Dancer, choreographer and Jamaica Queens native Christina Smith, better known under the moniker CocoMotion. Serves as the founder and artistic director of NuTribe Dance Company. The company’s rituals in dance explore a fusion of black dance vernacular including a myriad of street and club styles including: hip hop, waacking, hip hop, Krump, spoken word and meditation practices.
Graduating from Hunter College in 2019 with a M.A in Dance Education. Coco was awarded a prestigious full scholarship to attend graduate school, fully funded by the Lincoln’s Center Education Scholars Program. It was there that she founded NTDC during graduate studies at Hunter.
Currently working as an educator and freelance artist. She is an educator and adjunct professor of dance and teaching artist. Conducting classes in hip hop and experimental dance at City Center, Mark Morris and Young Audience of New York. As a performer she has performed at The Apollo Theater, The New Victory Theater, SummerStage, The Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a choreographer her work was shown at Movement Research at Judson Church, Mark Morris’ Open Spaces and Downtown Brooklyn. In the street dance community, Coco has presented work for “Ladies of Hip Hop” and served as the waacking category judge in 2023. She was also a finalist in the 2022 waacking category for “Step Ya Game Up.” She was awarded The City Artist Corp Grant, The Movement Research Parent Grant, Queens Council of the Arts Grantee and the recent recipient of the Pepatian- Dancing Future Grant awarded by BAAD.
