Kayla Farrish/Decent Structures Arts is an emerging company combining filmmaking, storytelling, dance theater performance, and sound score. The company has been commissioned by Gibney Dance Inc (2020-2022), Louis Armstrong House Museum (2020), Danspace Project Inc (2019), Pepatian and BAAD! (2018), and beyond. Her residencies include Gallim Women + Residency (2021), Gibney Spotlight: New Voices, Barysnikov Arts Center, Arts On Site (2020), Keshet Makers Space Experience, BAX Space Grant (2019), Pepatian Dance Your Future (2018), and Chez Bushwick (2017). Her live performance and films show at Judson Church, Danspace, Jacob’s Pillow, New York Live Arts, Joe’s Pub, BAAD!, film festivals, and beyond. In 2021 she created “Broken Record” with Brandon Coleman for Little Island Festival, “Rinsing” film, co-directed Melanie Charles “Y’ll D’nt Care Abt Black Women” Film, Saul Williams’ “People Above the Moon” Solo for The Motherboard Suites at NYLA, “Roster” outdoor Performance- Four/Four Open Air Series with Melanie Charles, and Martyr’s Fiction Feature Film. In 2022, she releases feature film “Martyr’s Fiction”, and will collaborate with Belinda McGuire, The Clarice Presents “BlackLight Summit”, Kenyon Adams, Louis Armstrong House, Lincoln Center/Kyle Abraham, Triskelion, and others. She is currently a rehearsal director at Sleep No More NYC and adjunct faculty at NYU Tisch.
She’s received grants and support including Sundance Uprise Grant for Emerging BIPOC Directors, Dance Films Association Production Grant, Film Residency and community support from Little Falls, NY, and Brooklyn Filmmaker Collective Mentorship Fellowship. She was awarded a Bessie Performance Award for her solo “People Above the Moon” in NYLA’s “Motherboard Suite”. NY Times named “Roster” Top 2021 Dance Performances, and titled Farrish a “Break Out Star of 2021”. She was listed on Dance Magazine “Top 9 Screen Dance Makers to Watch” as well. She received the Harkness Promise Award for 2022, and is Bessie nominee for her performance of “December 8th” at Gibney.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Crousillat/Dance Photos/Sarah Annie Navarette/ Ryan Muir
