Valkyrie Yao

Valkyrie Yao (she/her) is a U.S.-based, cross-border multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and producer working across live performance, installation, and moving image. She received her MFA in Dance (Interdisciplinary Digital Media and Performance) from Arizona State University. Her work has been presented at Ailey Citigroup Theater, Gibney, Dixon Place, The Tank NYC, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. She is a 2025 Dance/NYC Resident Artist at Gibney (Mellon Foundation). Her moving image work has circulated internationally, including Official Selection at the Beijing International Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize / 2nd Grand Prize at Compagnie des oeillets MATUVU 2025 (Paris). Her installation work has been invited to the XV Florence Biennale. She has presented research at the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) National Conference and received research awards in the U.S. and China. Yao is the founding Executive Director of ELSEHERE and the founding editor of STRATUM Journal. Through research-driven making, she develops rigorous environments where systems, language, and embodiment become material.

Photo Credit: Chad Westover