History

Melissa Ajayi is a performer, choreographer, and recreation therapist currently based in Cleveland. She has worked as an independent artist since 2009, dancing in work by multiple companies/artists in New York City; Lexington, KY; and Cleveland,OH including Kimberly Bartosik/Daela, Antaeus Dance, Travesty Dance Group, Marquez Dance Project, Emily Jeffries, Sarah Holmes-Villanueva, Leanne Schmidt and Company and Blackbird Dance Theatre. She has performed at CPT's Danceworks, Pandemonium, Cleveland Dance Festival, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, and Borderlight Fringe Festival. 

Since the inception of Ajayi Dance in 2021, Melissa has created more than 10 original works including 3 self-produced evening length site-specific immersive experiences as well as a commissioned work with composer and percussionist Luke Rinderknecht through No Exit New Music Ensemble. Additional works have been presented at CPT’s Danceworks, Blackbird Dance Theatre, Tridea Dance, Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, Cleveland Dance Project Company Community Collab, Borderlight Festival, Ingenuity Fest, Pandemonium, and MicroTheater CLE.

With a dedication to process and collaboration, Melissa aims to foster contemporary dance opportunities in Cleveland and is working to make Cleveland a destination for dancers to thrive as individual artists. She has been a guest instructor/guest artist at many area institutions including Cleveland State University, Cleveland School of the Arts, Dancing Wheels, The Movement Project, and Bard High School Early College.

Melissa is a Nationally Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and worked in a variety of clinical settings for over a decade utilizing movement and other recreation modalities to bring about physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral change. Her work and writing about using dance as a therapeutic intervention has been published in the National Therapeutic Recreation Journal, and she has presented at the New York State Therapeutic Recreation Association Conference, Therapeutic Recreation Association of Suffolk County Conference (Long Island), and the National Dance Education Organization Conference. While she no longer works in a clinical setting, she draws on this experience to consider the impact and outcome of her educational and choreographic work on an individual, collective, and societal level.  

Melissa is a recipient of the 2023 Ohio Arts Council Artist Opportunity Award and a 2024 recipient of the Cleveland Public Theatre Individual Artist Fund Award.