Sonya Tayeh
| Sonya Tayeh | |
|---|---|
| Born | New York City, New York |
| Residence | New York, New York |
| Education | Dance (BS/BFA) |
| Alma mater | Wayne State University |
| Occupation | Choreographer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Home town | Detroit, Michigan |
Sonya Tayeh is a dance teacher and jazz and contemporary choreographer from Detroit, Michigan best known for being a choreographer on the television series So You Think You Can Dance. In 2013, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on season nine.
Tayeh was a house dancer during her teenage years and she did not start any formal dance training until she was 18 and a student at Wayne State University. After graduating in 2002, she moved to California and ran a dance company in San Francisco where she developed her own style of choreography which she calls combat jazz. In 2007, she was discovered by a talent agent from McDonald Selznick Associates who saw a performance she choreographed for The Carnival: Choreographer’s Ball. Three months after being signed, she booked a job on So You Think You Can Dance.
Since gaining mainstream exposure, Tayeh has choreographed for Madonna, Florence and the Machine, Kylie Minogue, the Los Angeles Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company and the San Jose Repertory Theater. Aside from theater and tours, she stays active teaching jazz and contemporary classes at dance conventions.
Tayeh was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She has two sisters and one half-brother. Tayeh started dancing at age 15 when she began frequenting hip-hop and house dance parties with her sister. She started studying ballet and modern dance—as a subject—at age 17 when she was a student at Henry Ford Community College. Although Tayeh was a freestyle house dancer in her youth, she didn't take any formal dance classes until she was 18 and a student Wayne State University. Before starting her training, she was denied by six dance studios who wouldn't let her take classes because they felt she was too old. In addition to her classes, Tayeh was a member of Counter Groove and Full Circle dance companies.
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