Biography
Sakinah Lestage is setting the new industry standard for artist development, live performances and cutting edge visuals. An Atlanta native of Cuban and Trinidadian descent, Sakinah studied musical theatre, singing and drama at DeKalb School of the Arts and trained in all styles of dance, majoring in dance from University of South Florida. Sakinah found her passion for choreography and visual movement early on and launched a successful career as a professional dancer and choreographer. She toured for several years with Grammy Award winning R&B star Ne-Yo and performed on major award shows and music videos with Fergie, Diddy, Red Hot Chili Peppers and choreographed for many of the successful artists from Atlanta's vibrant music scene like T-Pain, Keri Hilson, and Jacob Lattimore. Sakinah moved into creative direction and was instrumental in the new imaging of R&B star Mario with his hit song "Break Up". She is requested for artist development and choreography by many major labels including JIVE, Atlantic, Universal, J Records, Def Jam, Chris Brown Entertainment, Zone 4, Nappy Boy and many more.
Most recently,Sakinah was responsible for developing teen heartthrob Austin Mahone from a YouTube singing sensation without a performance background into a full-fledged pop star. From movement to conditioning to performance coaching, her development program helped Austin to secure a major label deal with Chase/Universal Republic as well as his crowning achievement to date winning the 2013 MTV VMA Artist to Watch award. Along the way Sakinah choreographed all of Ausin Mahone's music videos including the Radio Disney hit "Say Something", "Say You're Just a Friend" and "What About Love" as well as his run on the Taylor Swift RED Tour, TV Performances like The Today Show, Live With Regis and Kelly and a whirlwind of international shows. Fans saw Austin grow and polish his abilities as a live performer and he has since been widely praised for his dance moves by the media. Austin also swept multiple awards as "Breakout Artist of the Year" at the MTV EMA's, Radio Disney Awards, and Young Hollywood Awards where he performed his hit singles and the signature dance for "What About Love".
On stage Sakinah showcases her stylistic versatility and applies her experience with lighting, music and set design to create and direct an overall visual experience. She created an original Broadway style R&B Show called "Sweet Soul Music" for Princess Cruises, serving as the Director and Choreographer. For the last three years Sakinah has been the in-house Creative Director for the NAACP Theatre Awards featuring Broadway stars and triple threats including Shoshana Bean ("Wicked"), Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tichina Arnold. She has also staged and choreographed large scale corporate productions with up to 100 dancers for the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Canada's WEDay and Georgia Lottery as well as events for Kellogg Pop-Tarts, Wal-Mart, W Hotels and the NBA Playoffs.
Sakinah also has a sharp eye behind the camera and made her directing debut with the music video for another teen pop star, Hayley Kiyoko, best known as a Disney actress for her roles in "Wizards of Waverly Place", "Lemonade Mouth", and "Scobby Doo". The video for her single "A Belle To Remember" gained over 300k views online and was added to airplay on The Family Channel and other TV outlets.
