News & Current
2026 marks an expanded cycle of performances, residencies, and collaborative research advancing Performance as Ceremony across national performance and academic contexts.
Performance as Ceremony: Indigenous Futurities — Lecture & Performance
University of California, Riverside — January 29, 2026 | 3:15–4:50 PM
Invited lecture-performance examining choreography as ceremonial practice and the body as living archive, integrating Limón lineage research with Indigenous performance theory.
Of Earth and Error — José Limón Solos
Colorado College — February 27–28, 2026 (7:30 PM) & March 1, 2026 (2:00 PM)
Performance of José Limón’s The Unsung and El Indio, activating modern dance lineage as embodied archive within the framework of Performance as Ceremony.
Danceworks 2026
Northwestern University — March 13–15, 2026
Presentation of my new work WISH/BODY/TRACE within Northwestern University’s Danceworks series, continuing research into attentional choreography, spatial relation, and collective embodiment.
New Works Festival — Artist in Residence
Center for Performing Arts (CFPA), Minneapolis — April 2026
As part of the Center for Performing Arts Artist Residency program, Sam Aros-Mitchell and Masanari Kawahara are developing Breath Between Worlds, a new interdisciplinary performance exploring cross-cultural embodiment, ritual, and performance practice. The work brings together Aros-Mitchell’s Yaqui performance practice rooted in Indigenous cosmologies with Kawahara’s lineage in Butoh and Japanese visual theatre.
The project will be presented as part of the CFPA New Works Festival, April 3–4, 2026.
Heller Center Indigenous Fellowship
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs — TBA 2026
Residential fellowship supporting research, community engagement, and public presentation expanding the Performance as Ceremony framework.
Indigenous Performing Arts Residency (IPAR) — Artist-in-Residence
UC Berkeley Arts Research Center — April 20–24, 2026
Artist-in-Residence with the Indigenous Performing Arts Residency program, offering masterclasses, studio research, and a public lecture-performance exploring embodied archives, Indigenous futurities, and Performance as Ceremony.
A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:’ (i hope it will stir your mind)
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis — Exhibition: February 12–July 5, 2026 | Performances: May 14–16, 2026
Performer with Rosy Simas Danse in A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:’ (i hope it will stir your mind), a transdisciplinary project by Seneca artist Rosy Simas integrating dance, installation, sound, and community engagement. The work cultivates a Haudenosaunee “good mind” philosophy through movement and relational practice, bringing audiences into a shared space of reflection and peacemaking.
NE/X Festival of Indigenous Performance
Minneapolis — Ongoing
Founder and producer of NE/X Festival, supporting Indigenous and BIPOC artists working across contemporary and experimental performance practices.
Ongoing updates reflect the evolving trajectory of Performance as Ceremony across performance, research, and collaborative contexts.