NatalieInMotion (Natalie Deryn Johnson) will be taking a company of dancers to Northwest Indiana during the week of August 16 through the 23. The week will be spent on various multi-media dance endeavors that include integration into performance, local commerce, and natural landscapes. The largest task will be to create an evening-length performance to be shared on August 22 at the Uptown Center in Michigan City. The performance, “not just another summer night,” is most exciting because the dance concert will be conceived of that week and be a completely original new work featuring audio recordings of the dancers along with an array of eclectic antique chairs. A privilege of this project is the allowance to create the actual event in the very theater where it will be presented. The Uptown Center is an old renovated theater with a beautiful stage, balcony, and various other features that give a charismatic background for movement genesis. We are looking forward to utilizing the entire space as a source of inspiration throughout the process to create an immersive performance experience.

While the company is not investigating and preparing for the world premiere performance, the troupe will be doing site-specific movement research for the creation of dance film footage as well as developing concepts for fine art dance photography. The chosen sites include many of Northwest Indiana’s extraordinary natural destinations such as the sand dunes, backcountry, and farmland. In collaboration with local businesses, NatalieInMotion will be filming and creating photo series in antique malls, florist shops, and other industrial settings.

The company is fortunate to be in collaboration with numerous community theaters in the area as well as Portage High School’s Theater Department for the costuming of “not just another summer night” and other vignettes during the week. Other collaborators include community musicians that are excited about helping the dancers record in the studio for the production of original sound score elements as well as local high school composers whose work will appear in later dance films.

A large element of this project is a sense of improvisation. The artists are put in a situation where their intuition and ability to be in the moment are of the essence. There is an aesthetic of authenticity, vulnerability, and spontaneity at play. The audience is given an opportunity to witness real people sharing an honest experience that is both fresh in content and embodiment. The element of the unknown and the willingness to expose unapologetically in the here and now is the creative force behind the entire project. The company is looking forward to exploring and sculpting the relationships that form between the personalities of both the creative environments and the individual company members.

NatalieInMotion is thrilled to share with the community what comes of our investment in this process and would like you to be part of what allows us to go the distance.

Many thanks and best wishes,

NIM