Rachel DeForrest Repinz

Rachel DeForrest Repinz, MFA is a visually disabled multidisciplinary artist-scholar based in Philadelphia and NYC. She received a BA and MFA in Dance from SUNY Buffalo State University and Temple University, respectively. Rachel is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance at Texas Woman’s University with a focus on the disability aesthetic and its applications in choreographic practices in contemporary dance. Additionally, Rachel is working as a full-time administrator in the CUNY Hunter College Dance Department, as a Dance Expert for a new research project led by Meta (formally Facebook Inc.), and as a Staff Writer for thINKingDANCE. Rachel also founded and artistically directs RACHEL:dancers, a multi-medium, multi-modal, dance performance company, as well as co-directs a collaborative performance art project, Bashi Arts, with Enya-Kalia Jordan. Most recently, Rachel was elected to the NDEO board as the Advisor of Dance and Disabilities for the 2023-2026 term. Rachel has presented her work internationally at venues including the Off-Broadway Kraine Theater, Movement Research, the Decolonizing Bodies: Engaging Performance conference at UWI Barbados, the NDEO national conferences (2018, 2019, 2022), DaCi’s 2020 special performance series and 2023 National Gathering, the Institute of Dance Artistry, Philadelphia Youth Dance Festival, and more. She has had the honor of collaborating with esteemed choreographers including Sidra Bell, Abdur-Rahim Jackson, Wayne St. David, Dr. S. Ama Wray, Meriàn Soto, Awilda Sterling-Duprey, Carlos R.A. Jones, and as a principal dancer for Enya Kalia Creations, among others. She has been commissioned to create works for the UN’s World Water Day, the Utah All-State Dance Ensemble, Manhattan High School of the Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State at Abington, the Buffalo State Dance Theater Company, Lawrence Public Schools, and more. For more information on her creative work, find her at racheldeforrestrepinz.com