Mika Lillit Lior

Mika Lillit Lior

Ph.D. in Culture and Performance

Biography

Mika Lllit Lior holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. in Dance Studies from York University. In New York, Lior performed with companies LAVA, Mezclado Movement Group, Phillippa Kaye, and Raizes do Brasil; Capoeira Brooklyn. Upon returning to Canada, Lior toured with Montrealais-Zimbabwean choreographer Gibson Muriva, and danced in Maria Isabel Rondon’s “Barravento” at Montréal arts interculturels. A cofounder of the Mile End arts incubation center espace OSupa and the multi-disciplinary ensemble Blue String Project, Lior’s choreographic debut, “As Duas” (2009) was dubbed an “awe-inspiring truck-load of fearless athleticism” by Montreal’s the Hour.

Research Interests

Lior’s fieldwork and artistic immersion in Afro-Brazilian dance led to fruitful cross-fertilizations with diverse artists including Toronto’s Newton Moraes, Montreal’s Valerie Chery and Bahian-based choreographers Rosangela Silvestre and Tatiana Campelos. In 2013 and 2014 Lior was the only Canadian dancer invited to participate in the Axis Syllabus international choreographic laboratory, TRACES, in Benin, where she collaborated with West African artist Horton Ordovi and conducted research on ceremonial African movement practices.

While pursuing her M.A. Lior joined the ensemble aLOFT project with Toronto’s leading contact improvisers Karen Kaeja, Suzanne Liska and Kathleen Rea. Lior’s 2014 solo show “Cures for Fear” was supported by REAson d’être Dance Productions and Anandam Dancetheatre’s the Collective Space, and adapted into a short film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPyrLP1oOZc) that won the Audience Award at the Contact Dance International Film Festival in Toronto, 2015. Here at UCLA’s World Arts & Cultures/Dance depatment, Lior’s Ph.D studies bring together her background and ongoing professional practice in contemporary and Afro-Brazilian performance with a critical focus on the postcolonial circulation of ritual dance forms.