Creative Director
Elena Sophia Kozak
Elena Sophia Kozak
E. Sophia Kozak is founding director of Critical Mass Dance Company (CMDC). Sophia’s background as a community organizer, healing arts practitioner, and dancer inspired her to create CMDC. Sophia seeks to bridge worlds of social justice, the healing arts and performance art through dance. She has studied many forms of dance, including ballet, modern, jazz, salsa, circus, aerial arts, and somatic movement.
Sophia is of Cuban and Czech heritage. During a trip to Prague to learn more about her Czech roots, she fell in love with the artform of blacklight theater and it inspired her to develop CMDC's signature 'blacklight dance theater' aesthetic.
Sophia developed CMDC's cornerstone method, Dance from the Heart, which is a 7-step movement process that blends energy healing and somatic dance to support healing and transformation. She wrote a book about Dance from the Heart and designed a home-study program so that anyone who wants to can learn how to Dance from the Heart.
Sophia has received grant funding from Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of West Hollywood, City of Culver City, Self-Development of the People, Puffin Foundation, Liberty Hill and others for CMDC's programs. When she's not dancing, Sophia enjoys helping other dancers as a career counselor at Career Transition For Dancers, a program of the Actors Fund. Sophia has a B.A. from UCLA and M.A. degrees in Spiritual Psychology and Nonprofit Management.
Sophia is of Cuban and Czech heritage. During a trip to Prague to learn more about her Czech roots, she fell in love with the artform of blacklight theater and it inspired her to develop CMDC's signature 'blacklight dance theater' aesthetic.
Sophia developed CMDC's cornerstone method, Dance from the Heart, which is a 7-step movement process that blends energy healing and somatic dance to support healing and transformation. She wrote a book about Dance from the Heart and designed a home-study program so that anyone who wants to can learn how to Dance from the Heart.
Sophia has received grant funding from Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of West Hollywood, City of Culver City, Self-Development of the People, Puffin Foundation, Liberty Hill and others for CMDC's programs. When she's not dancing, Sophia enjoys helping other dancers as a career counselor at Career Transition For Dancers, a program of the Actors Fund. Sophia has a B.A. from UCLA and M.A. degrees in Spiritual Psychology and Nonprofit Management.