Sonya Tayeh (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Sonya Tayeh is an American dancer and choreographer. She has been a guest judge and jazz and contemporary choreographer on the television series So You Think You Can Dance since season four.

Life and Career

Tayeh was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She has two sisters and one half-brother. Tayeh was a freestyle house dancer in her youth and did not start any formal dance training until she was 18 and a student at Wayne State University (WSU). While studying form and technique at WSU, Tayeh drew on dance history, anatomy, and performance to develop a style that is built on core strength, aggressive partner interaction, and quirky, stylized movements. She graduated in 2002 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Dance. She honed her style of combat jazz over a course of four years while co-directing The Dance Company of San Francisco with her friend and colleague Chris Jacobsen. When the company closed in 2007, Tayeh moved to Los Angeles where she was eventually discovered by a talent agent from McDonald Selznick Associates. The agent, Andrew Jacobs, saw part of a performance from the show "The Root of Me" that Tayeh directed and choreographed at The Carnival: Choreographer"s Ball. Three months after being signed, she was booked as a choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance. Aside from So You Think You Can Dance, Tayeh is a faculty member at the Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. In January 2009, Tayeh was named one of "25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine.

Style and influences

Tayeh has described her choreography style as combat jazz because "[i]t"s staccato, aggressive, and engaged, even when it"s slow. I"m always ready for battle." She cites two of her former college professors, Diane Mancinelli and Erica Wilson-Perkins, as well as Broadway choreographers Twyla Tharp and Bill T. Jones as influences.

So You Think You Can Dance

Season	Couple	Style	Music
4	Kourtni Lind Matt Dorame	Contemporary	"Wrestlers (Sticky, Dirty Pop Mix)""Hot Chip
	Chelsie Hightower Gev Manoukian	Contemporary	"These Arms of Mine""Otis Redding
	Courtney Galiano Mark Kanemura	Jazz	"The Garden""Mirah
5	Melissa Sandvig Ade Obayomi	Jazz	"24 Hours" (The Aston Shuffle A-Bomb Remix)"Terry Poison
	Kayla Radomski Kupono Aweau	Contemporary	"Eyes On Fire""Blue Foundation
	Janette Manrara Evan Kasprzak	Jazz	"Move" (Metronomy Remix)"CSS
	Ade Obayomi Evan Kasprzak Brandon Bryant	Jazz	"True Romance""She Wants Revenge
	Jeanine Mason Melissa Sandvig Kayla Radomski	Jazz	"Kick It (Stereoheroes Remix)""Nina Martine
	Jeanine Mason Evan Kasprzak	Jazz	"Heartbreaker""MSTRKRFT featuring John Legend
6	Ellenore Scott Mollee Gray Pauline Mata	Jazz	"On a Cloud""Platinum Pied Pipers
	Ellenore Scott Ryan Di Lello	Contemporary Jazz	"Arcadia""Apparat
	Kathryn McCormick Jonathan "Legacy" Perez	Jazz	"So Deep""Hot Chip
	Jakob Karr Ashleigh Di Lello	Lyrical Jazz	"Time Flies""Lykke Li
	Jakob Karr Ellenore Scott	Jazz	"Tore My Heart""OONA & Dave Tweedie
	Ashleigh Di Lello Russell Ferguson	Lyrical Jazz	"Angel Standing By""Jewel
	Top 8	Jazz	"Pon de Floor"(Samantha Ronson remix)"Major Lazer feat. Vybz Kartel
7	Courtney Galiano Neil Haskell Ashley Galvan Robert Roldan Adéchiké Torbert	Jazz	"Freak""Estelle feat.Kardinal Offishall
	Cristina Santana Mark Kanemura	Jazz	"Starstruck""Santigold
	Alex Wong Allison Holker	Contemporary	"Hallelujah""Jeff Buckley
	Robert Roldan Courtney Galiano	Jazz	"XXXO""M.I.A.
	Top 10	Jazz	"Royal T""Crookers feat.Róisín Murphy
	Jose Ruiz Allison Holker	Contemporary	"Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Theme-Jon Brion
	Kent Boyd Kathryn McCormick	Jazz	"Tightrope -Janelle Monae
8
	Jordan Casanova Marko Germar Missy Morelli Clarice Ordaz	Jazz	"Vanguardian""Steed Lord
	Top 10 Girls	Jazz	"Pop Drop & Roll""Chonique Sneed & Lisette Bustamante
	Caitlynn Lawson Robert Roldan	Jazz	"In For the Kill" (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)"La Roux
	Top 20	Jazz	""XR2""M.I.A.
	Ashley Rich Chris Koehl	Jazz	"Lights Go Down" (District 78 remix)"Telepathe
	Ryan Ramirez Ricky Jaime	Contemporary	"With Every Heartbeat" (Acoustic)"Robyn
	Allison Holker Marko Germar	Contemporary	"I Know It's Over""Jeff Buckley
	Melanie Moore Sasha Mallory	Jazz	"Game On""District 78
	Ellenore Scott Tadd Gadduang	Jazz	"The Gulag Orkestar""Beirut
	Caitlynn Lawson Marko Germar	Lyrical Jazz	"Heavy In Your Arms""Florence and the Machine
	Sasha Mallory Mark Kanemura	Jazz	"Raise Your Weapon""Deadmau5
	Top 20	Jazz	"Wanna Get Hype""District 78
9	Amelia Lowe Will Thomas	Contemporary	"3326""Ólafur Arnalds
	Audrey Case Matthew Kazmierczak	Jazz	"Hear Me Now (Dri, Lind and Lukka Mix)""Steed Lord
	Tiffany Maher George Lawrence II	Contemporary	"Turning Page""Sleeping at Last

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