Davian “DJ” Robinson is a Charlotte-based dancer, choreographer, educator, massage therapist, motivational speaker, and former Paralympic cyclist. He has been a core artistic collaborator with ShaLeigh Dance Works since 2019 and serves as the Founding Co-Director and Creative Specialist for enVISION, SDW’s disability-led artistic research initiative exploring accessibility as artistic practice.
DJ played an integral role in the development of enVISION: Sensory Beyond Sight, helping to shape the immersive, multisensory performance experience that premiered at the 2022 American Dance Festival. Drawing from his own lived experience as a disabled artist, he has contributed to the evolution of SDW’s Movement Mentorship model, inclusive creative processes, and community engagement initiatives. He also founded Sensory Beyond Sight, a workshop series inviting participants to experience movement beyond visual perception. In 2019, he presented this work at the Alexander Technique International Conference at Columbia University and performed original choreography at the historic Alhambra Ballroom in New York City.
Born in Hickory and raised in nearby Newton, North Carolina, DJ earned dual degrees in Exercise Science and Dance Performance, Choreography, and Theory from UNC Charlotte in 2020. His performance credits include appearances at Orsolina28 and the Palace of Venaria in Italy, UNC Charlotte Dance Concerts, MOVE Dance Alliance Concerts, Loose Leaves Showcase, and Reactions of Resistance. In 2018, he was featured in Sugar Pop Productions’ Adidas Impossible is Nothing commercial directed by Meg Games.
DJ’s choreography, Inner Beauty Versus Outer Beauty: Redemption, was performed by NC State University’s State Dance Company in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, he was selected as a Choreographer Fellow for AXIS Dance Company’s Choreo-Lab in Berkeley, California. He is also a certified massage therapist, a guest artist and teacher with Expand Movement in Charlotte, and a cycling instructor.
Before pursuing dance professionally, DJ competed internationally as a U.S. Paracyclist from 2013–2018. He represented the United States at two World Championships, competed at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Trials, earned six national medals, and won the 2017 USA Paralympic National Championship in the 1-kilometer Time Trial at the Olympic Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His work and story have been featured in the Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Magazine, Inside UNC Charlotte, and UNC-TV’s My Home, NC: Davian Robinson – Fearless.
“When BIPOC and disabled individuals walk into ShaLeigh Dance Works, they encounter a foundational message: In this space, you are seen. In this space, you are part of a community. In this space, you will be heard, understood, and cherished for the talents and abilities you have cultivated over a lifetime.”