# Sonya Tayeh

Sonya Tayeh is a New York City-based choreographer. She has worked nationally and internationally across the worlds of dance and theater.
She has earned several accolades for her work, including the Tony award for her choreography work on the Broadway production of Moulin Rouge!, Emmy nominations for Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, and the Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards for “Outstanding Choreography” for her work on David Henry Hwang's dance-play Kung Fu, for which she also received a Drama Desk nomination.

## Life and career
### Early life and education

Tayeh was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of a Lebanese mother and Palestinian father. She has two sisters and one half-brother. Tayeh started dancing at age 15 when she began frequenting hip-hop and house dance parties with her sister. She started studying ballet and modern dance—as a subject—at age 17 when she was a student at Henry Ford Community College. Although Tayeh was a freestyle house dancer in her youth, she didn't take any formal dance classes until she was 18 and a student at Wayne State University. Before starting her training, she was denied by six dance studios who wouldn't let her take classes because they felt she was too old. In addition to her classes, Tayeh was a member of Counter Groove and Full Circle dance companies.
During her time at Wayne State, Tayeh drew on dance history, anatomy, and performance to develop a style that is built on core strength, aggressive partner interaction, quirky, and stylized movements. She graduated Wayne State in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in Dance.

### Dance career and mainstream exposure

Since gaining mainstream exposure, Tayeh has choreographed tours and/or live events for Madonna, Florence and the Machine, Kylie Minogue, Kerli, and Miley Cyrus. She has also choreographed for Steed Lord and spent three years in residence with the Los Angeles Ballet. In 2010, she choreographed indie singer Lucy Schwartz' music video "Graveyard".
Tayeh choreographed the rock musical The Last Goodbye which is based on Romeo and Juliet and set to a soundtrack of music by Jeff Buckley. It premiered in 2010, but a revised version of the show with a new cast opened in September 2013 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. In 2011, she choreographed San Jose Repertory Theatre's production of Spring Awakening. In 2014, she choreographed an off-Broadway play based on Bruce Lee's life called Kung Fu. It premiered February 24 with So You Think You Can Dance alumnus Cole Horibe playing the lead role.
In 2015 Martha Graham Dance Company commissioned a new work by Sonya Tayeh which she set to the music of Meredith Monk. It premiered in the company's New York season at The Joyce, Spring 2015 and has been performed by the company while on tour.
Sonya earned a Tony award for her choreography of the Broadway musical, "Moulin Rouge".

