Forklift Danceworks on Campus!

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It’s a bright September Tuesday, and — as usual — an early workday for Forklift Danceworks company members. Artistic Director Allison Orr, Distinguished Fellow in the College of the Environment and Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies; Production Designer Stephen Pruitt, and Resident Composer Graham Reynolds flew in from Austin, TX yesterday to join Assistant Choreographer Gretchen Lamotte ’18, who has been on campus since the start of the semester. Beginning at 7am today with a visit to Physical Plant, this crew is diving into WesWorks production planning and rehearsals with Wesleyan’s CFA, Physical Plant and Custodial Operations staff.

Over the next three days, they will be intensively designing the show: spending time with the daily movements of Physical Plant and Custodial Operations staff, pondering how to choreograph a flock of Wesleyan work vans (!), assessing tech needs for performance sites, meeting musicians, touring the power plant, teaching the course DANC376: Artist in the Community: Civic Engagment and Collaborative Dancemaking, meeting with the WesWorks Advisory Council (join us!), and more.

Forklift Danceworks Artistic Director Allison Orr and Physical Plant Materials Handler Kris Patterson

Allison Orr and Physical Plant Materials Handler Mario Torres
Forklift’s resident composer Graham Reynolds and Materials Handler Mario Torres (an expert DJ) talk music
From left to right: Physical Plant Materials Handler Kris Patterson, Forklift Assistant Choreographer Gretchen Lamotte ’18, Forklift Composer Graham Reynolds, Physical Plant Materials Handler Mario Torres, and COE intern Erin Byrne ’24

If you see these fine folks around campus, be sure to say hello! And reserve your free ticket for the show (Oct 14-16) here!