Donna Uchizono

Donna Uchizono’s work is characterized by layered fragility, bold gestures and vivid imagery. Charting new territory with each venture, she creates a framework and original vocabulary specific to the individual piece. Uchizono is drawn to a redefined sense of ‘virtuosity’ that extends the markers of skill and excellence to push against human standards of patience, endurance and minute, intensely detailed movement. Uchizono has worked across a range of disciplines and Donna Uchizono Company has been presented in theaters, museums, galleries and non-traditional performance venues throughout the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. Uchizono has created work for notables Mikhail Baryshnikov, MacArthur Fellow David Hammons, Pulitzer Playwright Paula Vogel, and neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks. Her work is distinguished by numerous collaborative projects with composers Fred Frith, “Butch” Morris, David Shively, Tom Cora, James Lo and Guy Yarden, visual artist David Hammons and performance artist Rachel Rosenthal. A 2016 United States Artist Fellow and “Bessie” award winner, Uchizono has been honored by many awards and grants including a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Alpert Award in Dance, Rockefeller, the National Dance Project, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, Creative Capital Foundation, Altria Group, Inc., the Jerome Foundation, the Dance Magazine Seed Grant, the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, Arts International, Foundation for Contemporary Performance, Metropolitan Life Foundation/ADF Commission, the National Performance Network, the Suitcase Fund, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Greenwall Foundation, Meet the Composer, and the Bossak Heilbron Charitable Foundation.

Uchizono has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and four New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships among numerous others. Uchizono’s work is characterized by its numerous collaborative projects working with collaborators MacArthur Fellow Visual Artist David Hammons, Composers "Butch" Morris and James Lo, Lighting Designers Joe Levasseur Stan Pressner and Video Artist Maya Ciarrochi. Her project Low, a collaboration with Composer Guy Yarden, received a “Bessie” (New York Dance and Performance Award) for both Uchizono and Yarden. In addition to choreographed works for her company, Uchizono was the choreographer for playwright Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home for the Trinity Repertory Company and the Long Wharf Theater, directed by Oskar Eustis. Uchizono was commissioned by Baryshnikov Dance Foundation, to create a new work for Mikhail Baryshnikov and commissioned by New York Live Arts (NYLA) to create a new work for the Olivers Sacks Festival in celebration of the noted neurologist and writer’s 80th birthday. Uchizono is a member of the Artist Advisory Board at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, where she was a founding member and first Chair, setting up a forum for artists to discuss issues. Uchizono’s interest in original and live music for performance is evidenced by her collaborations with composers and her former role as co-director and -curator of “Bread to the Bone”, a live music/dance series at The Knitting Factory in New York. Through advocacy and robust mentorship, Uchizono encourage and support young dance makers. This commitment was recognized by Sugar Salon’s mentorship program at Barnard College, mentoring emerging artists through Gibney Dance Center’s DoublePlus program and NYC Department Culture of Affairs current support of Donna Uchizono Company mentorship program.

www.donnauchizono.org