Dance and performance artist Alys Ayumi Ogura will offer movement-art workshops and performances during her residency August 1st - 15th & September 1st - 16th.
Lanesboro Arts is thrilled to welcome Alys Ayumi “Yumi” Ogura to Lanesboro as the Lanesboro Arts Artist-In-Residence from August 1st – 15th and September 1- 16th.
During her four weeks in Lanesboro, Yumi will invite Lanesboro area residents to step into the joy and creativity of movement and dance. The general public is invited to participate in a series of free public workshops and events, starting with a Welcome Potluck on Tuesday, August 5th. No prior movement or dance experience is required to participate in these workshops, which are rooted in yoga, modern dance, and folk dance. She will also be developing new episodes in her playful story telling and performance art platform, the “YumiVerse.” Yumi’s residency will culminate in a Capstone Performance of the next installment in the YumiVerse on Saturday, September 13th.
Residency Events
- Tue, August 5th, 5:00 – 7:00 PM: Welcome Potluck at the Cottage House Inn Meeting Room
- Thu, August 7th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM: Gentle Movement Workshop at the St. Mane Theatre
- Sat, August 9th, 9:00 – 11:00 AM: Don’t You Feel it Too? Community Movement Workshop at Sylvan Park
- Thu, August 14th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM: Bon Odori Festival Dance Showcase at Gateway Park (St. Mane Theatre Rain Location)
- Thu, September 4th, 6:00 – 8 PM: Gentle Movement Workshop at the St. Mane Theater
- Sat, September 6th, 11 AM, 11:30 AM, 12 PM & 12:30 PM: Interactive Art Dance Performance at Lanesboro Arts Gallery
- Sat, September 13th, 7:00 PM Capstone Performance and at the St. Mane Theatre
About Alys Ayumi Ogura
Alys Ayumi Ogura オグラアリス ア有美 (she/her) is a Twin Cities-based dance artist and performance maker. She focuses on storytelling through her movements, voice, and quirky humor. Ogura has created a platform called the “YumiVerse,” a.k.a. Yumi’s Universe, to share narratives centered on the marginalized voices of Asian women like her while celebrating the richness and generosity of the American Midwest.
She created a work commissioned by the Pillsbury House + Theatre (2021) and one for the Red Eye Theater (2023) on the YumiVerse platform. An iteration of her YumiVerse work was selected as a solo at the 2022 Walker Art Center’s Choreographers’ Evening.
During her residency in Lanesboro, Ogura will offer several free gentle-movement classes, including some with a focus on modern dance and yoga. These classes are inspired by her college Basic Movement courses, which opened her eyes to the potential of movement as a storytelling tool. Ogura is looking forward to sharing movement-art in a public forum to bring the joy and creativity of dancing and movement to light. She is excited to immerse herself into the vital, creative Lanesboro community and deepen her artistic exploration while possibly collaborating with local artists to add new episodes to the YumiVerse.
About the Lanesboro Early Career Artist Residency Program
Supported by the Jerome Foundation, the Lanesboro Artist Residency Program awards two to three residencies per year to early career artists with projects that activate the people and places of Lanesboro while instigating positive change. The program’s place-based and community-engaged focus is geared toward early career artists that are driven to explore ways in which their work can be applied to the community and how Lanesboro’s rural community can inform their work. For more information, visit lanesboroarts.org or call 507-467-2446.