Ariyan Annette Johnson, credited as Ariyan Johnson, is an American actress, television director,

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

. Johnson is best known for her role as Chantel Mitchell in the 1992 indie

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. ''Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.'' is a 1992 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Leslie Harris (director), Leslie Harris. The film follows Chantel, a Black teenager living in the New York City Subsidized housing in the Unite ...

'' She also portrayed Aisha on the second season of

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

series ''

The Steve Harvey Show ''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan that aired on The WB from August 25, 1996 to February 17, 2002, with a total of 122 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. Syn ...

'' (1997–98).

Early life

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood to artistically inclined parents, Johnson grew up training in the arts. Her father, a painter and contemporary artist, and her mother, an actress and dancer, were both educators who owned a theatrical dance company. Johnson attended

LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square ...

where she majored in dance and film. She later attended

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Founded in 1958, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is the largest modern dance company in the United States.Dance Data Project (October 2024) 2024 Largest Contemporary and Modern Companies Report Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ...

Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is located in New York City and is the headquarters to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Martha Graham Dance Company, which is the oldest continually performing contemporary dance c ...

, and 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center.

Award nomination

Johnson was nominated for the

Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Geraldine Page bei ...

in 1994, for her role as Chantel Mitchell in the film ''

'' Retrieved 2016-8-12

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ariyan Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Brooklyn People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni American television actresses American film actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)