Dance Mogul Magazine · From the Archive · Exclusive Interview
Sakina Ibrahim: The Dancer Who Wrote Big Words to Little Me
A dance teacher kept telling her students, “I wish someone had told me this.” Then she wrote it down. Our 2015 interview with Sakina Ibrahim, in full, with the NAACP Image Award nomination and community work that followed.
Originally published July 8, 2015 · Updated November 12, 2026 · Dance Mogul Magazine
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File // At a Glance
Name — Sakina Ibrahim
Hometown — Springfield, Massachusetts
Education — BFA, University of the Arts (Philadelphia); MFA in dance, UC Irvine (2014)
Book — Big Words to Little Me: Advice to the Younger Self (2015), with Jessie Lee
Honor — NAACP Image Award nominee, Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
Today — Founder and director of Dance Arts Academy, a nonprofit dance program in Santa Ana, California
10
Years teaching when she wrote the book
1st
Generation college graduate in her family
2014
Year she earned her MFA
10M+
Views on her 2025 wildfire video
Why This Story Still Matters
Sakina Ibrahim was researching Black youth and dance empowerment in graduate school when she noticed something about her own teaching. She kept giving students advice and adding, “I wish someone would have told me this.” That sentence became a book for girls of color, and the book became an NAACP Image Award nomination.
When Dance Mogul Magazine spoke with her in July 2015, she had just published Big Words to Little Me. In the interview below, reproduced in full, she talks about art, education and empowerment as one idea, about dancing with Rennie Harris Puremovement, and about dancing in a village in Ghana. What followed shows she meant every word.
The Interview: Sakina Ibrahim in Her Own Words
From the DMM Archive · July 8, 2015
Dance Mogul: What was the inspiration behind your book?
Sakina Ibrahim: I have been teaching dance for about 10 years, while I was doing research on black youth and dance empowerment in Graduate School, I found my students confronting some really challenging life obstacles. I was giving them advice and kept saying “I wish someone would have told me this”, then it finally hit me to write this book. I realized that there were so many images and messages to young girls of color that are not uplifting and positive message of love, encouragement and power. I became dedicated to putting the work I do through dance education and my personal path of self-development into words. I had the heart to really serve in a positive way and help build a dialogue between girls and women so that we can heal and learn to love ourselves, and accomplish our life goals.
Dance Mogul: The words art, education and empowerment are very big now, especially in the black community. How important is it that we embrace each for our progression and survival?
Sakina Ibrahim: Art, Education, and Empowerment are vital to the black community, every single person has a cultural obligation to contribute in their own way, especially to the children who are brought up in a society where the media celebrates black violence, degradation or complete exclusion of their experiences. Some of us live a harsh reality with no real explanation or platform to work through it. At least that is how I felt growing up. Some of the life conditions the youth are dealing with are unbelievable circumstances, anyone who works in public education knows what they are up against. We have to know the truth about the power that is within us. We can discover this truth through the Arts which speaks and moves the spirit, through Education which molds and influences the mind, and Empowerment , which is recognizing that the power is “INSIDE” of you, then showing it through individual and collective action. I think these words Art, Education, and Empowerment make who we of the African Diaspora are inherently are…what is big right now is that people are finally interested in re-discovering it. This is the means to claiming life and reclaiming ourselves, but we have to have action, words that are cute and acceptable for grants, social media and conversation, but it is really about what we do and how we live our lives at the core. That shifts the perspective of our conversations about progression and survival. We are beginning to create our own platforms and the message that we send is what will shape the culture of the world. Almost every country is imitating Black Culture, that should be saying something powerful to us. I could go on but I’ll stop there and not get too political.
Dance Mogul: What have been some of the most memorable moments dance has brought you?
