A native Philadelphian, Stephanie Demby-Afum realized her love and dedication to dance at an early age and began formally training at the age of six at Progressive Center for Dance.  Stephanie studied Dance at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative & Performing Arts and later received her B.F.A. in Dance Education from the Howard University School of Fine Arts in Washington, DC.  Over the years she has developed her technique and love of the art form under the tutelage of many noted instructors and dance institutions, including Joan Myers Brown at Philadanco, Patricia Hobbs at Freedom Theater and Dr. Sherrill Berryman-Johnson at Howard University.  Skilled in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and tap, Stephanie began teaching at an early age.  She continues to study and grow herself while sharing her knowledge of the art with her students.

 

Throughout her career, Stephanie has performed works by many renowned choreographers, including Kevin Iega Jeff of Deeply Rooted in Chicago, IL; Ronald K. Brown of Evidence in New York, NY; and Assane Kante of Kankouran in Washington, DC.  For several years she was a member of Philadanco's 2nd company, Danco II. Currently, all while serving as Artistic Director for Grace Dance Theater Inc. and co-director of their competition team, Stephanie continues to train and perform annually with the company.  Stephanie is also a Modern/Jazz/Ballet Facutly member of The Rock School Teaching Artist for RockWest (The Rock School of Dance Outreach Program).

 

Stephanie is an award-winning and sought-after choreographer.  Her work has been performed by GDT, Grace Dance Ensemble, STTP, and Eleone Dance Incorporated.  In 2012, Stephanie was a recipient of The Rocky Award, given by Dance UP, for Outstanding Achievement in the Philadelphia dance community.  Stephanie owes a lot of her achievements to her late dance mentor Carol Lorraine Cubbage-Davis, Founder of GDT, who instilled importance of dance in the lives of children.