About
Maia Maiden
Scientist by day, dancer by night, Maia Maiden aka Rah Fyah has been a leader in the dance community for over 20 years.
Native of South Minneapolis, she has studied all genres of dance primarily focusing on West African, Hip Hop, and Step.
Her work has been featured in Momentum: New Dance Works 2008, the Hip Hop Theater Festival 2008 and Fringe Festival 2008 in Washington D.C., Snapshots: Reflections of Women 2010 and the Catalyst Series 2012. In 2015, she was featured in the CHANGEMAKERS Profile Series presented by Intermedia Arts.
Her passion for cultural representation in the arts has led to the creation of innumerable powerful performances including ROOTED: Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening, the first and only choreographers’ evening dedicated to Hip Hop dance and its roots in the Twin Cities which showcases high-school level to professional-level choreographers, as well as the multidisciplinary Sistah Solo | Being Brothas, which features solo performances by women and men of color.
With sold-out shows since their inception (2009 and 2011, respectively) and on the Minneapolis City Pages A-List (2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014), ROOTED received a Minnesota Sage Dance Award for Outstanding Performance in 2014.
In 2018, The McKnight Choreographer Fellowship program and The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts announced The pantsula group Impilo Mapantsula as McKnight's International Choreographers, and selected Maia Maiden Productions as their residency partner. Impilo Mapantsula, consisting of South African choreographers Vusi Mdoyi, Sicelo Xaba and Sello Modiga, premiered new work as part of ROOTED: Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening in June 2018.
Maia is the recipient of the 2018 Ordway Sally Award for Initiative-the first Hip Hop artist awarded in any category in the awards 26th year history. This award recognizes bold new steps and strategic leadership undertaken by an individual or organization in creating projects or artistic programs never before seen in Minnesota that will have a significant impact on strengthening Minnesota’s artistic/cultural community.
She has served on numerous fellowship /grant panels and has been recognized with additional many honors including Upswell Fellow 2018, American Express Next Generation Fellow 2019, Star Tribune Fall Arts Changemakers Honoree for Dance and City Pages' People Issue Honoree: Meet the Unsung Heroes of the Twin Cities and 20/20 Springboard Fellow 2020.