The world looks and feels a lot different than one year ago. I imagine you are experiencing this as well. We began 2020 with a series of 8 free performances of Visioning Bodies in New York City and then began work on a new dance that was to premiere on Earth Day. Then, so much changed. Artichoke Dance is an organization that responds to challenges in our culture and times. As a company that works in public settings, we encounter all sorts of situations that require flexibility. Lately, we’ve been flexing our adaptability muscles a bit more.
A priority since March has been to keep artists employed and engaged in creatively connecting and responding within our communities. This has meant hours in front of the computer screen discovering new ways of communicating and moving together, digging into deep and honest conversations about sustainability and privilege, forming new partnerships, and having to resist the desire to hug each other when we finally were able to rehearse and perform, albeit briefly, in person.
During the pandemic, we created Move with Me , a 12 part series designed to get you moving, breathing, stretching and more at ease in your body, and Isolation/Connection, a 4-part dance film with original music that reflects the longing for connection we have all experienced this year. You can find these on our Covid Creations page.
This fall, during an outdoor residency sponsored by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, we created Distanced Dance, which depicts our bubbles of spatial distance and embodies the joy we felt with being in the same space, albeit at least six feet apart. We gave 8 live outdoor performances, something we’ve taken for granted our entire existence, in Manhattan and Brooklyn for audiences grateful for this tangible experience.
I continue work on WasteSide Story, a collaborative project with photographer Robin Michals, tracing single use plastics from cradle to grave through trashion photography. We were fortunate to shoot this summer at a British Petroleum refinery in Indiana and had our first exhibit. Images were displayed outdoors on large vinyl banners as part of the Brooklyn Utopias series. You can listen to a talk we gave about the project here and a recent interview with Citizen’s Climate Radio here.
A month ago, I crossed paths with a neighbor I hadn’t seen in some time. She showed me, with great delight, the movements she’d been practicing from the series. She then shared how it was helping her discover new ways to be in her body and to cope with the seclusion she was feeling. Experiences like this reinforce the power of movement to connect us with ourselves and fortify our existence.
We continue to innovate and need your support. Please consider including Artichoke Dance Company in your year-end contributions. Your contribution will enable us to continue our ground breaking and engaging work.