Rosy Simas is a transdisciplinary artist. She is claimed by the Heron Clan of the Seneca Nation. She is carried through her life and work by the many generations of family who were and are Seneca, Stockbridge-Munsee, Oneida, Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Neutral and of European descent. This extensive knowledge of her family and lineage is the underpinning of her relationship to culture and history — stored in her body — which is expressed through her work — of moving people, moving image, and moving objects that she makes for stage and installation.
Simas is a recipient of fellowships from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF), Dance/USA, McKnight Foundation for Choreography, Guggenheim Creative Arts, First People Fund, and a Joyce Award from The Joyce Foundation.
Simas’ Carleton residency includes a new work for Semaphore Repertory Dance Company, teaching (Dance Improvisation and a unit in Reading The Dancing Body: Topics in Dance History), independent scholarship and research, and a winter term campus talk.