Akoiya Harris
Base Residency Entry Point: Akoiya Harris
Saturday March 23, 2024
Akoiya Harris is a movement artist based in Seattle Washington. Her work uses a queer Black gaze to explore how art holds personal and communal histories. Akoiya's practice is rooted in finding ways oral history, archival research, and poetry can be interwoven into dance works. She has collected oral histories on behalf of the Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute, a community story training program through Wa Na Wari, and Black Collectivity. Akoiya has also participated in the Black Embodiments Studio Arts Writing Incubator. As a choreographer, she has shown work at the Seattle Art Museum, Wa Na Wari, On The Boards, Friends of the Waterfront, Velocity Dance Center, The Moore Theater, and more. Akoiya is a founding member of Black Collectivity, a group that explores memory and culture through embodied responses. Following a matriarchal lineage of teachers, Akoiya is a dance educator working with youth at Ailey Camp and Pacific Northwest Ballet. She has also performed with Spectrum Dance Theater, Will Rawls, Zoe|Juniper, Third Rail Projects, and SoloMagic.
[Image Description: Akoiya stands against a teal background with short blonde hair, a brown shirt, and white pants. Her arms are lifted, and head is tilted.]
Photo provided by Victoria Kovios
[Image Description: Akoiya is in a green top and pleated blue and green skirt made by Le'Ecia Farmer. Her hands are opened, and she is looking up.]
Photo provided by Bruce Tom