ellen godena

Biography

Ellen Godena is a choreographer and movement-artist based in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a creator of performance-based installations and isolated movement studies that explore a range of states and conditions in nature. Ellen views her choreography as a distillation process; she works to inhabit the essence of non-human and machine entities and their interactions through a process of stripping away habitual and stylized structures. Her work is informed by research and training in indigenous dance forms, particularly Japanese butoh, and formal education in the visual arts and behavioral sciences. Deborah Butler, curator of the Boston Butoh Series said of her 2007 work, Phloem, “Ellen transformed herself into particles of nature, animal forms and reflections of the human psyche…her presence was startling and very moving and beyond human.” Ellen has presented both solo and group projects in living rooms, bathtubs, outdoor urban and rural settings, and on stages throughout New England and New York City since 1999.

Recently, Ellen has been working with robotic devices and entities. Through a recent artist residency at The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots, she and musician collaborator Max Lord worked with the LEMUR collection of over 50 musical robots to create an original music-movement composition. This culminated in a February 2008 performance at LEMUR’s Brooklyn, NY exhibition space. Since then, Ellen has continued to explore the odd schism between animal and machine movement.

Other projects include Zeroplan, a performance series that explores improvised collaborations between seasoned experimental musicians and dancers, which she and Lord have co-curated since February 2007. The series has steadily grown into an innovative new performance phenomenon in Boston and New York City, and was recently featured in the Boston Phoenix.

Background and Training

Ellen began her butoh training in 2000 under Jennifer Hicks. From 2003 - 2006 she was a member of the Boston-based Kitsune Dance Theater, under the artistic direction of Deborah Butler, an artist well known for her majestic outdoor butoh installations and theater pieces. During this time, Ellen performed regularly as an ensemble dancer and solo artist in experimental performance settings throughout New England such as Mobius, AS220, the Berwick Research Institute, The Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island College, the Somerville ArtBeat Festival, the Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, The Cloud Club and The Carriage House Theater. In 2002, she performed in Master Butoh Artist Katsura Kan’s troupe the Saltimbangues in his critically acclaimed international work, Curious Fish.

From 2006-2008, Ellen was based in New York City where she trained and performed with the Vangeline Theater, a post-modern butoh group, performing at venues including the Joyce Soho, New Museum, Theater for the New City, and the Jonathan Shorr gallery. Under the direction of Vangeline, Ellen trained in butoh ritual mexicano, noguchi gymnastics, and post modern butoh techniques. Ellen has continued her movement training with international artists Hiroko Tamano (San Francisco), Su-En (Sweden), and Diego Pinon (Mexico). Educational influences in her work include a background in the visual arts (Rhode Island School of Design, BFA, 1997), and developmental psychology and linguistics (Harvard University, Ed.M., 2005).

Photos

Full size press photos are available on flickr.