Based in Los Angeles and directed by Will Johnston and Marissa Osato, Entity Contemporary Dance is a professional contemporary dance company that interweaves modern, jazz, and hip hop dance techniques to present dynamic repertory that explores the nuances of human emotionality and connectivity. Fostering communal collaboration and emphasizing a cross-genre dance education, Entity Contemporary Dance’s mission is to bridge gaps between commercial and concert dance in Los Angeles.

Entity Contemporary Dance aims to intertwine the commercial and concert dance worlds of Los Angeles through its educational programming and performances. We offer bi-monthly open company classes and Summer and Winter Intensives within the Greater Los Angeles area as well as in-studio workshops/residencies in which we cultivate a supportive and collaborative environment. Entity also offers The Entity Experience, a customizable, in-studio workshop/residency allowing students to work intimately and rigorously with Entity company members and directors in their home space. These cross-genre educational experiences provide dancers with opportunities to train alongside and learn from our company members who are all working professionals in the industry. Pre-professional, professional, and recreational dancers ages 10-40 from across the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and Australia have attended our company intensives, classes, and residencies. Entity Contemporary Dance strongly believes in cultivating the personal and artistic growth of young dance artists. We offer numerous scholarships to Entity’s training opportunities to students based on financial need and artistic promise. In addition to Entity’s educational events, company directors and members are current and former faculty at educational institutions Chapman University, Santa Monica College, Loyola Marymount University, Glendale Community College, Crossroads School of the Arts and national touring conventions Hollywood Vibe, West Coast Dance Explosion, Revolt, and JUMP. These networks allow us to reach a diverse student population and offer them career guidance and artistic mentorship. We produce performances in the greater Los Angeles area, creating accessibility for local artists, patrons, and students to experience our work live. The work we perform highlights the voices of our directors and company members which includes a diverse mix of racial, gender, and sexual identities. We have toured nationally and internationally to teach, perform, and set work in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea), Australia, and Mexico.

Please visit our website to learn more about Entity Contemporary Dance.

Instagram- @entitycontemporarydance

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Will Johnston Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, Will Johnston received the majority of his training at A.K.A Dance Company under the direction of Kelly and Alex Velasquez. Will holds an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of California: Irvine as well as a B.F.A in Dance Performance, a B.F.A in Dance Choreography, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Credits include Clear Talent, Sonya Tayeh, Stacey Tookey, Justin Giles, Erica Sobol, Donald McKayle, Loretta Livingston, Jodie Gates, Wade Robson, Tyce Diorio, Teddy Forance, Christopher Scott, Phillip Chbeeb, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, Glee, Son Lux, Sigur Ros, FARR, Deborah Cox, Jordin Sparks, X Ambassadors, Katy Perry, and Rita Ora. In addition, Will is the co-director of Entity Contemporary Dance and a faculty member at West Coast Dance Explosion, Murrieta Dance Project, and Chapman University. He has taught and choreographed across the United States, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. Most recently, Will Johnston along with co-director of Entity Contemporary Dance, Marissa Osato, were awarded 1st place for their work “PEEL,” at the 2017 Capezio Ace Awards. 

Marissa Osato A Los Angeles native, Marissa Osato is a choreographer, director, and educator who creates emotionally-driven, embodied narratives to find cross-cultural universality within shared experiences. Using a hybrid language of contemporary, modern, and hip hop techniques, Marissa’s choreography exhibits a sense of groundedness and abandon, of rhythm and dynamism, of stillness and intimacy. Marissa is the co-founder/co-artistic director of Entity Contemporary Dance, an LA-based dance company that has taught workshops and performed original repertory in the U.S. and Asia. Marissa earned an MFA in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Dance and BA in Literary Journalism from the University of California, Irvine. As a dancer and choreographer represented by Clear Talent Group, Marissa has worked with recording artists such as Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Deborah Cox and Jordin Sparks. Marissa has taught and set choreography at over 50 studios and colleges across the U.S., and has held master classes in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Guam, and South America. In 2019, Marissa was selected for the Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works choreographic residency and the USC Kaufman New Movement Residency. Marissa is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at Santa Monica College.

Entity Contemporary Dance was founded in 2009 by choreographers Will Johnston, Marissa Osato, and Elm Pizarro with the intent to forge connections between the Southern California hip hop and contemporary dance communities. Based in Los Angeles and directed by Will Johnston and Marissa Osato, Entity Contemporary Dance is a professional contemporary dance company that interweaves modern, jazz, and hip hop dance techniques to explore the nuances of emotionality and intercultural connectivity. Comprised of working professionals in LA’s commercial dance industry, Entity creates live stage, site-specific, and film/TV work that prioritizes rhythm, dynamism, power, and vulnerability. Through its educational outreach programs geared towards young artists and pre-professional students, Entity cultivates connection points to various dance career pathways in performance, choreography, education, and production. Entity has created five evening length works—“Braxon vs. Oregon” (2014/15: Los Angeles, San Francisco), “PEEL” (2016/17: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong), “Transparent/see” (2019: Los Angeles, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico), “The Spectacular Society” (2019/2020: Los Angeles, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out series *performance canceled due to the pandemic), and “seed” (2023: Los Angeles), in addition to performing in numerous festivals, galas, and industry showcases. After winning the 2017 Capezio A.C.E. Awards grand prize, Entity premiered its evening length work “Transparent/see” in Los Angeles and Asia and set excerpts of the work at University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance in New York. In 2021, Entity premiered “EntityFeatures”—a series of movement films created by company directors, members, and guest artists—at a live screening and performance event at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) in Little Tokyo. Entity has performed and taught workshops across the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and Australia, and hosts bi-weekly open company classes as well as annual Summer and Winter Intensives in Los Angeles and New York. Entity was a company-in-residence at Edge Performing Arts Center from 2016-2020, is currently a resident company at Stomping Ground L.A., teaches monthly classes at TMilly Studio TV, and facilitates an ongoing creative partnership with JACCC – Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Little Tokyo. Entity Contemporary Dance premiered “seed”–a new evening length collaborative performance with projection and ikebana artists at JACCC in July 2023.

Please visit our website to learn more about Entity Contemporary Dance.

Instagram- @entitycontemporarydance