Bio
Abby Koskinas is currently finishing up her fourth year at The Ohio State University where she is earning a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance and a Minor in Video Arts. She is expected to graduate in May of 2021. In addition to her focus on dance performance, Abby is a photographer, videographer, video editor, and graphic designer. She is passionate about combining her knowledge of movement with her understanding of technology to create kinetic digital media work.
At OSU, Abby trained in dance under acclaimed faculty including Daniel Roberts, Karen Elliot, Susan Hadley, Crystal Perkins, Eddie Taketa, Ann Sofie Clemmensen, Momar Nadiye, and Susan Van Pelt Petry. She performed in many faculty, graduate, and undergraduate student works both in Columbus and abroad in Denmark. Beyond performance, Abby’s dance films have been screened nationally and internationally at film festivals. Some of the highlights of her filmmaking journey include her works Vestige winning audience choice at the American College Dance Festival in 2020 and Exquisite Source being shown during “The Big Dance Show” at the Perth Opera house in Scotland. She also has had the opportunity to work with Professor Mitchell Rose and fellow students curating an international dance film festival, Dance@30FPS, two years in a row. Abby also worked in arts criticism as a part of the Writing About the Arts at Ohio State student cohort led by Dr. Karen Eliot. As a part of this project, she was able to interview artists, view performances, and have writing published by an international arts institution—the Wexner Center for the Arts. She was also involved creating and launching the program’s website—Performance, Interpreted.
Some highlights of Abby's work outside of college include being selected for a video documentation internship at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and running her own freelance multimedia business. When not dancing or geeking out over technology, you can find Abby playing guitar, cooking, or spending time with her dog, Greta.
My Story
I could start this by talking about how my favorite “toy” as a kid was my pink Fujifilm digital camera, or how I usued to make my own “movies” by taking stop motion photos of legos… but that makes things seem way too straightforward, and my journey to photo/video was anything but.
My dream growing up, was to be a professional dancer. After dancing through high school, I decided to attend the Ohio State University to earn my BFA in dance (which I am about to graduate with in May of 2021).
At Ohio State, all freshman dance majors take “survey” courses where they get the opportunity to explore different aspects of the dance field to find their niche. I tried (and enjoyed) many of these areas — history, production, choreography, performance… but the day I walked into my creative technologies class, I found home.
The ability to capture, digitally manipulate, and frame something to look exactly how I wanted the audience to see it was exactly what my control-freak brain needed. It allowed me to digitally choreograph, and apply my real-world dance knoweldge to the digital-world.
Years after my first experience with digital media, I still get butterflies when I capture the ideal moment, create a smooth edit, or witness someone’s reaction to seeing themselves beautifully captured on camera..
My study of dance—my understanding of movement and kinetic energy from the inside out—allows me to shoot and edit in an embodied way. When I’m holding my camera, I am dancing with my subject. No matter what the subject matter, my dance knoweldge and movement understanding influences the way I see and sense the moment.