Sakina Ibrahim: Dance, I love dance so much, I danced because it allowed me to express myself, when I didn’t have confidence in my voice. I could move, without being told to shut up. I remember going into my basement as a child and just dancing for hours, dance is where I felt safe. Also getting into college for dance was a big memorable moment, I’m a first generation graduate so the fact I could dance and get a degree meant everything to me! One story that reminds me of how magical the journey of dance has been in my life was auditioning for Anthony Burrell during my undergrad at University of the Arts. Everyone wanted to be in this superstar’s new choreography and I was cast. Then 5 years later, after no contact I end up Assisting him and building his youth program Breaking Barriers. Oh, dancing with Rennie Harris Puremovement was a big deal for me too, it was my first gig out of college and my first time being handed a video tape and told “learn it for the show in two weeks. I worked really hard and had to prove to myself that I had the chops to dance with these AMAZING Philly Hiphop heads. House dance forced me to feel, to lose that Graham Technique training and feel the music and the sensations in my body. My absolute favorite memory is traveling to Africa and dancing in the village in Ghana, it affirmed so much of my identity and that dance is culture. Through those drums, the rolling of my spine, the shaking of my behind, the throwing of my arms and legs, it was like walking in the footprints of Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham. I realized we all belong to Africa there was so much value of life there. Dance allowing me to travel with a common language is the most powerful thing I have experienced.
Dance Mogul: What else are you currently working on so you finish out the year strong?
Sakina Ibrahim: The year has been really amazing, I am working on Big Words To Little Me: Truth, Power and Play Workshop Series, the first will be held in my hometown Springfield, MA on August 15th at Shooting Star Dance Center. I plan to set dates for Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles too. I will be attending film festival panel discussions for my film premiere in Cancer Pimp directed by Elton Loud, choreographing Shelly Garrett’s Beauty Shop the Play in Atlanta, GA and working with a TV network on a special project, that is all I can say about it right now. I am also hoping to get some calls and emails for master classes, and gigs because the bills have to be paid.
Dance Mogul: Is there anyone you would like to thank for helping you on your journey thus far?
Sakina Ibrahim: Of course!! Thank you to my family, friends and my partner, they are a driving force in my life. Thank you to my dance mentors and friends, Carolann Boardway, Sheron Wray, Tiffany Willoughby Herard, Jennifer Fisher, Anthony Burrell, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Donald Mckayle, and the cowriter for Big Words to Little Me Jessie Lee. Thank you to my SGI family and Mentor Daisaku Ikeda. Shout out to my agency BLOC NYC, Susan Batson Acting Studio, and a special Thank you to all my students and to every woman doing the work to build and to win, let’s forever be #danceinspired.
Books were available on amazon.com and sakinadance.com. Sakina on social media in 2015: Instagram @Sackina322 · Twitter @Sackina · Facebook @bigwordstolittleme.
Reproduced in full from Dance Mogul Magazine’s July 8, 2015 exclusive, with light spelling fixes. Contact details reflect 2015; a personal email address has been removed.
Dance allowing me to travel with a common language is the most powerful thing I have experienced.
— Sakina Ibrahim to Dance Mogul Magazine, 2015
Who Is Sakina Ibrahim?
Sakina Ibrahim grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, and, as she told DMM, danced in her basement for hours because it was the place she felt safe. She became the first in her family to graduate from college, earning a BFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her first job after school was with Rennie Harris Puremovement, the Philadelphia hip-hop company, where house dance taught her to feel the music after years of Graham technique.
She went on to assist choreographer Anthony Burrell and help build his youth program, Breaking Barriers. Her public bio also lists work as rehearsal assistant to the late Donald McKayle and as choreographer for the documentary Young@Heart. In 2014 she earned an MFA in dance at UC Irvine, where her research with Professor S. Ama Wray took her to Ghana to study connections between hip-hop, vernacular dance and African dance.
The book
Big Words to Little Me: Advice to the Younger Self, written with Jessie Lee, was published in May 2015. Black Enterprise reported that it was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional. She later wrote Daily Moves: Affirmations for the Millennials and founded Stretch and Pray, a wellness company, according to her author profile.
Career Timeline
CULTURE = the scene · CAREER = the work · TEACHING = passing it on · DMM = our coverage
Childhood · CULTURE
Dances for hours in her basement in Springfield, Massachusetts.
