“… I say it is profound and necessary because it is our way back to humanity, this work that she does. The work of being in the body is not solely about functional movement or performance strategies, it's how we inhabit our experience here on this planet in a way that asks us to align with our integrity. Since that first encounter, I realized this was the work I too wanted to do in my own way. I am so incredibly grateful for Dana, one who has devoted her life and research to the importance of being in the body with a softness and a malleability but also with a dedicated certainty and an ever cultivating integrity.”

— Robyn

“I first encountered Dana as a performer. Even at a distance, I felt her making connections internally moment to moment. Her movement for me felt both improvised and eternal. So much physical and artistic integrity. Afterwards, I often thought of her performance and wondered how she did it.
As a teacher she helped me understand the pleasure, playfulness, and effectiveness of moving within the context of myself, my own boundaries, my own possibilities. She sometimes uses the metaphor of a movement garden. I am sincerely grateful to her for helping me make my own movement garden more varied and healthy than it has been in decades.”

-Mary

"I have had the honor of being both Dana's student and collaborator. As a teacher, Dana is thoughtful, intentional, clear, and oh so inspiring. As one of her lucky students, I always felt like Dana's classes flowed outside of time. She taught us to think deeply about what we were doing and also not think at all; she challenged and inspired us, all the while creating a deep sense of connection and community among the students.
continued…

… Dana is also a delight to collaborate with. As a musician who has created a number of pieces and soundscapes for her compositions, I have deeply enjoyed our creative co-process. For me, working with Dana engenders this beautiful sense of possibility, of playfulness, of authenticity, and also of safety (to be myself, to take creative risks). Dana is a deeply sensitive and talented being who brings out the best in whatever she touches."


— Forest

“Dana's capacity to walk with me on the soul journey of creating whatever is next for me to create has been extraordinary. She's the best companion I could have asked for.”

— Colleen

“I started working with Dana in early 2021 as I searched for holistic ways to return to my dance practice after the birth of my daughter during the height of the COVID pandemic. Dana's generous and loving guidance has supported my transformation into a mother-artist helping me create new ways of relating to body, movement and land-based practices. I am so grateful to have her presence in my life as a mentor, fellow movement artist, and friend.”

— Sandra Paola

“Dana’s depth of experience comes through everything she does in her classes and sessions, but it is her genuine regard for each individual that is the rare gift. She seems to have no other agenda than helping each person express what they want to express and meet their creative potential. She is present and spacious and generous with her insights, always letting you direct the course, while feeling supported. This is one of the few truly non-judgemental spaces I have been in. Dana's presence and teaching allows what is within you to unfold.”

— Andreana

“I have been a mentee of Dana's "unfolding" for a little over a year now. I've been developing some quite ambitious ideas while going through a time of transition and it's hard to imagine navigating this without her. Dana combines a kindness, curiosity and humour with precision, insight and vast experience that allow and encourage me to journey through my unfolding ideas with ever more embodied breadth and depth. I feel her supportive guiding presence as I practice and go about my days, and I know that I and my work will be better for knowing her. Dana both inspires and raises my aspirations.”

— Lucy Thane

“Dana's insights, questions, and support materials offered me another perspective and supportive guidance in clarifying my artistic identity and process.”

— Michelle

“The journey with Dana revealed an existing seed inside myself that I had not been able to see before. Through Dana’s heartful, insightful and very open way to truly listen, I can now carry a story for myself whose first word I hadn’t been able to read until then. 
To be continued.”

~ Marit

“As a mentor and teacher Dana extends the practises of the body into the way we interact with the world. It makes her not just a brilliant dance teacher but a wise and trusted life teacher and collaborator.”

-Zoë

“Dancer Iova-Koga’s untitled solo was by far the night’s most captivating performance. Her lithe, travel-through-evolution dance managed to be gripping, humorous, heartbreaking, and searingly honest. Her gestures suggested society’s full spectrum — Impeccable timing and a choreographic arc that made each point but never overstayed the moment made evocative, organic statements. It was a remarkable performance.”

Lou Fancher on October 19, 2016, SFCV
Link to whole article

“The slight, sinewy Dana Iova-Koga stood out in this scene, her slow-mo collapse and subsequent recovery a tour de force. Throughout the evening, her mercurial presence, both solo and in complicated grapplings with her husband, was spellbinding.”

Carla Escoda, Huffington Post, Jan 18, 2016

“a stunningly expressive performer”

Rita Feliciano on November 13, 2010, Dance View Times