Skip to main content
Skip to main content
Updated 5/11/2023

Aretha Aoki

  • M

    ME

Institution/Business Type: Artist / Creative (Individual)

Profile Picture by Nikki Lee

Aretha Aoki is a choreographer, performer, and teacher originally from unceded Coast Salish territory (Vancouver, B.C.) and currently residing in Wabanahkik (Maine). 

Her work in collaboration with Bessie nominee, sound designer and artist, Ryan MacDonald, has been performed nationally and internationally. She has received funding through the Kindling Fund, Maine Arts Commission, New England Foundation for the Arts, Northampton Council for the Arts, and the National Association of Japanese Canadians. She is part of the NEFA RDDI New England cohort (2021/2022), and an artist with the inaugural Seed Program (2015/2016), a residency exchange with Vermont Performance Lab and Studio 303.

Aretha was a collaborating performer with Emily Johnson/Catalyst Dance for seven years (Terrible Things, the New York performances of The Thank-you Bar, NiicugniSHORE, and Then a cunning voice and a night spent gazing at stars). As a performer, she has worked with robbinschilds, Rebecca Serrell Cyr, devynn emory, Vanessa Anspaugh, Heather Kravas, Juliette Mapp, Daria Fain, Maura Donohue, Elizabeth Ward, Martin Lanz, Faye Driscoll, Lisa D’Amour & Katie Pearl, and others.

Aretha is Associate Professor of Dance at Bowdoin College, where she teaches Advanced Dancing for Challenging Times; Movement, Breath, Healing: The Politics and Practices of Self-Care; Modern Technique; Repertory; Choreography; and Improvisation. In addition, she has taught college students at Smith College and ACDFA, and children and adults of all ages at community centres throughout Lower Mainland Vancouver. As a teaching artist with Learning Through the Arts, Aretha worked with public school teachers to integrate dance into the British Columbia curriculum. Since 2014 she has been leading the workshop, The Dancer is a Haunted House—based on her choreographic and performance research—at various locations in NYC, San Francisco, and New England. Aretha was Associate Editor at Contact Quarterly (CQ) from 2013-2016, and co-curator of the 2016 Movement Research Spring Festival in NYC. Her lyric essay, "The Practice of Form: A Class by Ralph Lemon" appeared in CQ W/S 2016. Aretha holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University and a MFA from Smith College. 

 

Find Me

Aretha Aoki (she/her)
Job Title: Choreographer
Address:
Topsham, ME 04086

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

2019

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

2019

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Dance - General

Additional Disciplines:

  • Multi-Disciplinary

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Arts Instruction / Lessons
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Audio or Video Recording
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Exhibitions
Seasons Active: spring, summer, winter
Events Per Year: 15

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Elders
  • Families
  • General Public
  • Immigrant Populations
  • Nonprofits
  • School Groups

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National
  • International

Accessibility of Services

Accessibility of Services:

  • Access accommodations for people who use a wheelchair and have limited mobility
  • Access accommodations for people who are blind, partially sighted, and have low vision
  • Access accommodations for people who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Accessible website and/or multimedia for people with sensory disabilities

Media Gallery

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Awards

Awards:

  • National Association of Japanese Canadian SEAD Award
  • Maine Arts Commission Project Award

Awards

Awards:

  • National Association of Japanese Canadian SEAD Award
  • Maine Arts Commission Project Award

Education

Education:

  • Masters of Fine Arts

Special Designations

Special Designations:

  • NEFA Grant Recipient

Artist Info

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • School / University

Ages Served:

  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Health
  • Dance
  • Theater

Certifications and Training:

  • Masters of Fine Arts

Fee range:

$50 - $500

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • School / University

Ages Served:

  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Health
  • Dance
  • Theater

Certifications and Training:

  • Masters of Fine Arts

Fee range:

$50 - $500

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • Performances are adaptable to multiple venues.

Fee Range:

$5,000 - $20,000

State of Residence:

Maine

Minimum Number of Performers:

3

Maximum Number of Performers:

6