ABOUT

biography

robyn is a performer and producer based on occupied Lenape territory (nyc). robyn began their training at a young age in kansas city with an emphasis on ballet, modern, jazz, and acting. they moved to nyc to complete their training at the ailey school, where they studied under Graciela Kozak, Ari Mayzick, Ana Marie Forsythe, Milton Myers, and Francesca Harper. their studies culminated with the solo performance of Nathan Trice’s “unfold a self” and the production of their senior choreography thesis “From Whence She Came”. they hold a bachelor of fine arts degree from fordham university & the ailey school, which they obtained summa cum laude with majors in dance and philosophy. 

since moving into the professional world, robyn’s career has taken them through formal stage production, site-specific installation, and dance for film; wandering around the intersection between classical modern and gestural contemporary impulse. their artistic priorities are rooted in mindfulness and accessibility, striving to move at the speed of trust and build holistic relationships between artist and audience. over the years, they’ve worked with Alice Klock, Nathan Trice, Ben Stamper, Christian Von Howard, and several more. prominent credits include Ben Stamper’s short film “Stay With”, Katherine Maxwell’s stage production “Prism”, and Alex Mastoon’s music video “Ceremony”. currently, robyn dances for Hivewild under the direction of Katherine Maxwell.

in addition to their performance pursuits, robyn is actively honing their pedagogical ethos to support dancers in cultivating an honest and playful love of their bodies & their art. inspired by the work of Katherine Maxwell, Kevin Clark, and Adrian Hoffman, their primary goal as an instructor is to interrupt the teacher/student hierarchy. instead, they lean into movement coaching and guided questions that support dancers in making informed decisions about their bodies and their careers.

beyond the stage and studio, robyn works in program administration, general operations, and production management for Hi-ARTS and Hivewild, and facilitates experiential learning sessions geared towards young professionals seeking to build their administrative toolkit and advocate for their careers and creative projects. robyn’s facilitation ethos exists in the collaborative space between technical writing, project management, and creative storytelling. they write curricula and build community-forward programming grounded in experiential learning and tailored by active listening; guided by the firm belief that information is only as effective as it is accessible. the content they design and deliver is grounded in the importance of honesty and empathy intertwined, with the challenge of actively decolonizing the production, consumption, and judgement of information.

when they’re not doing any of the above, robyn can be found cooking, tending to their cat & plants, or sitting by the ocean with their nose in a book. 

artist statement

i move through the world of art in the mediums of formal stage production, site-specific installation, and dance for film - wandering around the relational, the wild, and the magical. i seek to invest in creative processes that lean into the incessant questions of humanity, rather than proposing a neatly packaged solution. i follow the ongoing directive to meet myself, peers, collaborators, and viewers with curiosity, patience, and play. as a Black, immigrant, queer person, i hold carefully the responsibility of a story-holder swimming against the dominant narrative. movement-based storytelling is the medium i use to mark my presence in the world around me, and ensure that our stories are held with softness and told with transparency. in process: carefully following the thread from sensation, to color, to scene, to words, to movement - slowly dialing heartbeats, stories, and lifetimes into focus. in performance: guiding audiences through the discomfort of necessary questions and asking them to be active participants in their own impact.