As the recipient of the 2011 Selma Jeanne Cohen Lecture Award, Donna Mejia presented her work "Tribal Fusion" at the 34th Fulbright Association Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

A transnational fusion dance artist, Ms. Mejia has enjoyed a front row seat in the emergence of a new genre of dance called Tribal Fusion. Her distinctive aesthetic brings into dialogue the secular dances of North Africa and the Arab world with American Hip Hop dance and sub-genres of electronic dance. This technically astonishing form provides a rich arena for the study of cultural imperialism, gender representation, and electronic globalization. She profiles the this evolving dance community and its creative, human approach to global citizenship. Ms. Mejia is a choreographer, lecturer, teacher, administrator, and performer specializing in contemporary dance traditions of the African and and Arab diaspora and emerging fusion traditions in Transnational Electronica.

 For 10 years, she was a faculty member at Colorado College and directed the Colorado College International Summer Dance Festival. She also spent twelve years as managing director of the award-winning Harambee African Dance Ensemble of Colorado University, Boulder. With Harambee, she was awarded the prestigious El Pomar Foundation grant, was featured in the March 1996 issue of "Dance" magazine, performed for President Bill Clinton and Novel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and was hailed as the "Best of Boulder" for three years running.

Ms. Mejia is an authorized instructor of Brazilian Silvestre Modern Dance Techniqueand is the primary person in assisting in codifying this esoteric study of dance and the body after 20 years of practice. She was guest artist in residence for Smith College Dance 2006 through 2009 and has been awarded extended residencies at the Naropa Institute, Mt. Holyoke College, Hampshire College, University of Northern Colorado, Tapei National University of the Arts, Bucknell University, Colorado State University, EarthDance, Jacob's Pillow International Dance Festival, and the Bates International Dance Festival. Ms. Mejia is a master's candidate (May 2012) and teaching fellow in the Smith College Department of Dance.