Yanira Castro

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I form iterative, multimodal projects that center land, citizenship, and governance in works that are activated and performed by the public. My practice centers the collective negotiation, interpretation and enacting of a set of prompts shared in live performance, installations, podcasts, manuals. These prompts are participatory performance scores that invite people to act—to gesture, speak, sing, dress, construct objects, and engage one another. The work builds intimate gatherings that foster communal embodiment and unearth power and control, offering useful discomfort and reflection.

Yanira Castro is a Puerto Rican interdisciplinary artist living in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn), and working at the intersection of communal practices, performance, installation, and interactive technology. Since 2009, she’s created with a team of collaborators as, a canary torsi. She has been commissioned and/or presented by The Chocolate Factory Theater, MCA Chicago, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, NY Live Arts, The Invisible Dog Art Center, Abrons Arts Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) and ICA/Boston. Her work has been supported by Creative Capital, The Alpert Award, MAP Fund, a NYFA Choreography Fellowship, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, MacDowell, LMCC, and Yaddo, and has received two NY Dance & Performance (aka Bessie) Awards for Outstanding Production.