Rosy Simas

Nya:weh Sgeno. Dewadosö:h ni:’ gya:söh neh ögwë’ö:we:ka:’Rosy Simas ni:’ gya:söh neh ga:nyö’öka:’Onödowag’ga:’ niwagöëdzo’dë:h Ne’neh jo:negade:gas ne’hoh ga’da:gësgë:ö’ nidwage:nöh Ne’koh neh agedaë’ö:ga:’Mni Sota Makoce tknö:ge’Dewadosö:h is my Seneca name. Rosy Simas is my English name. I am Seneca from Burning Springs at Cattaraugus Reservation. I am Heron clan. I live in Minneapolis.I am a transdisciplinary and dance artist. My knowledge of my family and lineage is the underpinning of my relationship to culture and history—stored in my body—expressed through my work—of moving people, images, and objects I make for stage and installation.My work weaves personal and collective identity themes with family, sovereignty, equality, and healing. My dance works include “she who lives on the road to war,” “Weave,” “Skin(s),” and “We Wait in the Darkness,” which have toured throughout Turtle Island.My installations have been exhibited at the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, All My Relations Arts, SOO Visual Arts, and Weisman Art Museum.I am a Doris Duke Artist (2023), United States Artists Fellow (2022), McKnight Foundation Choreography Fellow (2016, 2022), Dance/USA Fellow (2018), a Joyce Awardee (2018), Guggenheim Creative Arts Fellow (2015), and Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Choreography Fellow (2013). My other accolades include a NACF SHIFT award and multiple awards from the New England Foundation for the Arts, the MAP Fund, and the National Performance Network.I am currently an artist in residence (2024–2026) at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.