MJ Imani

MJ Imani is a professional dancer, choreographer and creative director from St. Louis. Her love of dance began at the age of eight when her mother enrolled her in lessons at COCA. Thanks to instructors such as Lee Nolting and Anthony "Redd" Williams, she was able to cultivate her passion for dance as an art form. After graduating high school, she studied at Webster University, earning her B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and graduating with Department Honors (2016).

Much like her dance inspiration Katherine Dunham, MJ wanted to combine her anthropological studies with her love of dance. In 2017, she was named COCA's Katherine Dunham Pre-Professional Division Fellow in 2017. The following year, MJ relocated to Atlanta, where she interned at Dance 411, trained in commercial styles and choreographed/performed for various artists. She returned to St. Louis in Fall of 2020 to open her dance media company: 314 Movement Lab. Since her hometown return, MJ has become Professor of Hip Hop Dance at Washington University & Webster University, choreographed for over 7 artists, provided multiple professional opportunities for local dancers and has instructed various classes in contemporary, heels, hip hop and jazz-funk styles. Her goal is to make St. Louis a hub for developing young artists.