, as she explains, “unlock self-discovery, self-worth, and integrity for female dancers.” Also known as “Queen Dinita,” Clark is the co-founder and co-choreographer of Just Sole! Street Dance Theater Company with her partner, Kyle Clark, and she has performed professionally as a principal dancer with Rennie Harris Puremovement and Illstyle & Peace Productions. She is also a co-founder of Funky Sole Fundamentals, a dance workshop series dedicated to the preservation of hip-hop, house, and funk dance styles. As a three-time US Cultural Ambassador, she has performed and taught in Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Kazakhstan, and Jordan. The recipient of a 2017 Transformation Award from the Leeway Foundation, Clark is a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts, where she earned a BFA, and an adjunct professor at Drexel University.
