á-ٲԾ Espinosa
- PhD Student
- THEATRE
IVÁN-DANIEL ESPINOSA is a choreographer and interdisciplinary scholar that writes about and creates work engaged with mycology, Butoh, climate change and interspecies performance. His recent multimedia dance installations involving mycelium fungi networks, bioacoustics and myco-sonification were featured and highlighted in the 2020 issue of the Performance Research journal titled "On Dark Ecologies." á-ٲԾ has been invited to present his ecology-themed artwork nationwide at venues such as La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York City, the Seattle International Butoh Festival, Seattle ARTS IN NATURE Festival, Cascadia NW Arts & Music Festival, Houston Fringe Festival and at numerous academic forums including the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center's BUTOH NEXT symposium, Performática International Forum of Contemporary Dance and Movement Arts at the Universidad de las Américas in Mexico, Texas A&M University Department of Performance Studies, Goddard College M.F.A in Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program, and York (Toronto) University’s Imagining Differently: Research-Creation Practices in Urgent Times conference. á-ٲԾ frequently collaborates with avant-garde musicians and electroacoustic sound artists, as well as with mycologists and artmakers of various mediums, to create his multi-layered, sensorially immersive environments.
á-ٲԾ's approaches to performance and choreography are highly influenced and inspired by his extensive studies of Japanese Butoh. á-ٲԾ has studied and trained with veteran Butoh artists Hiroko & Koichi Tamano, Natsu Nakajima, Katsura Kan, Keiji Semimaru Morita and Dai Matsuoka of the world-renowned Butoh dance troupe SANKAI JUKU, and Diego Piñón. á-ٲԾ began his formative Butoh training in Seattle with Sheri Brown and Pacific Northwest Butoh pioneer Joan Laage, both of whom continue to serve as artistic mentors and collaborators to this day. á-ٲԾ holds a Master of Arts degree in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU). He is currently a PhD student in Theatre and Performance Studies at CU Boulder.