Studio 210 Winter 2026 Residency
Studio 210 Winter 2026 Residency Artists
with Guest Mentor KT NELSON!
Over the past 10 years, Babatunji has developed a unique movement language, blending his background in ballet, contemporary, breaking, and hip hop. He has choreographed for Berkeley Ballet Theater, Boston Dance Theater, Post:ballet, The Living Earth Show, Trolley Dance, SFDanceworks, ZiRu Dance, San Francisco Dance Film Festival, among others. As a solo artist, Babatunji has performed internationally, collaborating with visual, sound, and technical artists of countless genres. His work has been seen at Museum of Dance, Lion’s Jaw, København Danser, and SFJazz in collaboration with Terri Lyne Carrington. In addition to his choreographic career, Babatunji danced with Alonzo King LINES Ballet for over a decade. He has freelanced extensively, including co-starring with Misty Copeland in her film “Flower”, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2023. Babatunji is a recipient of a Princess Grace Award, a Chris Hellman Award, The Gerbode Foundations Dance and Movement Award, and was featured in Dance Magazine and San Francisco Chronicle.
Photo of Babatunji Johnson by RJ Muna
Erin Yen is a mixed-race professional dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer currently based out of San Francisco. Erin is the founder of contemporary dance company Dragons Dance, 501c3. Her choreography, an expression of her lived experiences and diverse movement history, has been featured at the FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival, ODC’s State of Play, ODC Pilot Program 73, RAWdance’s Concept Series, SAFEhouse, and Levy Salon. In the last few years, Erin has begun to teach Contemporary and other movement workshops for adult dancers in the Bay Area.
Equally important identities that live a little outside of the paragraph above: Erin is a pet parent to two fluffy black cats, an avid meal prepper, an amateur golfer, an animation enthusiast, a lighting designer/technician, and an audience member (mostly for shows that include dance!) Erin holds a BFA with distinction in Dance from the Ohio State University. She is fluent in Laban Movement Analysis.
Photo of Erin Yen by Kat Lin
About Winter 2026 Guest Mentor, KT NELSON
KT NELSON (ODC Fellow) joined ODC/Dance in 1976. From 1976- 2020 she danced, choreographed and partnered with Brenda Way in directing the ODC/Dance Company. KT has been awarded the Isadora Duncan Dance Award four times: in 1987 for Outstanding Performance, in 1996 and 2012 for Outstanding Choreography, and in 2001 for Sustained Achievement. Her collaborators have included Berkeley Symphony, Na Hoon Park, Shinichi Iova-Koga, and Joan Jeanrenaud. Path of Miracles, with ODC and Volti Vocal Ensemble received a NEFA National Dance Production touring grant. Nelson’s Dead Reckoning was presented in 2018 at Jacobs Pillow and in the 2019 American Dance Platform at the Joyce Theater (see Fighting Climate Change with Dance | KQED Arts ). Her collaboration with Brenda Way, boulders and bones, was presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2017 Next Wave Festival. Her collaboration RingRoundRozi, with French-Canadian Composer Linda Bouchard, was selected for the 2008 Tansmesse International Dance Festival. Since 2015, KT has focused on mentoring which has morphed into working side by side with younger artists as an independent artist.
Photo of KT Nelson by Eszther David
Live Conversation with Winter 2026 Resident Artists
Watch the live chat with Studio 210 Winter 2026 Residents Babatunji & Erin Yen with Winter 2025 Guest Mentor KT Nelson and Studio 210 Residency Program Manager Elizabeth Zepeda from February 2, 2026.
The Studio 210 Residency is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.