#### Choreography for So You Think You Can Dance

| Season | Week | Dancers | Style | Song | Note |
| 4 | 3 | Kourtni Lind Matt Dorame | Contemporary | "Wrestlers (Sticky, Dirty Pop Mix)"—Hot Chip | |
| 4 | 6 | Chelsie Hightower Gev Manoukian | Contemporary | "These Arms of Mine"—Otis Redding | |
| 4 | 8 | Courtney Galiano Mark Kanemura | Jazz | "The Garden"—Mirah | |
| 5 | LVW | All Dancers | Jazz | "Great DJ (Calvin Harris Remix)"—The Ting Tings | |
| 5 | 2 | Melissa Sandvig Ade Obayomi | Jazz | "24 Hours" (The Aston Shuffle A-Bomb Remix)—Terry Poison | |
| 5 | 4 | Kayla Radomski Kūpono Aweau | Contemporary | "Eyes On Fire"—Blue Foundation | |
| 5 | 7 | Janette Manrara Evan Kasprzak | Jazz | "Move" (Metronomy Remix)—CSS | |
| 5 | 8 | Top 3 male | Jazz | "True Romance"—She Wants Revenge | |
| 5 | 8 | Top 3 female | Jazz | "Kick It (Stereoheroes Remix)"—Nina Martine | |
| 5 | 9 | Jeanine Mason Evan Kasprzak | Jazz | "Heartbreaker"—MSTRKRFT featuring John Legend | |
| 5 | 9 | Talia Fowler | Jazz | "Shot You Down"—Audio Bullys | Guest Dancer Result Show |
| 6 | MT20 | Mollee Gray Pauline Mata Ellenore Scott | Jazz | "On a Cloud"—Platinum Pied Pipers | |
| 6 | 1 | Ellenore Scott Ryan Di Lello | Contemporary Jazz | "Arcadia"—Apparat | |
| 6 | 5 | Kathryn McCormick Jonathan "Legacy" Perez | Jazz | "So Deep"—Hot Chip | |
| 6 | 5 | Ashleigh Di Lello Jakob Karr | Lyrical Jazz | "Time Flies"—Lykke Li | |
| 6 | 6 | Ellenore Scott Jakob Karr | Contemporary Jazz | "Tore My Heart"—OONA and Dave Tweedie | |
| 6 | 7 | Top 8 | Jazz | "Pon de Floor" (Samantha Ronson remix)—Major Lazer feat. Vybz Kartel (Jazz | Result Show |
| 6 | 8 | Ashleigh Di Lello Russell Ferguson | Lyrical Jazz | "Angel Standing By"—Jewel | |
| 7 | MT11 | Courtney Galiano Ashley Galvan Neil Haskell Robert Roldan AdéChiké Torbert | Jazz | "Freak"—Estelle feat. Kardinal Offishall | |
| 7 | 1 | Mark Kanemura Cristina Santana | Jazz | "Starstruck"—Santigold | |
| 7 | 1 | Allison Holker Alex Wong | Contemporary | "Hallelujah"—Jeff Buckley | |
| 7 | 2 | Top 10 | Jazz | Royal T"—Crookers feat. Róisín Murphy (Jazz | Resul Show |
| 7 | 3 | Courtney Galiano Robert Roldan | Jazz | "XXXO"—M.I.A. | |
| 7 | 6 | Allison Holker Jose Ruiz | Contemporary | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind theme—Jon Brion | |
| 7 | 6 | Kent Boyd Kathryn McCormick | Jazz | "Tightrope"—Janelle Monáe | |
| 8 | MT20 | Jordan Casanova Marko Germar Missy Morelli Clarice Ordaz | Jazz | "Vanguardian"—Steed Lord | |
| 8 | MT20 | Top 10 girls | Jazz | "Pop Drop & Roll"—Chonique Sneed & Lisette Bustamante | |
| 8 | 1 | Caitlynn Lawson Robert Roldan | Jazz | "In For the Kill" (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)—La Roux | |
| 8 | 1 | Top 20 | Jazz | "XR2"—M.I.A. | Result Show |
| 8 | 3 | Ashley Rich Chris Koehl | Jazz | "Lights Go Down" (District 78 remix)—Telepathe | |
| 8 | 3 | Ryan Ramirez Ricky Jaime | Contemporary | "With Every Heartbeat" (Acoustic)—Robyn | |
| 8 | 6 | Allison Holker Marko Germar | Contemporary | "I Know It's Over"—Jeff Buckley | |
| 8 | 6 | Melanie Moore Sasha Mallory | Jazz | Game On—District 78 | |
| 8 | 7 | Tadd Gadduang Ellenore Scott | Jazz | "The Gulag Orkestar"—Beirut | |
| 8 | 7 | Marko Germar Caitlynn Lawson | Lyrical Jazz | "Heavy in Your Arms"—Florence and the Machine | |
| 8 | 8 | Sasha Mallory Mark Kanemura | Jazz | "Raise Your Weapon"—Deadmau5 | |
| 9 | LVW | All Dancers | Jazz | "Freak Out (Gold Chains Panique Mix)"—My Brightest Diamond | |
| 9 | MT20 | Audrey Case Tiffany Maher Janelle Issis* | Jazz | "Sail"—Awolnation | |
| 9 | MT20 | Top 10 guys | Jazz | "Precognition" (Steed Lord Machine Mix)—Steed Lord | |
| 9 | 1 | Tiffany Maher George Lawrence Jr. | Contemporary | "Turning Page"—Sleeping At Last | |
| 9 | 2 | Amelia Lowe Will Thomas | Contemporary | "3326"—Ólafur Arnalds | |
| 9 | 2 | Audrey Case Matthew Kazmierczak | Jazz | "Hear Me Now" (Dri, Lind and Likka Mix)—Steed Lord | |
| 9 | 6 | Allison Holker Cole Horibe | Contemporary | "Possibly Maybe" (Instrumental)—Björk | |
| 9 | 6 | Lindsay Arnold Alex Wong | Jazz | "Somebody That I Used to Know"—Gotye feat. Kimbra | |
| 9 | 7 | Top 6 | Jazz | "Scream"—Kelis | |
| 9 | 8 | Tiffany Maher William Wingfield | Jazz | "Time is Now"—Moloko | |
| 9 | 8 | Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer Chehon Wespi-Tschopp | Jazz | "Fangs" (District 78 remix)—Little Red Lung | |
| 9 | 9 | Tiffany Maher William Wingfield | Jazz | "Time is Now"—Moloko | |
| 9 | 9 | Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer Chehon Wespi-Tschopp | Jazz | "Fangs" (District 78 remix)—Little Red Lung | |
| 9 | 9 | Top 20 | Contemporary/Hip-hop | "Torn"—Nathan Lanier | Sonya Tayeh Christopher Scott |
| 10 | LVW | All Dancers | Jazz | "Latch"—Disclosure (band) | |
| 10 | MT20 | Jasmine Mason Amy Yakima | Jazz | "Enjoy"—Björk | |
| 10 | MT20 | Top 20 | Jazz | "Ghost of Sky" (Epic Dub)—Steed Lord | |
| 10 | 1 | Jasmine Harper Aaron Turner | Jazz | "Bottom of the River"—Delta Rae | |
| 10 | 1 | Amy Yakima Du-Shaunt "Fik-Shun" Stegall | Contemporary | "Elsa"—The Valerie Project | |
| 10 | 3 | Top 18 | Jazz | "Pretty Face" (Nathan Lanier remix)—Sóley | Christopher Scott Sonya Tayeh |
| 10 | 3 | Malece Miller Marko Germar* | Contemporary | "In the Embers"—Sleeping at Last | |
| 10 | 5 | Top 14 | Jazz | "Dimman Kryper Sakta In"—District 78 | Dmitry Chaplin Sonya Tayeh |
| 10 | 5 | Alexis Juliano Nico Greetham | Contemporary | "Ashes"—The Bengsons | |
| 10 | 5 | Makenzie Dustman Paul Karmiryan | Jazz | "You'll Find a Way" (Switch & Sinden Remix)—Santigold | |
| 11 | LVW | All Dancers | Jazz | "F for You"—Disclosure feat. Mary J. Blige | |
| 11 | MT20 | Top 20 | Jazz | "Stalker Ha"—Kingdom | |
| 11 | MT20 | Jessica Richens Ricky Ubeda | Contemporary | "Vow"—Meredith Monk | |
| 11 | 1 | Tanisha Belnap Rudy Abreu | Jazz | "You Need"—Bengsons | |
| 11 | 1 | Carly Blaney Serge Onik | Contemporary | "Latch (Acoustic)"—Sam Smith | |
| 11 | 3 | Jacque LeWarne Zack Everhart Jr. | Jazz | "Back to Black"—Beyoncé feat. André 3000 | |
| 11 | 3 | Brooklyn Fullmer Casey Askew Emilio Dosal Emily James Serge Onik Tanisha Belnap Valerie Rockey Zack Everhart Jr. | Contemporary | "So Broken" (Live)—Björk | |
| 11 | 5 | Zack Everhart Jr. Amy Yakima | Contemporary | "Europe, After The Rain"—Max Richter | |
| 11 | 10 | Top 10 All-stars | Contemporary/Hip-Hop | "Sweet Disposition"—The Temper Trap | Sonya Tayeh Christopher Scott |
| 12 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
^2 Due to a shoulder injury, Mitchell Kelly was barred from performing in his routine. He was replaced for the evening by season 7's Robert Roldan and was automatically in danger of going home.

