ALIA SWERSKY is a movement artist ritual maker, performer and teacher, engaged deeply in the vital act of dance improvisation. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 1998 with a BFA in dance and now teaches as part of the creative process curriculum at Cornish as an adjunct faculty member since 2005. Swersky has taught at Velocity’s Strictly Seattle Festival and the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation (SFDI) since the early 2000’s. She was a long time Co-artistic director of Dance Art Group (DAG), a non-profit organization that promotes the practice and appreciation of dance and somatic education in the Seattle area, including the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation. Other influences include contact improvisation, yoga, embodied somatic techniques, authentic movement, tuning scores, and many pivotal dance partners and teachers. Alia has been actively performing, and creating improvisational and choreographic works in Seattle since 1998.