MICHIYAYA Dance

Artistic Directors Anya and Mitsuko Clarke-Verdery founded MICHIYAYA as a way to combine their voices as artists—Anya, a Black queer choreographer/dance artist from Brooklyn, and Mitsuko, a white & Japanese queer visual/performance artist from Manhattan. They knew right away they wanted to build a community of artists, and decided to form a space for women and femmes to create together.

Now in their fifth year, MICHIYAYA is an evolving dance company of six dance artists based in New York City. MICHIYAYA’s work has spread nationally at venues and institutions such as Yale University, Brooklyn Museum, Andy Warhol Museum, Gelsey Kirkland Theater, La MaMa Galleria, among others. This powerful group of femme voices has been featured in Art Forum, Vice i-D, Thinx, Mask Magazine, and more.

MICHIYAYA’s educational and community initiatives have reached the American College Dance Association, University of Santa Barbara, Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program, Center for Anti-Violence Education, Dancing Grounds, and more. They were recently selected as 2019 Artists in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art & Drama and 2018 PearlDiving Movement Artists at PearlArts Studios in Pittsburgh. Anya & Mitsuko’s vision has been supported by Microsoft, CVS Health, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Opportunity Fund, and Dance/NYC.