Djassi Johnson

Djassi DaCosta Johnson is a dancer, choreographer, photographer, filmmaker, anthropologist, writer, designer, actor and Doula.

She is a classically trained modern dancer who started as a breakdancer & Capoeirista growing up in West Harlem/Washington Heights and then studied on scholarship at Harlem School of Arts, Ballet Hispanico, Clark Center and was a fellowship student at Alvin Ailey. Djassi has apprenticed, worked and toured with international companies including MOMIX, Dance Brazil, Earl Mosley, Bill T. Jones, Hernando Cortez, Ron Brown’s Evidence and Urban Bush Women among others. Djassi lived abroad working as a dancer and choreographer in Brazil and in Italy for nine years working on TV and film.

Djassi’s choreography has been displayed in fashion shows, music videos, international festivals and in films including ESSENCE, Nike, PNB Nation, Pandora Jewelry, and New York Fashion Week for Isamar Designs and Studio189.

Djassi performs in collaboration with visual artists and jazz musicians on live and video work and has created works with Eddie Peak, Lia Chavez, Gloria Gaynor, Alice Walker and with Deborah Willis for Joan Baez's visual album, Civil War. She performed for Joan Jonas for her Mirror Piece I & II at the MOMA in June 2024.

Djassi holds an BA in Anthropology from Barnard and an MFA in Dance, New Media and Technology from NYU Tisch and is an Assistant Professor of Dance. She started the first Bachelor of Arts Dance concentration program at the University of the Virgin Islands in 2022 and choreographed the dance portion of the Opening Dedication Ceremony for the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2023.

Djassi helped implement the modern dance program at Brooklyn Ballet in 2014, is currently an international judge & master Horton teacher for YAGP, Joffrey Ballet and joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet as a dancer for the acclaimed opera, El Niño in 2024. She is a member of AGMA and SAG-AFTRA unions as an actor and dancer and has appeared in television and films, including Crew2Crew, The Get Down, The Knick, The Intern, Bolden, The Gilded Age and Not My Family: The Monique Smith Story on Lifetime. A native Harlemite, Djassi resides in Prospect Lefferts Garden Brooklyn, is mother to her 15 year old multi-talented artist Luna, and speaks Portuguese, Italian and Spanish.