about

Rosy Simas (Seneca Nation of Indians, Heron clan) is a transdisciplinary and dance artist.

Simas’ knowledge of her Hodinöšyö:nih family and lineage is the underpinning of her relationship to culture and history—stored in her body—expressed through her work—of moving people, images, and objects that she makes for stage and installation. 

Simas’ work weaves personal and collective identity themes with family, sovereignty, equality, and healing. Simas creates with a team of Native and BIPOC artists. Her work is driven by deep listening.

Simas’ works for stage include she who lives on the road to war, Weave, Skin(s), and We Wait in the Darkness. Simas’ installations have been exhibited at the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, All My Relations Arts, SOO Visual Arts, and the Weisman Art Museum.

Simas is a Doris Duke Artist, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, McKnight Foundation Fellow, Dance/USA Fellow, United States Artists Fellow, First People's Fund Performing Arts Fellow, and a Joyce Awardee.

Her other accolades include a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation SHIFT award and multiple awards from the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, the MAP Fund, and the National Performance Network.

Simas is the Artistic Director of Rosy Simas Danse and a 2024-2026 Walker Art Center artist in residence.