Eli Bivens is an artist, writer, dancer, educator and choreographer based in Houston, Texas. Eli is a company member of San Jacinto Dance Company, a writer for Dance Source Houston, a Fulbright Germany alum, an intern at Galveston Ballet, and a movement instructor for Bay Area Dance Moves. Eli earned their Bachelor of Arts in English from Sam Houston State University and holds an AA in Fine Arts from San Jacinto College. They are currently completing a Certificate of Technology in Dance Education through the San Jacinto College South Dance program, under the direction of mentors Jenn Salter and Jamie Williams. Eli has had the privilege of apprenticing with the late artists Dan and Marsha Phillips, as well as studying under several other teachers including Jennifer Mabus, Dionne Noble, Stephanie Troyak, Elisa D'Amico, Jo Rowan, Gabrielle Ruiz, Keith Cross, Joyce Beck, Janel Amsallem and Judith Grywalski. Eli Bivens has had the pleasure of performing in works by choreographers such as Teoma Nacarrato, Jennifer Salter, Jamie Williams, Whylan Rucker, Miranda Maynard, Roderick George of kNonameartist, and Stephanie Troyak.
Eli values radical inclusivity, fairness, and collaboration in their artistic process. Their research as performance focuses on queer histories of the European interwar period, with their first professional work, “In Memoriam Le Monocle”, presented alongside the works of San Jacinto Dance Company in 2024 and 2025, and again for adjudication at the 2025 South-Central ACDA Regional Conference. Their solo work, “Songs My Mother Taught Me”, was presented as a part of Dance Source Houston's Cohort 36 Mind the Gap series at the Houston MATCH. After graduation, Eli Bivens intends to continue pursuing their research in dance and dance history as well as investing in their art, their students, and the arts community of Houston, Texas.
In a time of increasing social conflict, political uproar, and class unrest, Houston’s own Violet Moon is collaborating to make room for collective feeling and fundraising right here in our own city. Their first festival, Artists for People: Humanity Benefit Concert Supporting Gaza and Houston Immigrant Communities, fiscally funded by Fractured Atlas, is sure to […]
A single open room with a chandelier and dimmed lighting. Cabaret posters and scattered leaflets found among littered cigarettes accompany a piano in this enchanting venue. Cafe menus printed auf Deutsch duet with dancers poised at random around the space, costumed in delightfully flamboyant black and white Weimar German attire, are set to make you […]
“CODED: Conversations You Didn’t Know We Were Having”, an “evening of dance, drag, and drama” by show creator Travis Propkop, was a collaborative and interdisciplinary event, clearly community-driven and filled with love. I can say with certainty that my investment in this work is because of just how good this show really was. I wish […]
The Instagram account for Houston’s own House of Ostora prepared me for a night of steamy romance, passion, and adventure, as told through the art of dance. “Untamed Soul” promised a duet of souls, dancing together through time to the beat and background of Spanish Flamenco. Arriving at The Match, greeted by cast members adorned […]
Recent Comments