Nancy Owen

Artist Statement

I dance. It is as essential as food and water. I find my life force in the connection between music, spirit, and movement. The intersection of art and activism is where I land, finding immense pleasure and value in both. Dance is a visceral and beautiful art form. It lives and breathes as a purely aesthetic practice. It exists as a form of entertainment, providing simple joy, and serves as a mode of personal expression and exaltation, both physical and spiritual. Yet, when combined with a social and moral quest, it has the power to change both the individual and the world. Transcending language, education, and circumstance, dance speaks directly to the soul, inviting action and transformation.

I am an interdisciplinary artist and activist, working primarily as a choreographer, writer, nascent poet, and dance educator. I seek to answer the following question: How does exploring the creative and emotional elements of seemingly unfixable problems create pathways to solutions and enlightenment? With a combination of rigorous academic research and a deeply personal emotional practice, I explore where the trauma of individual and institutional experiences resides in the body and how it manifests in the world.