2024 DANCER FELLOW
Photo by: Laichee Yang
Kealoha Ferreira is a Kanaka Maoli, Filipino, Chinese dance artist from Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu, now residing in Mni Sóta Makoce on the unceded lands of the Dakhóta Oyáte. She is the Artistic Associate of Ananya Dance Theatre and a Co-leader of the company's Saint Paul space, the Shawngrām Institute for Performance & Social Justice. A practitioner of Yorchhā and an emerging student of Oli and Hula, Kealoha's artistry activates at the intersection of these transnational feminist and aloha ʻāina embodied practices.
As a leader, teacher, performer, and maker her work investigates the tensile and expansive nature of relationality while remaining rooted in cultural and kinesthetic rigor . She is a recent participant of Red Eye Theater’s Works in Progress cohort (2020), Hālau ʻŌhiʻa- a land and water stewardship program (2021), BIPOC Leadership Circle (2022), and Chawrchā NextGen ChoreoLab (2023). Kealoha teaches Yoga at the University of Minnesota as an associate faculty member in the Theater Arts and Dance Department.