MIA J. CHONG
MIA J. CHONG (she/they) is a choreographer from San Francisco, California, the Indigenous lands of the Ramaytush Ohlone and Muwekma people. Mia currently choreographs and performs throughout the Bay Area and is the founding Artistic Director of contemporary dance company EIGHT/MOVES.
She has received a Princess Grace Award, Chris Hellman Dance Honor, Aninstantia Foundation Grant, LINES Ballet Homer Avila Award, Jacob’s Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship, and Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and nominations for her work as a performer and creator.
Beyond her work with EIGHT/MOVES, Mia’s choreography has been presented by Post:ballet, RAWdance, FACT/SF, BODYSONNET, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, RoundAntennae, Berkeley Ballet Theater’s Studio Company, Shawl-Anderson Youth Ensemble, ODC Dance Jam, and more.
Mia has danced with ODC/Dance, Post:ballet, Robert Moses’ Kin, Dance Theatre of San Francisco, San Francisco Symphony, and Concept o4, among others. She received her training from Kirov Academy of Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, the Ailey School, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the School at Jacob’s Pillow, BANDALOOP, and ODC School.
As a dance educator, Mia has taught at ODC School, Alonzo King LINES Dance Center, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Berkeley Ballet Theater, Westlake School for the Performing Arts, and more.
Mia earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences with a concentration in Organizational Behavior and Change from New York University and her Master of Science in Arts Administration and Cultural Entrepreneurship from Northeastern University.
CHOREOGRAPHER | DIRECTOR | ARTIST
what people are saying
“Chong clearly has a vision.”
— EIGHT/MOVES Season 1 Review by Jill Randall
“Mia J. Chong is beloved in her community and in Bay Area performance spaces.”
— EIGHT/MOVES Season 1 Review by Heather Desaulniers
“For years, Mia J. Chong has stood out as a dancer with several of the Bay Area’s boldest companies, including Post: Ballet and ODC/Dance. Now, she’s stepping out with her own choreography — but with some powerhouse mentors by her side.”
— Rachel Howard for the SF Chronicle Datebook
“Mia J. Chong was phenomenal, moving with brute force one moment and feathery softness the next.”
— Ballet to the People
“…the dynamic Mia J. Chong [is] blessed with a seemingly impossible amount of flexibility and the good sense to control it.”
— San Francisco Weekly
“[The piece] opened with Chong’s solo; the simple staging and her breathtaking articulation created a meditative communion with the music.”
— San Francisco Gate
“Mia J. Chong is both liquid and precise in her opening and closing solos, while her pas de deux with Jeremy Smith is lovely, filled with tender intimacies.”
— The Berkshire Eagle