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ELIZABETH YOCHIM
Elizabeth Yochim is a dancer, public performance artist, teacher, filmmaker, and arts professional. She creates, directs, and produces performances and workshops internationally.
Elizabeth combines her training in classical ballet, somatic exploration, eco-psychology and Italian Renaissance art history. She founded Participlay to offer her art + play design theory approach to museums and galleries to create the experience of art through non-verbal docent tours. She also presented a TEDx talk, The Power of Play, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Drawn to creating new community rituals in and around the cycles of life, death and rebirth, Elizabeth recently received certification as a death midwife which involved training in sitting with the dying, and to guide and hold space for family members and friends to memorialize the dead in their own intimate and personal ways.
Her performances explore themes of connection—to ourselves, each other, and the environment through the body. They are designed to rekindle memories of how people gathered for centuries to share their lives through telling stories, singing songs, and dancing. The works are participatory and invite people to contribute their own gestures, stories, and memories; thereby blending the line between performer and audience.
Elizabeth began creating street performances in 2004, and in 2013 she mounted her signature project, Angelbird. Dressed as an all-white winged creature she has performed as Angelbird all over the world, across ten continents from the Royal Mile of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to the edge of Rome’s Vatican City, and from Berlin and Paris, to the red rock country of Southern Utah just to name a few. She has written, performed, and produced the art films Angelbird and Essence.
Since 2016 Elizabeth has performed, taught, and designed in-person and virtual experiences internationally with the Nomadic School of Wonder for individuals, creative agencies, and corporate companies such as Google.
Elizabeth was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan and received her degree in art history from the University of Michigan. She studied arts abroad and speaks Italian fluently. With background as an art world professional and former gallery director, she founded Yochim Arts, a fine art appraisal and art advisory firm based in Los Angeles. She is currently working on publishing her first book, Woman to Woman, Regard de Femmes in collaboration with photographer Michele Mattei due out in 2022.
ABOUT: Bio
CV
PERFORMANCE – Select
Interference. Site-specific collaborative performance at Windhorse Relations, Artist in
Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Ivins, Utah, October 2021
In memoriam. Julie Van Eman Yochim. Venice, CA, May 2021
Belonging, Site-specific collaborative performance at Windhorse Relations, Artist in
Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Ivins, Utah, May 2021
Tree Song, dance video project in collaboration with poet, Don Norman. Kalamazoo, Michigan August 2020
Silent Action, Solor, street-based, durational performance, Los Angeles, California, February 2020
Storytime, Live performance, startup LA, Venice, California, February 2020
fALL FORWARD, Commissioned live performance, Yarger Projects, Produced and Directed by Elizabeth Yochim with Don Norman, Poet; John Tegmeyer, Clarinet; Katie Malia, Dancer; Charlotte Smith, Dancer;Shana Betz, Reader; Walker Babington, Reader.
Opening the door, Site-specific collaborative performance at Windhorse Relations, Artist in
Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Ivins, Utah, November 2019
Day of Wonder, Site-specific performance of the Angelbird celebrating the Feast of Mabon,
Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Redwood Forest, Santa Cruz, California,
September 2019
Angelbird, Solo theatrical show, Underground Annex Theatre, Hollywood, California, July
2019
Take Flight, Site-specific performance Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Union Station
Los Angeles, California, May 2019
ESSENCE, Site-specific performance, Writer, Dancer, Creative Director, Producer, The Fine
Arts Building, Los Angeles, California, April 2019
You Go to the Desert to Find Spirit, Site-specific performance at Windhorse Relations, Artist in
Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Ivins, Utah, April 2019
Woman Bird Horse, Site-specific performance at Windhorse Relations, Artist in Residence,
Nomadic School of Wonder, Ivins, Utah, December 2018
The Art of Walking Upright, Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada, December 2018
Angelbird Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2018
Love in the Anthropocene: The Great Auk & Angelbird, Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada, May 2017
Birdspotting, Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles Convention Center, January 2016
Fire & Ice, Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Deplar Farm, Iceland, December 2016
A Walk in the Woods, Site-specific collaborative performance, Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Woodstock, New York
Day of the Dead & Flight School, Site-specific collaborative performance and public spectacle, Founding Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Sante Fe, New Mexico
The Angelbird, Public interventions, performances and pop-up play workshops from Los Angeles to Berlin, 40 cities throughout Germany, Poland, Italy, France, Iceland, Canada and Croatia. 2013-present
Birdspotting, Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles Convention Center 2016
The Bird and The Baker, Pop-up dining experiences combining performance art and food, Luftraum & Entretempo Kitchen Gallery, Berlin, Germany, August 2015
Yael David, Art Performance, Redcat Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
48 Stunden Neukölln, street-based performances, Berlin, Germany 2014
Busker Bus, Wroclaw, Poland 2013
Le Petite Festival, Dubrovnik, Croatia 2013
The Power of Play, University of Southern California, TEDxUSC, Steven's Institute for Innovation, 2012
Vortex Immersion Dome, Los Angeles Center Studios, Los Angeles, California, 2012
I Knew that Once, Lead Street Prophet, Turning the Wheel Productions, 2010
Nearly Invisible, Persona, Turning the Wheel Productions, 2009
Max 10, Solo performer, Electric Lodge, Venice, 2007, 2008, & 2009 & 2014.
