MY STORY
Zazel is an accomplished dancer, actor, model, and a brain tumor survivor!
“Turning setbacks into comebacks……..I’m a fighter.”
Zazel-Chavah O’Garra is the founder and Artistic Director of ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, a physically integrated dance company whose goal is to create performances that are witty, soulful, intelligent, powerful and intriguing. ZCODP seeks to encourage the integration and inclusion of people with disabilities in dance and in society, to present new, exciting, challenging, and inspiring contemporary dance performances to the widest possible audience.
A native New Yorker, Zazel attended the University of Michigan and Empire State College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in dance performance. A Presidential Arts Scholar, she performed with Mark Dendy Dance Company and Alvin Ailey Wksp II, as well as performing Off-Broadway and in numerous musical theatre stage productions in the U.S. and abroad. She has also served as movement coach for “As the World Turns”. As a professional model, she has appeared on two Essence Magazine covers and several other print and runway jobs. She also appeared in national, regional commercial industrials and supplied voice overs for a number of ads.
In December 2003, Zazel discovered that she had meningioma, a benign brain tumor, which proceeded to paralyze her right side and resulted in a slight speech impediment and cognitive loss. After receiving extensive treatment at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (East Orange, NJ) and New York University Rusk Medical Center, Zazel was able to overcome the speech impediment, cognitive loss, and paralysis.
Consciously deciding to make best use of this debilitating circumstance, Zazel transitioned into teaching dance as a healing form to the disabled and non-disabled alike, continuing to share her infectiously positive and fun spirit with others. Her objective is to give those with disabilities a vehicle for self-expression, help them build a sense of self-esteem and self-reliance, and provide them with opportunities for community recognition and acclaim. She is also passionate about raising public awareness about the challenges facing and the gifts offered by those with disabilities.
Zazel can be heard on numerous podcasts and webinars including the National Foundation for the Arts, Preparing Students with Disabilities for Careers in the Arts: Approaches for Arts Educators, and most recently appeared on the Dr. Oz show to share her life as a brain tumor survivor. Wanting to share her story, she performs Inside/Out (voices of the disability community), directed by Ping Chong, nationwide.
Zazel is the recipient of the VSA-John F. Kennedy- National Teaching Artist fellowship and was named the inaugural member of the White House Disability Liaison 2014.
Her recent performances include: This/Ability-Samuel Beckett Theatre, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, Undesirable Elements-Lincoln Center, Bodystorming Access Cooper Hewitt Museum, Respectability-Positive Exposure 109, Judson Memorial Church, Secret Histories - NYPL Lincoln Center, Imagining an Accessible NYC.
Professional Affiliations: Arts and Education Committee-Board of Education, Disability Task Force, DANCE/NYC, SAG-AFTRA/PWD, Ambassador-Voices Against Brain Cancer and Divaswithdisabilities. Zazel holds an MSW from Fordham University and is a member SAG-AFTRA, EQUITY.
A native New Yorker, Zazel attended the University of Michigan and Empire State College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in dance performance. A Presidential Arts Scholar, she performed with Mark Dendy Dance Company and Alvin Ailey Wksp II, as well as performing Off-Broadway and in numerous musical theatre stage productions in the U.S. and abroad. She has also served as movement coach for “As the World Turns”. As a professional model, she has appeared on two Essence Magazine covers and several other print and runway jobs. She also appeared in national, regional commercial industrials and supplied voice overs for a number of ads.
In December 2003, Zazel discovered that she had meningioma, a benign brain tumor, which proceeded to paralyze her right side and resulted in a slight speech impediment and cognitive loss. After receiving extensive treatment at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (East Orange, NJ) and New York University Rusk Medical Center, Zazel was able to overcome the speech impediment, cognitive loss, and paralysis.
Consciously deciding to make best use of this debilitating circumstance, Zazel transitioned into teaching dance as a healing form to the disabled and non-disabled alike, continuing to share her infectiously positive and fun spirit with others. Her objective is to give those with disabilities a vehicle for self-expression, help them build a sense of self-esteem and self-reliance, and provide them with opportunities for community recognition and acclaim. She is also passionate about raising public awareness about the challenges facing and the gifts offered by those with disabilities.
