Founding Artistic Director, Choreographer, Movement Artist.
Trained at the Purchase Conservatory of Dance, where she earned her BFA in Dance Composition, Graham developed her artistic voice under the mentorship of Neil Greenberg, Tarin Chaplin, Kazuko Hirabayashi, Richard Cameron-Wolfe, and Kevin Wynn. She further refined her practice through workshops with influential artists including dancer and choreographer Pearl Lang, somatic practitioners Peter Levine and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and postmodern dance pioneers Rudy Perez and Trisha Brown.
Her work spans more than two decades of interdisciplinary performance, embodied research, and collaborative creation. Her practice is rooted in a rigorously cultivated improvisational methodology—drawing from somatic principles, cultural dance traditions, martial arts, contact improvisation, and her foundation in modern dance techniques, as well as extended study in Body-Mind Centering® (BMC), the Feldenkrais Method, Gyrotonic Method, Block Therapy, Pilates, and the Susan Klein Technique.
Graham’s work reflects a deeply interdisciplinary approach, merging movement, visual collage, score-making, and collaborative structures that challenge conventional boundaries of contemporary performance.
Currently, she focuses on teaching exploratory movement workshops for children, emphasizing creative play, body awareness, and improvisational learning. Her work is expanding to include creative choreographic workshops, where children collaboratively build dances while exploring composition, musicality, visual design, and costume-making as part of an integrated creative process.
Founder & Artistic Director — Esse Aficionado (Est. 2001)
501(c)(3) nonprofit dance organization, New York City
Founded a cross-disciplinary company dedicated to experimental, collaborative dance-making
Produced and presented original works in New York City and Seattle for over two decades
Oversaw artistic direction, programming, and long-term creative development
Conceptualized and executed costumes for productions, integrating visual and performative aesthetics
Cultivated partnerships with artists across visual art, performance, music, film, and design
Core Strengths
Improvisation-based choreography
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Contemporary and experimental performance
Somatic and embodied research
Teaching and workshop facilitation
Visual art and collage as movement extension
Production, curation, and nonprofit leadership
Long-term project development
Knowledge in multiple dance forms: African, ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance techniques
Professional Experience (Additional)
Workshop leader and movement facilitator
Guest choreographer for festivals and independent projects
Lecturer and creative process mentor
Nonprofit arts programming and organizational leadership
Selected Choreographic Presentations
New York City /
Movement Research at Judson Church • Dixon Place • Green Space • DUMBO Dance Festival • Inception to Exhibition (ITE) Festival • Merce Cunningham Studio • City Center Studios • The Joyce SoHo • 45th Street Theater • The Ailey Studios • The Tank / Collective:Unconscious
Seattle /
Velocity Dance Center – Next Festival • Northwest New Works Festival • On the Boards • MiKiJio Arts
Artistic Approach & Visual Work
Improvisation as a generative choreographic foundation
Integration of martial arts, somatic inquiry, contact improvisation, and modern dance techniques
Integration of choreography, score-making, and visual design within collaborative creative processes
Experimental structures for solo and ensemble work, including score-based performance creation
Interdisciplinary collaboration with musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists
Costume design: conceptual development and hands-on execution
Collage artist exploring movement-embedded imagery and embodied abstraction
Visual work exhibited in New York City and Seattle
Education
BFA in Dance Composition — SUNY Purchase Conservatory