Davian “DJ” Robinson, born in Hickory and raised in nearby Newton, NC, is a dancer, choreographer, motivational speaker, massage therapist, and former Paralympic athlete.
Currently living in Charlotte, NC, he graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2020 with a Bachelor of
Science in Exercise Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance, Choreography, and
Theory.
Davian has been featured in the Charlotte Observer, Inside UNC Charlotte, Charlotte Magazine, and on UNC-TV’s My Home, NC feature: Davian Robinson: Fearless. Davian founded and leads Sensory Beyond Sight - dance workshops which invite participants to experience movement without the use of their sight. In 2019, he was invited to present Sensory Beyond Sight at the Alexander Technique national conference at Columbia University in New York, NY and perform original choreography at the historic Alhambra Ballroom. In 2022and 2023, Davian’s choreography, Inner Beauty Versus Outer Beauty: Redemption, was performed by NC State University’s State Dance Company in their Fall and Spring Dance Concerts.
Most, Recently, Davian was selected as a Choreographer Fellow for AXIS Dance Company’s 2023 Choreo-Lab in Berkeley, CA. In 2022, he graduated from Gwinnett College as a certified massage therapist. Currently, Davian is a practicing massage therapist and working as a dance teacher with Camrin Watson’s Expand Movement in Charlotte, NC, and a guest artist and collaborator with ShaLeigh Dance Works in Durham, NC. He has been collaborating with ShaLeigh Dance Works since 2019 to co-direct an immersive and inclusive performance form which does not solicit the viewer’s sight, but rather all their other senses. This project, enVISION: Sensory Beyond Sight, premiered at American Dance Festival‘s 2022 open premiere. Davian is also a cycling instructor and holds a USA Paralympic National Title for the 1-kilometer Time Trial in cycling.
ATHLETICS
As a US Paracyclist from 2013-2018, he appeared in 10 national championships. He appeared at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Trials in Charlotte, NC, alone, with two world championship appearances, finishing in the top 3. He has collected 6 national medals, including a national championship Gold medal in 2017 in the 1-kilometer time trial on the track at the Olympic Velodrome in Colorado Springs, CO.
DANCE
Davian has performed at Orsolina 28 and The Palace of Venaria in Italy, in UNC Charlotte Dance Concerts in Charlotte, NC, MOVE Dance Alliance Concerts, Loose Leaves Showcase, and Reactions of Resistance. Notably, he was selected to perform and feature in Sugar Pop Productions’ Adidas “Impossible is Nothing” spec commercial, directed by Meg Games, in 2018.
What is your why?
Listen to the video below to learn about Davian Robinson's why.
Instrumental credit to www.bensound.com
Who Am I
A poem by Davian Robinson
Who am I to be blind by the shadow
of my mind
Never fully understanding the
ramifications of the time
Memories of my youthful mind
Awake to a startling mistake
A mistake that oppression could not bring
But a loss of sight into a darkened reality
A darkened reality into lost hopes
and dreams of
Wanting to break free,
break through, and become
Become the man I ought to be
Without the darkened veil that pursues me
I was caught in a reality of hope,
loss, and broken dreams
Wanting to understand my identity
apart from my loss of sight
Am I blind from my reality?
Reality of who I am
Not color not race not ethnicity
But simply
A simple man rooted
Rooted in integrity beneath the feet
of those before me
Their bloodshed, the tears,
the agony, the pain
Not a moment I can stand.
Davian Robinson: FEARLESS
When he was born premature, doctors told his mom he wouldn’t make it through the night. But Davian Robinson has been defying the odds ever since. Because of a condition, Davian gradually lost his sight during childhood, but it did not stop him from becoming a national champion Paralympic cyclist, being a dance major at UNC-Charlotte and taking up sky diving as his new hobby.
Davian founded and leads Sensory Beyond Sight dance workshops which invite participants to experience movement without the use of their sight. In 2019 Davian was invited to present Sensory Beyond Sight at the Alexander Technique national conference at Columbia University in New York, NY and perform original choreography at the historic Alhambra Ballroom. He also presented a modified version of his workshop Healing Beyond Sight to non-dancers and dancers at a Charlotte Rxse day of healing with a dance-based organization out of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Currently, Davian is working with Camryn Watson and Inspire Inclusion Dance as a dance teacher. Additionally, Davian is collaborating with ShaLeigh Dance Works to co-direct an immersive and inclusive performance form which does not solicit the viewer’s sight, but rather all their other senses. This project is enVISION: Sensory Beyond Sight.