Zazel can be heard on numerous podcasts and webinars including the National Foundation for the Arts, Preparing Students with Disabilities for Careers in the Arts: Approaches for Arts Educators, and most recently appeared on the Dr. Oz show to share her life as a brain tumor survivor. Wanting to share her story, she performs Inside/Out (voices of the disability community), directed by Ping Chong, nationwide.
Zazel is the recipient of the VSA-John F. Kennedy- National Teaching Artist fellowship and was named the inaugural member of the White House Disability Liaison 2014.
Her recent performances include: This/Ability-Samuel Beckett Theatre, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, Undesirable Elements-Lincoln Center, Bodystorming Access Cooper Hewitt Museum, Respectability-Positive Exposure 109, Judson Memorial Church, Secret Histories - NYPL Lincoln Center, Imagining an Accessible NYC.
Professional Affiliations: Arts and Education Committee-Board of Education, Disability Task Force, DANCE/NYC, SAG-AFTRA/PWD, Ambassador-Voices Against Brain Cancer and Divaswithdisabilities. Zazel holds an MSW from Fordham University and is a member SAG-AFTRA, EQUITY.
Drive. Determination. Dance.
Destiny!
Destiny!
For my full biography, please click here.
CHECK OUT ZAZEL IN ACTION!!
July 14, 2022
Mayor Adams, thanks honorees for making impact, at magnificent return of the in-person Caribbean Life Impact Awards
The Mayor of the City of New York, Eric L. Adams, congratulated an overflowing room with elegantly dressed nationals who were honored with the Caribbean Life Impact Awards, on July 13, noting “you cannot go through life and not in some way make an impact, or impression,"....
Mayor Adams, thanks honorees for making impact, at magnificent return of the in-person Caribbean Life Impact Awards
The Mayor of the City of New York, Eric L. Adams, congratulated an overflowing room with elegantly dressed nationals who were honored with the Caribbean Life Impact Awards, on July 13, noting “you cannot go through life and not in some way make an impact, or impression,"....
June 12, 2022
Meet Zazel- Chavah O'Garra
We had the good fortune of connecting with Zazel-Chavah O’Garra and we’ve shared our conversation below...
Meet Zazel- Chavah O'Garra
We had the good fortune of connecting with Zazel-Chavah O’Garra and we’ve shared our conversation below...
July 24, 2021
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded....
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded a grant from the Barbara and Carl Zydney Grant for Artists with Disabilities, administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded....
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded a grant from the Barbara and Carl Zydney Grant for Artists with Disabilities, administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
July 2, 2021
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded....
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded a grant from the City Artists Corps Grants through New York Foundation of the Arts....
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded....
ZCO / Dance Project was awarded a grant from the City Artists Corps Grants through New York Foundation of the Arts....
June 24, 2021
YAI Arts & Culture Reaches Beyond I/DD Community, Therapeutic for Marginalized Groups
From her apartment in Queens, Zazel O’Garra begins her movement class in front of the camera. She sits on a chair in the center of her living room, wearing a pink sleeveless top and black workout leggings, flashing a smile to those tuned in...
YAI Arts & Culture Reaches Beyond I/DD Community, Therapeutic for Marginalized Groups
From her apartment in Queens, Zazel O’Garra begins her movement class in front of the camera. She sits on a chair in the center of her living room, wearing a pink sleeveless top and black workout leggings, flashing a smile to those tuned in...
November 17, 2020
Diversity Styling Agency - VirgoImage - Releases New Music Visual Celebrating Disability, Fashion, and Beauty Imagine a world where a young blind woman could direct a film, where a woman with paralysis could dance to her hearts delight, and high-end fashion designers....
Diversity Styling Agency - VirgoImage - Releases New Music Visual Celebrating Disability, Fashion, and Beauty Imagine a world where a young blind woman could direct a film, where a woman with paralysis could dance to her hearts delight, and high-end fashion designers....
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