EveryBody’s Dance

 

Photo courtesy of Art In The Loop, Oppenstein Park,

Photo courtesy of Art In The Loop, Oppenstein Park, Downtown Kansas City

EveryBody's Dance is a site-specific dance project that takes place over the course of 1 day. It encompasses participatory dance-making and performance. 

Combining Cherokee community values and engagement strategies from Lizz Lerman's toolbox, Maura uses unexpected encounters to create a dance. For this site-responsive dance, Maura interviews random passersby. She requests their input and suggestions, asking questions like: Where should the dance start? What type of movements should a street dance incorporate? What order should the movements be in? Should the dancers move around, over, under or through the architectural structures? What sound or music do you imagine? Should the dancers hold, move or "dance with" anything?

After interviewing, creating the dance and rehearsing the movements, Maura, along with local Indigenous dancers and recruited volunteer performers, presents the group-stranger-choreographed piece that intrigues and surprises both planned audiences and unexpected witnesses. 

The entire process is carried out each day culminating in a performance unique to the people, place and day.

  • Performers: 1 - 4 professional dancers & 1 - 100 movers

  • Length: 15 - 20 minutes (performed multiple times in a day and/or several times over the course of a week)

  • Venues: outdoor and/or indoor public spaces

  • Audiences: suitable for all ages.

 

PRESS

"For a few hours on July 9, dance artist Maura Garcia will be taking special requests. She wants to know, “What should a dance in Oppenstein Park look like? Should it have jumps and rolls? Should it incorporate the trees?”...These opportunities are essential to forming a sense of community and bringing people together."

- Lauren Rutherford, KC Magazine

BACKGROUND

Every culture has a process for decision making. Cherokee culture is no different. According to traditional values, we are to include nigada, everyone, in the community when trying to make a decision. We are to seek input from people of all ages and to listen to their opinions. How do these values translate into dance making? How do we make a dance that is truly everybody's dance?