Studio Stories: CANDY BOX Dance Festival special with Alys Ayumi Ogura - Season 6, Episode 87

Alys Ayumi Ogura (she/her/hers) is a storyteller through her movement, voice and quirky humor. Her dance training began in Japan, where she learned from the now late Mika Kurosawa, the famed godmother of Japanese contemporary dance. She earned a BA in Theater Studies from Westmar University, and her theater training concluded with her earning the “most outstanding student” award from the school’s Theater and Dance Department.Her choreographies and performances have been curated for the Walker Art Center’s Choreographer’s Evening by Megan Mayer, and for BodyCartography Project’s/HIJACK’s Future Interstates. Ogura has worked since 2010 in the Twin Cities’ thriving arts community. As a way of giving back to the Twin Cities arts community, Ogura serves as a DanceMN steering-committee member, and she supports MN Artist Coalition efforts. She most recently performed in Generic Minneapolis, by Emily Gastineau, and she is set to be part of the April Sellers Dance Collective’s summer residency/tour. Ogura is a former Arts Organizing Institute fellow (2017-18) through the Pangea World Theater, and a 2021 Naked Stages fellow, managed by Pillsbury House Theatre and funded by the Jerome Foundation.