Taja Will

Taja Will (they/them) is a non-binary, chronically ill/disabled, 

queer, Latinx (Chilean) adoptee. They are a performer, choreographer, somatic therapist, consultant and Healing Justice practitioner based in Mni Sota Makoce, on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. Taja’s approach integrates improvisation, somatic modalities, text and vocals in contemporary performance. Their aesthetic is one of spontaneity, bold choice making, sonic and kinetic partnership and the ability to move in relationship to risk and intimacy. Will’s artistic work explores visceral connections to current socio-cultural realities through a blend of ritual, dense multi-layered worldbuilding and everyday magic. 

Taja initiates solo work and teaching ventures and is a recipient of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, in the dance field, awarded in 2021. Their work has been presented throughout the Twin Cities and across the United States. Including local performances at the Walker Art Center Choreographer’s Evening, the Red Eye Theater’s New Works 4 Weeks, the Radical Recess series, Right Here Showcase and the Candy Box Dance Festival. They were recipients of a 2018-’19 McKnight Choreography Fellowship, administered by the Cowles Center and funded by The McKnight Foundation. Will has recently received support from the National Association of Latinx Arts & Culture, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. 

TAJA WILL ENSEMBLE - a contemporary dance collective 

In 2015 Will instigated the Taja Will Ensemble, a project based, contemporary performance-making collective of artists. The culture of this ensemble exists as a collective of artists working with modular hierarchies, collaborative authorship, and cultural equity practices in the artist workplace. TWE enthusiastically adopted the We Have Voice code of conduct in 2018, and even through shifting collaborators and new projects, we find foundation in space and abundance listening for each other's access needs; physical, emotional and spiritual. 

TWE has produced works such as Gospels of Oblivion: To the End, Blood Language the performance and digital archive, and dance film LÍNEAS de SANGRE and Dearest Liberator, DISASTER! DISASTER! DISASTER!. Amongst these performance we've had several iterations, excerpted performance in collaboration with touring ventures and partnerships with The National Center of Choreography Akron, New Movement Collaborative (Boston), the Lion's Jaw Festival (Boston), Fact SF Fieldworks (San Francisco), the Seattle Festival of Dance & Improvisation, The Walker Art Center, Candy Box Dance Festival, the Cowles Center, the McKnight Foundation and more. TWE is currently working on a new performance, ERODE set to premiere at the Red Eye Theater in Spring 2027. 

HEALING JUSTICE & HOLISTIC HEALING WORK 

In other forms of healing and community work, Taja maintains a dynamic Healing Justice practice that includes consulting with individuals, organizations, and communities in the context of workshops, conflict mediation, one-on-one somatic healing sessions, nervous system triage, disability justice and access training, board development and organizational cultural competency, and individual coaching on unwinding from white body supremacy culture. 

Their training and foundations are in developmental psychotherapy, Body-Mind Centering (™), Energy Medicine, and they are a certified Somatic Attachment Therapy practitioner. Taja values blending approaches to tailor to each client's desires and needs. 

They ground their work in indigenous solidarity and decolonization as a means to undo white and able body supremacy and its pervasive relationship to capitalism. Taja is committed to working for healing and liberation of Black, Indigenous and people of color and radical care work for folks with chronic illness and disabilities.