Cayla Mae Simpson is an interdisciplinary movement artist creating through the practices of dance and film. Inspired by nature, animism, and technology, she creates transportive narrative experiences as dance films, live performances, and immersive installations. Simpson has held fellowships and residencies with the Hemera Foundation, the Marlin Miller Dance Program, and the Institute of Electronic Arts at Alfred University. Her work has been presented at Abrons Art Center, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery. She holds degrees in dance performance, and film and media arts from Southern Methodist University.
“‘Phoenix’ is a dance theatre performance that imagines the life cycle of a mythical firebird reflected in the sacred menstrual cycle of the human womb. Transported by death, The Firebird journeys through the realm of the afterlife/womb/great mystery, an atmosphere of projected film, interactive scenery, sonic revelation, energetic forces, ash, and blood. Building on questions regarding rest, cosmic rhythms, and the divine feminine, the performance materializes as an embodied ritual experience that honors menstruating people by exploring the womb beyond its function of reproduction.”