My Work
My projects exist at the intersection of choreography, visual art, cultural research, and community engagement. Through performance, exhibitions, workshops, and participatory experiences, I explore themes of memory, identity, belonging, and the stories we carry within our bodies and communities.
Many of my works are rooted in my interdisciplinary Weaving Methodology, which combines movement, drawing, writing, oral history, and cultural research to investigate how personal and collective histories shape who we are. Whether creating an evening-length dance work, facilitating a community storytelling project, or developing an immersive installation, I approach each project as an invitation to connect—across cultures, generations, and lived experiences.
My work is deeply informed by my experiences as a Guatemalan American adoptee and Maya descendant, as well as my ethnographic research with Maya textile weavers in Guatemala. Together, these projects seek to create spaces for reflection, dialogue, and collective remembering while imagining new possibilities for belonging.
Choreography
What the Water Remembers (2026)
Commissioned by Bosoma Dance Company (Boston, MA)
An original dance work exploring disconnection in our technology-driven world and our collective longing to return to wonder, memory, and community. Inspired by the rhythms of nature and the symbolic power of water, the piece examines what is lost—and remembered—in our journey back to ourselves.
Weaving Dreams (2026)
Duke University
An evening-length interdisciplinary dance work exploring cultural memory, adoption, and belonging through movement, oral histories, and Maya textile traditions. The work integrated dance, visual art, projection, and community storytelling to investigate what it means to live between worlds.
Assistant Choreographer, Jazz Island (2025)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Served as Assistant Choreographer on Jazz Island, a multidisciplinary performance project with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Collaborated with artists and creative teams to support the choreographic process, interdisciplinary storytelling, and the development of new movement material.
Woven Between Worlds (2025)
Duke University
Woven Between Worlds explores identity as a living, shifting tapestry. The work unfolds in three sections, weaving together solos, duets, and ensemble moments that reflect on how our personal and collective histories intersect, diverge, and transform. Through embodied storytelling, the dancers investigate belonging, resilience, and the unseen threads that connect us across time and experience. The piece invites audiences to witness identity as fluid and evolving—shaped by heritage, community, and lived experience.
Permission to Evolve (2022)
Commissioned by Bosoma Dance Company
Permission to Evolve reflects on the collective pause brought about by the spring of 2020 and the profound transformation that followed. Created two years after the onset of the pandemic, the work explores how individuals and communities have learned to shift, adapt, and reimagine themselves in response to an ever-changing world.
Interdisciplinary Projects
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Founder and Director, Guatemala Interview Project (2026–present) — developing a living archive of 100+ oral histories from Guatemalan adoptees and first-generation individuals
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Founder, The Power of the Performing Arts (2020–present) — global oral history project featuring 300+ artist interviews and reaching 1M+ viewers
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Co-Founder, Digital Drip Fashion House (2022–2025) — produced a digital fashion event at Art Basel Miami and explored fashion in virtual and Web3 spaces
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Creator, Woven Between Worlds (2026) — interdisciplinary exhibition and living archive integrating visual art, video, and storytelling
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Director, Weaving Dreams (2026) — full-length interdisciplinary performance connecting movement, memory, and identity
Power of Performing Arts (2020)
Johanna Kepler founded the interview series project Power of the Performing Arts: Uniting Artists While Apart on March 9th 2020. Her goal is to make a platform in which artists can continue to share their stories, create community through technology, and raise awareness on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting performing artists in the US and around the world. Currently over 300 artists are involved in this interview series. Johanna has interviewed performing artists, directors, choreographers and producers from on and off Broadway, regional theaters across the country, as well as major dance companies such as Martha Graham Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, New York City Ballet, Gibney Dance, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, freelance artists and more.
Guatemala Interview Project (2026)
The Guatemalan Interview Project is a living archive documenting the stories, identities, and lived experiences of Guatemalan adoptees, first-generation individuals, and members of the Guatemalan diaspora. With over 500 participants involved, the project centers personal narrative as a form of cultural preservation, exploring themes of identity, displacement, belonging, and reconnection. Rooted in Johanna Kepler’s broader research on embodiment and cultural memory, it amplifies underrepresented voices while building a growing archive that bridges personal history with collective experience.
Join the Guatemalan Interview Project—contact us at contact@guatemalaproject.com
Weaving Dreams & Woven Between Worlds (2026)
Weaving Dreams is an interdisciplinary performance that explores memory, identity, and ancestral connection through Johanna Kepler’s weaving methodology. Rooted in her experience as a transnational Guatemalan adoptee, the work weaves together movement, sound, and storytelling to navigate themes of displacement, belonging, and cultural hybridity, unfolding through distinct choreographic worlds that move between dream, conflict, and re-membering. Alongside the performance, Woven Between Worlds is a separate immersive gallery installation that extends this inquiry into a visual and spatial archive, featuring artworks, environmental design, and a collection of oral histories. Together, these projects create a multidimensional exploration of living between worlds, where personal narrative and collective memory intersect.
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Collaborations
Collaboration is at the heart of my artistic practice. Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work alongside renowned artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions that have shaped my understanding of interdisciplinary and community-centered art making.
My collaborative experience includes work with Works & Process at the Apollo Theater on Water Riot, a new work by choreographer Maija García; contributions to Jazz Island with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and participation in Matthew Rushing's Sacred Places: Decoding the Spiritual at Duke University. I have also collaborated with organizations including American Ballet Theatre, Duke Arts, the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan, the American Dance Festival, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
I have had the privilege of working with and learning from artists and arts leaders including Rosie Herrera, Matthew Rushing, Maija García, Princess Grace Award winners Maleek Washington and Rena Butler, Gregory Dolbashian, and Derek Lee McPhatter. These collaborations have shaped my interdisciplinary approach to art making and deepened my commitment to creating work that is rooted in storytelling, community engagement, and cultural inquiry.
Let's Work Together
I believe meaningful art is created through collaboration. I partner with universities, museums, dance companies, schools, cultural organizations, and communities to develop projects that foster connection, creativity, and dialogue.
I am available for:
• Choreography commissions and interdisciplinary performance projects
• Artist residencies and research collaborations
• University teaching and guest lectures
• Workshops and community engagement initiatives
• Exhibitions and installations
• Speaking engagements and panel discussions
• Creative direction and arts consulting
• Cultural storytelling and oral history projects
If you are interested in commissioning new work, hosting a residency, bringing a workshop to your community, or exploring a creative collaboration, I would love to connect.
Let's create something meaningful together.
