Atlas Arts Lab

Atlas Arts Lab

Atlas Arts Lab is a program of the Atlas Performing Arts Center that provides a platform for individual artists to develop new work and to serve the community through engagement initiatives that encourage civic dialogue and community cohesion. The program facilitates artistic growth and development for artists whose work explores the ideas and issues of our time. The Atlas Arts Lab prioritizes artists who act as change agents for the betterment of our society, culture, and world.

2026 Cohort

Kyoko Fujimoto
Kyoko Fujimoto is a Washington, DC–based choreographer whose work is shaped by a rare fusion of classical ballet, contemporary dance, and scientific inquiry. Trained in ballet and musical theater in Japan, Boston, and New York City, Fujimoto also holds a B.A. in Physics from Boston University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, an interdisciplinary foundation that informs her playful, intellectually curious choreography. Her work often explores unexpected subjects ranging from video games to medical imaging and has been praised for its humor and depth. A recipient of the FY25 Fellowship and FY26 Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Fujimoto uses humor as a universal language to welcome audiences of all backgrounds into dance. During her Atlas Arts Lab Residency, she plans to deepen her choreographic practice through consistent studio access while developing an early-stage prototype of Poisoned Apple, an interactive, game-like contemporary dance work in which audience choices shape the narrative in real time, advancing her commitment to creating inclusive, collaborative, and joy-filled performance experiences. https://kyokofujimoto.com/ | @kyokofujimoto_choreo

Eva Lewis
Eva Lewis is a Washington, DC–based improviser, writer, and cultural strategist whose artistic practice sits at the intersection of comedy, community engagement, and social change. Trained at Second City Chicago, Washington Improv Theatre, and Studio Acting Conservatory, with additional coursework at iO Chicago and Upright Citizens Brigade, Lewis has performed widely with DC-area improv and sketch teams, at international comedy festivals, and across major platforms including DC Capital Fringe, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Second City New York’s Salt Pepper Ketchup: Improv All The Way. She is also the co-creator and performer of White Privilege/Black Power, an award-winning diversity and inclusion improv show, and a longtime collaborator with the sketch troupe Bonnet Talk. Alongside her artistic work, Lewis is an attorney, grassroots organizer, and national political operative, experiences that deeply inform her commitment to coalition-building, deep listening, and creating spaces rooted in humanity and joy. During her Atlas Arts Lab Residency, Lewis plans to develop a new Second City–style sketch revue, in collaboration with Bonnet Talk, that centers Black women’s experiences through character-driven, culturally resonant comedy, while refining her writing and producing process through a collaborative writers room. She also aims to reconnect comedy to the broader DMV community by creating accessible, live theatrical work and hosting a community improv workshop for Black women, reinforcing her belief that comedy can be a tool for rest, liberation, and collective imagination. @evarlewis

Angel Ramirez
Angel Ramirez is a queer Latino dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist originally from El Salvador and now based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, whose work is deeply rooted in community, cultural identity, and care. The founder and artistic director of Angel Ram Dance, Ramirez trained at CityDance Conservatory and earned a professional choreographic diploma from the ICONS Choreographic Dance Institute, where his one-act contemporary ballet Renacimiento premiered. His performance and choreographic work has been presented at major regional venues including the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, Dance Place, Joe’s Movement Emporium, and Atlas Performing Arts Center, and he has collaborated with leading artists and companies nationally and internationally. As a bilingual teaching artist at Dance Loft on 14 and through partnerships with DC Public Schools, Ramirez is committed to accessibility, regularly creating free and low-cost programs that remove financial and institutional barriers to dance. During his Atlas Arts Lab Residency, Ramirez plans to develop Vamos a bailar?, an evening-length contemporary dance work that blends contemporary technique with salsa, bachata, and Latin social dance to explore nightlife as a site of resilience, healing, and collective joy for Latinx and immigrant communities. The residency will support his goal of expanding a large, collaborative cast, deepening interdisciplinary partnerships with visual and dramaturgical collaborators, and advancing a community-centered creative process that uplifts Latinx and queer narratives while strengthening meaningful connections between artists and audiences. www.angelramdance.com | @Angelramdance

Rola Z

Rola Z, is a DC-based comedian, show creator, and community builder whose work centers humor as a tool for healing, connection, and cultural understanding. She is the creator of Funny Arabs Show (Union Stage, The Kennedy Center), a sold-out sensation featuring comedians from all over the US and highlighting the nuances of what it means to be of Arab descent. She has collaborated with think tanks, arts institutions, DC Public Schools, the Middle East Institute, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and she co-launched the first DC Traumedy Festival, pairing sold-out performances with mental health experts discussing the role of comedy in healing. She was selected as an Artist-in-Residence with the Kennedy Center’s Social Impact Program for 2024 to 2026, a residency that was cut short following the program’s cancellation, further strengthening her commitment to independent, community-centered work. During her Atlas Arts Lab Residency, Rola Z will develop MAKE AMERICA HOME, an immersive show that blends stand-up comedy, storytelling, and live bellydance to explore displacement, reinvention, aging with audacity, collective healing, and the true meaning of home. Grounded in her lived experience of migration, loss, and rebuilding, the residency will support script development, interdisciplinary collaboration, and deep audience engagement, culminating in a cathartic performance that transforms laughter into resistance and the stage into a shared sense of home for artists and audiences alike. IG @somearabwoman.

Eligibility:

Thank you to our generous supporters of Atlas Arts Lab! In May of 2025, we were informed that the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant supporting our Atlas Arts Lab has been terminated. This program has been a cornerstone of our mission by providing space, resources, and support for local artists to create, experiment, and thrive. We remain fully committed to continuing this vital work. Thank you to everyone for supporting Atlas Arts Lab!

Barry Abel
Landon Alchikh
Kate Archamnbault
Laurie Bennett
Jerry Blasenstein
Amber Chabus
Alicia Chou
Valeria Connaughton
Kathryn Crenshaw
Jenn DeMayo
Annika Dodrill
Lucia Edmonds
Douglas Galbi
Ouida Garvin
David Gilbert
Kourtney Ginn
Margaret Grant
Aldwyn Hamilton
Erika Hawthorne
Michael Healy
Philip Holmes and Anita Ayerbe
Toby Horn
Eric Jaffe
Bethany Jenkins
Erin Karla
Camille Kashaka
Eugene M Lang Foundation
Jerry Lewis
Michael Lewis and Linda Singer
Genevieve McGahey
Allison McGuire
Leona Miller
Gail Montplaisir
Brandon Myers
Oneyma Okwonko
Amy Rosenthal
Beng Salao and Kenneth Wong
Simone Scheenberg
Elizabeth Steele
Lizzie Stricklin
Jojo Summerville
Elizabeth Vance
Grace Walker
Brian Watts
Xavi Webb-Spann
Jonathen Willen
Dustin Winkle

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