ARTIST BIOS

Akoiya Harris (she/her) is a movement artist based in Seattle, WA. Her work uses a queer Black gaze to explore ways in which communal and personal stories can be interwoven into dance works. She has collected oral histories on behalf of Wa Na Waris Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute, 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, The Congregation, and SoloMagic.

*Photos by Erin O’Reilly

HOW TO SUPPORT

To join the community of support for Akoiya, please contact erin@velocitydancecenter.org, or make a gift at the link below. As a fiscally sponsored project, all gifts to maia made through Velocity Dance Center are tax deductible.