About

Experimental stage artist, filmmaker and 2006 Guggenheim Fellow in Choreography, Dayna Hanson was Co-Artistic Director of Seattle-based dance theater company 33 Fainting Spells from 1994 until 2006. Before that, she worked independently and with a variety of Seattle performers and artists; before that, she wrote short fiction.

With 33 Fainting Spells she co-created, performed and toured a half-dozen dance theater pieces, including Dirty Work and Our Little Sunbeam. In 2005, her solo multi-media work, Spirit Under The Influence, was presented by Northwest Film Forum. In 2006, she and Linas Phillips created Track 11 for Dance Theater Workshop's Sourcing Stravinsky festival.

Dayna has directed and co-directed a number of experimental and short dance films, including Measure, which can be found on First Run Features' Dance for Camera DVD. From 1999 until 2003, she was co-curator of New Dance Cinema, an international dance film festival. She produced Walking to Werner, a documentary feature by Linas Phillips. She is in development on her first feature film, Rainbow.

Dayna's latest work for the stage, We Never Like Talking About the End, premiered at On the Boards in Seattle in December 2006.

Dayna lives in Seattle with two boys and a cat.

Press

Connecting the dots between Stravinsky and Hip Hop – New York Times

Wake Up, Igor: Five new works dialogue with a 20th-century genius – Village Voice

Personal Space: Dayna Hanson's Spirit finds a good home at NWFF – Seattle Times

Fainting Spells founder steps out on her own – Seattle Weekly