Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien
Choreographer + Movement Consultant
Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien is a choreographer in Vancouver BC. She holds a BFA (Hons.) in Dance from SFU School for the Contemporary Arts. Her work has been presented at Dancing on the Edge, Victoria Dance Days (Dance Victoria), Dance in Vancouver, Dance Victoria Choreographic Lab, Project CPR: Choreographic Practice and Research, 12 Minutes Max, Dance Allsorts, and ROMP! Festival of Dance. She has also been commissioned by SFU School for the Contemporary Arts to create work for the dance repertory students.
Her choreography revolves around form and abstract gestures through the use of unison, repetition, and complex patterns. The use of projections and light play a prominent role in her work creating architecture for space and revealing the internal worlds of the performers.
In 2016 she came together with fellow artists Felicia Lau and Erika Mitsuhashi to form the collective Farouche.
She is currently an Artist-in-Residence for COLLIDER, a project based residency with Theatre Replacement where she is developing the full-length work Mid-Light to be premiered in 2021.