About

Hi there. My name is Ellen Oliver. I am an interdisciplinary artist based in Blackstone, MA. My art is primarily inspired by rock climbing and dance. I use movement, material, video, and projection to explore rock climbing as both an abstract and literal metaphor for navigating life.

I make performances and installations that emphasize the journey of a climb to explore larger themes of problem-solving, risk, identity, partnership, gravity, vertical environments, and connection. 

I create independent and collaborative work for theaters, climbing gyms, public festivals, silos, motion capture studios, and on outdoor cliffs. I have had the pleasure of recently collaborating on projects with talented artists and friends, including Emily Berkheimer, Laura Coe, Angela Cole, Dayita Nereyeth, David Hurlin, Ramin Roshandel, and more.

I have been performing and teaching for over a decade. Currently, I am a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Theater & Dance at College of the Holy Cross, where I designed a new dance technology course.

​My work has been shared at venues including Open Air Media Festival, Shoonya Center for Art and Somatic Practices, Masary Art School Confidential, Keene State College, Iowa International Writers Festival, F-O-R-M Vancouver, The Dance Complex, Williamsburg Art Nexus NYC, Plymouth State University, Roger Williams University, Southern Vermont Dance Festival, AS220 Providence, and more. I was an artist in residence at Art Omi NY 2024 and The White Mountain National Forest 2020.

I am an active member of SAG-AFTRA and have performed as a Principal Dancer in Greta Gerwig's film "Little Women" and as Sarah in an episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3. I have performed in projects for Arc Iris the band, Lorraine Chapman the Company, Fusionworks Dance Company, TEN31 Productions & Metamorphosis Dance Company, Cynthia McLaughlin, OceA Wilderness at The Yard, Ali Kenner Brodksy, Teobi's Dreaming at San Francisco Red Poppy Art House, and more.​

I received a diploma in Dance from the UNC School of the Arts, a BA from Hampshire College, and an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa while serving as a Teaching Assistant and Iowa Arts Fellow.

​​Thank you for checking out my work.

Interested in donating, collaborating, or commissioning a new project?  ​I would love to connect with you here.

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Photo by Aram Boghosian at Masary Studios ASC

Current Projects and Updates:

Assets for Artists Capacity-Building Grant:

I will be sharing an installation and a performance work as part of the A4A Capacity-Building 2026 Cohort at Arts Worcester in November-December 2026. 

Mixed media paintings:

I am building on a series of mixed media and acrylic paintings that I started back in 2018.
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​Please reach out here if you are interested in commissioning or purchasing an original painting. 

Check out the bottom of my art portfolio page for more paintings.

New performance projects cooking:

I am in the early stages of developing two new performance projects that incorporate climbing, clowning, technology, theater, and dance...

Recent Projects:

"Augmented Ascents" (June 2026) at Rock Spot Climbing Providence:

​​This past month, I created "Augmented Ascents", an Augmented Reality (AR) installation project for a rock climbing gym in Providence, Rhode Island. Using a mobile app, users revealed virtual dance sequences by hovering their phones over climbing holds, where each movement is directly inspired by the shape, texture, and route of the handhold. The project reimagines the climbing holds as a movement score. My goal is for this project to be an inspiration for climbers to find new creative approaches on the wall, and to develop this into larger AR climbing dance installations in the future.

Augmented Ascents was created with support from the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism MicroGrant.

"Little Nods" (March 2026) performance with Dayita Nereyeth:

Little Nods follows two friends reconnecting after years of long-distance collaboration. Drawing on material and processes from time apart, Little Nods brings individual and shared movement to a choreographic process and performance. The piece blends imagery from two earlier collaborative works—one framed by balloons, the other accompanied by a bonsai plant—to explore how friendship and imagination can transform the mundane.

Little Nods was funded in part by New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England Dance Fund, with generous support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation. ​
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Photo by domenik lee, dandy lion media

Check out my Art Portfolio page to see more projects.

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Echo Crag, New Hampshire