Surayya Raheem

Company Artist - 2nd year

Surayya Raheem is an artist born and raised in Arlington, Texas. She first began her dance experience at St. John Baptist Church where she ministered as a praise dancer under the group title ‘God’s Angels of Praise.’ Raheem is a graduate from Crowley High School, where she served as a member of the Crowley High School Talonettes as well as Thespian president of Crowley High School Theater. There was where she discovered her passion for dance and theatre. Upon graduating high school, she began attending Texas Woman’s University. In May 2023, Raheem obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in the realm of Kinesiology with a focus in Exercise Science, alongside an additional minor in Dance. Here at Texas Woman’s University, she has danced in conjunction with various artists including Kourtney Surgent, Camila Holman, Asiyah Martin, Sarah Tran, and many other artists. In her last semester at TWU, she was selected to perform in a faculty work titled Smoove under the direction of TWU professor Charmian Wells. This work was choreographed by artist Abdel R. Salaam, founder of Forces of Nature dance company based in Harlem, New York. Raheem has also danced with University of North Texas’ competitive hip hop team ChoreoBlock, where she served as a member in 2019-2020. 
As of now, Raheem considers herself to be a self-taught movement artist specializing in freestyling, performance, and self-led storytelling. She aspires to gain a deeper understanding of street hip-hop styles such as popping, waving, house, and battling. Her goal is to one day magnify the lens of total body connectivity to help dancers enhance their performance by fully understanding the body itself.