Ayano Elson

Ayano Elson is a choreographer and performer based in New York. She was born in Okinawa, a small island colonized by Japan in 1879 and occupied by the United States from 1945–1972. Ayano’s choreography investigates roles of labor and power in contemporary American artmaking. She collaborates closely with artists to examine how imperialism has distorted the way we experience the body, time, and shared environments together.

Her performances have been presented by AUNTS, the Chocolate Factory, Center for Performance Research, Gibney Dance, ISSUE Project Room, Knockdown Center, Movement Research, and Roulette, among others. She has received funding support from Dance/NYC, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and Mertz Gilmore Foundation. She has been an artist in residence at Abrons Arts Center, ArtCake, Center for Performance Research, Gibney Dance, Lower Manhattan Cultural Center, and Movement Research’s Van Lier Emerging Artist of Color Fellowship. She has performed in works by Laurie Berg, Kim Brandt, Jessica Cook, Milka Djordjevich, Simone Forti, Kyli Kleven, Abigail Levine, and Haegue Yang in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. ayanoelson.com

In translation, trust and treachery coexist; sharing may become subterfuge. A dark, dreamlike flow of stark, disparate images and collapsing shapes, Ayano Elson’s Good Boy reveals the distinct vocabularies and systems of choreography encountered in translation.

Back to 2023 Artist Roster | Back to 2023 Performance Mix Festival