College · CAREER
Earns a BFA at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, as a first-generation graduate; cast in a new work by Anthony Burrell.
After graduation · CAREER
First professional job with Rennie Harris Puremovement.
Later · TEACHING
Assists Anthony Burrell and helps build his youth program, Breaking Barriers.
2014 · TEACHING
Completes an MFA in dance at UC Irvine, including research in Ghana.
May 2015 · CAREER
Publishes Big Words to Little Me with co-writer Jessie Lee.
Jul 8, 2015 · DMM
Dance Mogul Magazine publishes this exclusive interview.
Aug 15, 2015 · TEACHING
Planned first Big Words to Little Me workshop at Shooting Star Dance Center, Springfield.
After 2015 · CULTURE
The book is nominated for an NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional.
Mar 2025 · TEACHING
UC Irvine profiles her as founder and director of Dance Arts Academy in Santa Ana.
Where Is Sakina Ibrahim Now?
Today Sakina Ibrahim runs Dance Arts Academy, a nonprofit dance program in Santa Ana, California. UC Irvine’s March 2025 profile describes a school built on the curriculum she developed from her Ghana research, outreach performances in local schools, and a class ritual that ends with peace, love, respect and unity. She told the university she has never turned away a student who could not pay.
After the January 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires, a video she posted went viral with more than 10 million views, according to UC Irvine, and she turned her studio into a donation site for hygiene and feminine products. It is the same idea she described to DMM in 2015: art, education and empowerment only matter when they show up in action.
What the Next Generation Should Learn
1. Write down the advice you wish you had. Ibrahim turned her own lessons into a book. Your experience can become someone else’s guide.
2. Prepare for the big break. Handed a tape and two weeks to learn a Rennie Harris show, she worked until she proved she belonged.
3. Let new styles change you. House dance made her loosen years of formal training and feel the music in her body.
4. Know where the dance comes from. Dancing in Ghana connected her to Pearl Primus, Katherine Dunham and the roots of the forms she teaches.
5. Empowerment is an action. Words are not enough, she said. It is what we do and how we live that counts.
Why It Matters to DMM
Dance Mogul Magazine believes dance is the bridge to purpose, education and community. Sakina Ibrahim lives that belief: a first-generation graduate who used dance scholarship to write for girls of color, then built a school that serves families regardless of their ability to pay. Her story is the kind of self-empowerment journalism DMM was founded to publish.
More DMM stories on teaching and purpose: D(n)A Arts’ MADE TO MOVE, Nasha Thomas and AileyCamp, Camille A. Brown, The Dancer’s Lifetime Plan and The Legacy.
Sakina Ibrahim: Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sakina Ibrahim?
Sakina Ibrahim is a dancer, teaching artist and author from Springfield, Massachusetts, with a BFA from the University of the Arts and an MFA in dance from UC Irvine. She founded Dance Arts Academy in Santa Ana, California.
What is Big Words to Little Me about?
Big Words to Little Me: Advice to the Younger Self, written with Jessie Lee and published in 2015, offers girls of color the guidance Ibrahim wished she had received growing up.
Was Big Words to Little Me nominated for an NAACP Image Award?
Yes. Black Enterprise reported it was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Instructional.
Who has Sakina Ibrahim danced and worked with?
She danced with Rennie Harris Puremovement, assisted Anthony Burrell and helped build his Breaking Barriers youth program, and her bio lists work with the late Donald McKayle.
What is Dance Arts Academy?
Dance Arts Academy is a nonprofit dance program in Santa Ana, California, founded and directed by Sakina Ibrahim, with school outreach and a curriculum drawn from her research in Ghana.
The Story Continues
Dance Mogul Magazine will keep following Sakina Ibrahim’s work with young dancers. Bookmark this page for updates.
Sources & Further Viewing
UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts: Dancing for Generations (Mar 20, 2025)
Black Enterprise: Sakinah Ibrahim on her NAACP Image Award nomination
© 2026 Dance Mogul Magazine LLC · From the Archive, Updated · A Black-owned dance and empowerment publication since 2010