8plusfred, movement theatre improvisation group, Los Angeles, CA, 2005-2007 Performances include SOMAfest, Los Angeles, September 2007, and JUMP on the Art, Treehouse Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005.
Art Song, Live performance with Tim Yarger at Timothy Yarger Fine Art Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA, June 2007.
TEACHING ARTIST (Lead Facilitator) – Select
For in old time, the soul was entirely feathered, Virtual Day of Wonder, Google, November 2021
Summer of Wonder, Google, Nomadic School of Wonder, August 2020
Resident Teaching Artist, Nomadic School of Wonder at Redwood Forest, Santa Cruz, California, September 2019; and Windhorse Relations, Ivins, Utah; November 2019
The Art of Walking Upright, Artist in Residence, Nomadic School of Wonder, Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada, December 2018
Girl’s Fly International Conference, Claremont College, May 2018 (Keynote / Live Performance / Workshop)
The Angelbird, Pop-up, community, street-performance based Flight School workshops in 8 countries including United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, France, Croatia, Iceland, 2013-present
Heartdance, Turning the Wheel Productions, Los Angeles, California; Boulder, Colorado; Wilmington, North Carolina; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Andover, Massachusettes, 2005-2012
Five-day Academic Residencies: University, High school, Middle school, Elementary and Assisted living facilities with Turning the Wheel Productions in multiple cities Los Angeles, California; Boulder, Colorado; Wilmington, North Carolina; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Andover, Massachusettes, 2005-2012
Dancing Our Way Home, An Intergenerational Facilitation Workshop and Summer Camp with Turning the Wheel Productions at selected venues including Sunrise Ranch, Loveland, Colorado; Shambala Mountain Center, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado; Estes Park, Colorado, 2005-2012
Bleicher/Golightly Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Participlay Workshop
Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, Community workshops and flash mob experiences, Dancing Momdalas and Flight School
UNIVERSITY MASTERCLASSES
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Master Class, Department of World Arts and Culture
The Hammer Museum, The Murphy Sculpture Garden, Participlay
California Lutheran College, Ventura, CA, The Representational Art Conference
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Participlay & Beyond the BA
EXHIBITIONS – Select
Human Geography, Oxaca, 2021
Office Hours, Beta Main, November 1-November 20, 2018
EDUCATION
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Post Undergraduate Studies
University of Michigan, Literature, Science and the Arts, B.A. History of Art with specialization in Italian Renaissance Art
American Society of Appraisers, Tested and Accredited in Fine Art Appraisal, Washington D.C.
TRAINING
Master Teacher and Expert Facilitator in Turning the Wheel’s Intergenerational Dance/Theatre Facilitation Model The Body Now
Luna Dance’s Summer Institute at Loyola Marymount, 2012
Five Rhythms Community Dance in Los Angeles with Jo Cobbett, Michael and Anneli Skelton, 2002-present
100 hours certification of Awakened Heart, Embodied Mind Yoga Training with Hala Kouri and Julian Walker
Dance/Movement Therapy, Center for Movement Education and Research, Loyola Marymount University
Tamalpa Experience Workshop: Dialogues between Life and Art with Daria Halprin, Tamalpa Institute, Kentfield, CA.
Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, Michigan, 1989-1991.
Kalamazoo Ballet Company, Company member, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1987-1991
WORK
Founder, YOCHIM ARTS, Los Angeles, California, 2003-present
Founder, Participlay, Los Angeles, California, Creator, since 2012
Director of International Exhibitions, Timothy Yarger Fine Art, Beverly Hills, California, 2003-2011
Director and Lead Teacher Turning the Wheel Productions, National non-profit, 2005-2012
ABOUT: CV
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