### Teaching

Tayeh is a faculty member at the Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. She has also taught classes at The Hip Drop Dance Complex, Monsters of Contemporary, Broadway Dance Center, 24 Seven Dance, Hall of Fame Dance Challenge, Loyola Marymount University, NUVO, and Spotlight Dance Works.

## Style and influences

Tayeh describes her choreography style as combat jazz because in her words "[i]t’s staccato, aggressive, and engaged, even when it’s slow." SanJose.com characterized it as "fearless, provocative and unique." She has several influences which include two of her former college professors Diane Mancinelli and Erica Wilson-Perkins, Broadway choreographers Twyla Tharp and Bill T. Jones, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, her favorite choreographer Jiří Kylián, and her family. In addition, she calls competitive hip-hop dancer Salah her "idol" and Icelandic singer Björk her "ultimate hero".

## Awards and recognition

In January 2009, Tayeh was named one of Dance magazine's "25 to Watch". In 2010, she was honored by the Detroit Arts Council and she made the December cover of Dance Teacher magazine. At Wayne State University there is a scholarship named after her called the Sonya Tayeh Endowment Fund that is awarded to students who want to pursue a degree in dance.
In July 2013, Tayeh was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for "Possibly Maybe", "Turning Page", and "Sail"—three routines she choreographed on season nine of So You Think You Can Dance. At the 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, she joined the other seven choreography nominees and created a routine honoring dance that was performed just before the Outstanding Choreography award was presented. 2013 was the first year the Outstanding Choreography award was presented at the Primetime Emmys telecast rather than at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony which takes place a week prior.
At the 74th Tonys, Tayeh received the Tony Award for Best Choreography for her work in Moulin Rouge!.