Poor Image at Center for Performance Research, March 2023
Mertz Gilmore Late Stage Grant showing

For this in-progress presentation, we use control and instability as primary poles while experimenting within fixed patterns and a fixed space. Joined by Matt Evans, Savannah Gaillard, Amelia Heintzelman, and ensemble musicians Robby Bowen, Johann Diedrick, Charlie Gangemi, Max Levin, Jemila MacEwan, Hank Mason, Livvy Marcus, and Tommy Martinez.

A Gardener at Roulette, June 2021

A Gardener is a new performance created by Ayano Elson in collaboration with lighting designer LD DeArmon, composer Matt Evans, video designer Hyung Seok Jeon, and writer Lydia Okrent. From a position at the center of the world’s oppressive imperial power, the piece explores a new future we can reach through democratic and egalitarian collaboration, through active participation and consensus-building.

With Womens Work: Ayano Elson at Issue Project Room, February 10, 2021

In the first days of the new year, my friend and collaborator Matt Evans, my partner John Dodig, and my dog Patrick woke up before sunrise to help me film and record this video outdoors in Prospect Park. Two women ate breakfast as they watched me perform multiple runs of this work — my first public performance in 10 months.

The piece features accompanying sound by artist, composer and percussionist Matt Evans. Additional color correcting by video artist Hyung Seok Jeon.

January (video), October 2020

Choreography and performance by: Ayano Elson
Video design by: Hyung Seok Jeon
Music and sound design by: Matt Evans

Double Moon, co-presented by Movement Research and the Chocolate Factory, December 2018

Double Moon is a new performance created by Ayano Elson in collaboration with lighting designer LD DeArmon, dancer Katie Dean, and costumes by Lera Pivavora. Examining disappearance—physical, cultural, and intellectual—Double Moon relies on the dramatic tension between embodied stillness and performance space.