Hometown: Tucson, AZ
Dates in Sitka: 2015-09
Kimi Eisele is a dancer/choreographer, director, writer, and visual artist living in Tucson, Arizona. Her work is grounded in explorations of place and environment, creating opportunities for community collaboration, civic participation, and deeper discovery of our connection to nature. She has directed multiple dance projects for New ARTiculations Dance Theatre, exploring issues such as endangered species (Rosemont Ours, 2013), water (FLOW, 2012), urban revitalization (The Invisible City,2008), and food systems (We Are What We Eat, 2008). Her current projects are How to Duet with a Saguaro, investigating our relationship with movement, stillness, and the iconic Sonoran Desert cactus; and Transit Talks, using arts-based projects to promote community conversations about transit and climate change in Tucson. Her writing has been published in literary magazines, anthologies, and online news outlets. She received the 2012 Arizona Commission on the Arts’ Artist Project Grant for her novel-in-progress about America in the post-apocalypse. Also a visual artist, Kimi makes papercuttings and shadow puppet theater about community, wildlife, and the human body. She is the 2014 recipient of the “Lumie” Award for Established Artist from the Tucson Pima Arts Council and has been a resident artist at Djerassi, Blue Mountain Center, and the Mesa Refuge. Read more about her projects at www.KimiEisele.com or view her artwork at www.KimiEiseleArtwork.com.
While in Sitka, Kimi collaborated with Robert Woolsey from the KCAW staff to produce a story about the Yellow Cedar. It can be heard here:
Kimi was also interviewed on Raven Radio:
We produced a booklet collecting together Kimi’s writing, artwork, and ideas. You can browse it here:
Kimi spent some of her time in Sitka in conversation with the landscape through dance:
KimiEisele_Conversations with Alaska from Kimi Eisele on Vimeo.
Finally, Kimi’s time in Sitka culminated with the shadow puppetry production of In/Out of the Shadows: A Yellow Cedar Tale:
In/Out of the Shadows: A Yellow Cedar Tale from Kimi Eisele on Vimeo.