Megan A. Evans-Rakeepile (MahataMmoho Collective)

Megan A. Evans-Rakeepile (Founder, Director, and lead choreographer of MahataMmoho Collective).  Buffalo NY native Megan Rakeepile has studied a wide range of dance styles and techniques for the past thirty plus years. The two genres of dances that she specializes in, Afro Caribbean and Afro fusion. Both genres share similar foundations influenced by the African diaspora and the survival of colonization.

Bio: Evans-Rakeepile began her dance training at Miss Barbara School in 1992-2006, Buffalo City Ballet in 1998-2007, graduated from Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts with a dance degree in 2008. She moved to Toronto in 2008 and received her professional dance certification at Ballet Creole in 2010, then came back to the States in 2010 to dance with Garth Fagan Dance Co. until 2011. Today Megan still works as a freelancer all over western New York and has established her own company MahataMmoho Collective in Buffalo NY.

Visit the website: MahataMmoho Collective

Established in 2015 in Buffalo, NY. MahataMmoho Collective is a community of artists that aims to create unity-focused works. For the past eight years, MahataMmoho Collective achieved significant milestones. In February 2022 by teaming up with Buffalo Opera Unlimited and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. This collaboration spotlighted "Sahdji," a ballet celebrating Black Composers, during Black History Month at Buffalo State University's Rockwell Hall. In the same year celebrating Juneteenth, the company then performed a street performance for the community at Martin Luther King Park making their presence known as a diverse and vibrant group. Within the same summer the company performed at the Taste of Diversity Festival, for the past three plus years highlighting a variety of artists and their choreography they have created within the collaborative company.

The collective has since continued to collaborate with local partners like Community Health Center of Buffalo Inc., Art That Heals, Devi Bollywood Performing Arts, El Batey, Nancy Hughes, Naila Ansari, and others. Their renewed mission focuses on making the arts accessible to the community through funded classes, while also providing school tours to encourage self-expression and confidence in today's youth.

Contact: mahatammoho.collective@gmail.com