Niv Acosta facts for kids

Niv Acosta (born May 1988) is an American dancer, choreographer, and artist. He creates performances that explore big ideas about race and how people express themselves. His project Discotropic was shown at the New Museum in 2015.

Early Life and Education

Niv Acosta was born in May 1988 in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in New York City. His mother was 15 years old and from the Dominican Republic.

He studied dance at Washington Irving High School. From 2005 to 2006, he received a scholarship to attend the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.

After high school, Niv went to the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. There, he continued to study dance and choreography. During summer breaks, he attended the American Dance Festival at Duke University. This is where he started to find his own unique style as a choreographer.

Between 2009 and 2010, Niv took a break from dance. He used this time to understand himself better. He later returned to choreography in 2010 and moved back to New York.

Niv Acosta's Career

While at the California Institute of the Arts, Niv Acosta created two dance pieces. These works were inspired by the actor Denzel Washington. After moving back to New York, he started working on a third piece called denzel superstructure.

In 2011, Niv became a resident artist at New York Live Arts. He presented an early version of his fifth "denzel" piece there. This piece, titled denzel mini petite b a t h t u b happymeal, later premiered in March 2012.

During the summer of 2012, Niv began developing the final part of his "denzel" series. This last piece was called i shot denzel. He successfully raised money for its premiere through a Kickstarter campaign. The premiere of i shot denzel happened on January 30, 2014. Niv later said that this performance helped his career a lot.

Discotropic Project

Niv Acosta's piece Discotropic was shown at the Triennial exhibition at the New Museum. He got the idea for this work from a 1978 TV movie called Star Wars Holiday Special. In that film, the network CBS cast Diahann Carroll as a hologram character named Mermeia. This happened because people wanted a Black person to be in the movie.

Inspired by this, Niv lip-synced the words that Mermeia sang in the film. He explained that through this performance, he explores sci-fi movies. He focuses on the "Black American experience" and how he, as a queer and trans person, reworks that idea in today's world.

Black Power Naps

In 2018, Niv Acosta and Fannie Sosa created niv Acosta and Fannie Sosa: Black Power Naps. This work was first shown at Matadero Madrid during Madrid Pride. It was shown again in 2019 at Performance Space New York. This project also won a 2019 Creative Capital Award.

The exhibition focused on the "Sleep Gap." This is the idea that people of color often get less sleep than white people. The artists created soft, comfortable spaces where people of color could relax and get the rest they often miss. This piece was one of the first works reviewed by Performa Reports. It also influenced Solange's 2019 album When I get Home.

Besides the 2019 Creative Capital Award, Niv Acosta also received a grant from The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation in 2017.

Artistic Ideas

The "Denzel" Series

The "denzel" series of works was inspired by the actor Denzel Washington. Niv Acosta was interested in Denzel Washington as a Black male actor in popular movies. He saw him as a powerful and inspiring figure. Niv's "denzel" pieces helped him explore his own complex identity as a male artist.

Niv Acosta explained that "Denzel is like a symbol for Black masculinity in media." He added that it shows "how that masculinity is seen by others."

"Impossible Bodies"

Niv Acosta has used the term "impossible bodies" to describe his work. He feels these words truly show what is real for him and the people he likes to work with. He believes that people can feel "impossible" when they are outside of safe places.

In his past works, he has included his mother, his younger brother, his partner, and close friends. He has also worked with other artists of color. Niv feels that "impossible bodies" is a universal idea that everyone can understand. He asks, "With 'possible bodies' being shown as ideal, how do we make ourselves feel possible without changing who we are?" He uses ideas from movies, musicals, and songs to help identify these "impossibilities." From there, he aims to create ideas about himself and others that feel empowering.

Major Works

• Discotropic, New Museum Triennial, 2015
• The denzel series:

1. denzel
2. denzel prelude
3. denzel superstructure, the Community Education Center in Philadelphia, 2010
4. denzel again, New York Live Arts, 2011
5. denzel minipetite b a t h t u b happymeal, Upstart Festival at Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 2012
6. i shot denzel, New York Live Arts, 2014