About Me

I am a movement artist working primarily with subjects of the body based in NYC. I am interested in nourishing the practice of translation through interdisciplinary methods. My work seeks to explore resonance, discord, decay and healing. Rooted in nature, the body escapes its skin shell and reinvents itself dispelled of trauma, an unearthly creature insect. Through ritual, disorientation, and unlearning, my creations emerge. As a choreographer, I draw upon butoh, contemporary floorwork, Capoeira, and release technique. Through movement I navigate the infinite patterns of a body’s relationships— negotiating touch, desire, intimacy and disgust. I develop the nuance of the movement work through accessing visual art, words, and fleeting images. I have been granted artist residencies with Arts, Letters, and Numbers, Peaked Hill Trust, and Homeport Art House. My work has been presented as a part of the Emerging Artists Festival: New Works Series, Smush Gallery, Arts, Letters, and Numbers, and Agropoli Dance Festival in Italy. As an educator, my work spans teaching artistry for Dancewave and Brooklyn Arts Council with NYC schools, and higher education as an Adjunct Professor at Westchester Community College.

eilishadonnahenderson@gmail.com

As a choreographer, my work has been presented in New York and Italy. My newest work, "To Unfold and Hold" was selected for WADE into Activism Festival's closing night based in NYC at The Tank. A full length version of "To Unfold and Hold" was presented as a part of Spark Theatre Festival on November 17, 2023. Recently, “swallow the fly” (2022) was selected for the Emerging Artists Theater’s New Works Series. Other notable works include: “fragments of…” (2021) and “fractal salem” (2018). In late January 2023, I presented a new interdisciplinary work entitled “Relic of Ritual and Rot” as a culmination of a three week artist residency at Arts, Letters, and Numbers in upstate New York. Core thematic elements of my work include: gestural exploration rooted in poetic prompts, floorwork, contact improvisation, and strong conceptual frameworks.

As a performer, I have danced in the works of many artists including Cecly Placenti, Douglas Dunn, Sean Scantlebury, Javier Padilla, Doug Varone, Sean Curran, Adam Barruch, Robert Cook, Robin Becker, Igal Perry, Dyane Harvey-Salaam, Davide di Pretoro, Giada Ferrone, Piero Leccesse, Lorena Delgado/Oscar Santana, Ellen Sickenberger, Vita Osojnik, and more. Since 2018, I have been a company member of Six Degrees Dance, based in New York City.

As a dancer, I have been fortunate to learn from a myriad of teachers and artists along the way- Vangeline, Akihito Ichihara, Robin Becker, Dyane Harvey-Salaam, Robert Cook, Douglas Dunn, Randi Sloan, Afaliah Tribune, Colin Stilwell, Valeria Valleto, Sidra Bell, Elia Mrak, Jason Ciancuilli, Lea Ved, Troy Ogilvie, Peter Chu, Anouk van Dijk, Helder Seabra, Ian Robinson, Tomislav English, Edivaldo Ernesto, Giada Ferrone, Lorena Delgado, Oscar Santana, Vita Osojnik, Omar Carrum, Claudia Lavista, Jennifer Nugent, Robert Moses, and many others.

As an educator, I have worked with students in various settings. My work as a teacher is central to my life, and I hold a M.A. from New York University in Teaching Dance, acquired in 2023 and a B.S. in Dance Education from Hofstra University. Serving NYC as a dance teaching artist for the past four years has allowed me to create student centered residency curricula. Through movement forms such as contemporary, breakdance, and Capoeira, my classes invite healing and artist agency for students of all ages. During the fall of 2023, I began a new role as an Adjunct Professor at Westchester Community College. I have also organized several workshops and plan to expand my teaching practice, focusing both on in-school programming alongside private sector reach and academia.

Photography by Kristen W. Bartley