Shapes of Movement
The Moving Architects with choreographer Erin Carlisle Norton and dancers Emily Cicio and Kelly Guerrero
sculptor Crystal Gregory
artist gwen Charles
producer Kathy Imlay
Shapes of Movement utilizes the space in-between the disciplines of dance, sculpture, weaving, and architecture, to explore how we can be active participants in the environments we find ourselves in, and adaptive to how we intersect and respond within our communities. The project is a collaboration between the all-female dance company The Moving Architects led by Artistic Director Erin Carlisle Norton, sculptor Crystal Gregory, multimedia performance artist gwen charles, and Curator Kathy Imlay. The site adaptive installation is composed of a modular steel structure and numerous weavings with the ability to be worn; dancers dynamically activate the elements and space through a feminist theoretical framework that champions the process, the labor, and the work over the end product. Linear structures begin to break down and open up to movement encounters that are cumulative, always listening and responding to the particular environment and community in which it is sited.
As individuals who seek to expand our individual practices, we approach our work together with open hearts and minds. Having developed a feminist theoretical framework that champions the process, the labor, and the work over the end product, our strength lies in valuing each practice equally, with no hierarchy of importance. We share knowledge and learn from one another. Our team operates with a spirit of gratitude, using the term “not precious” to emphasize the flexibility we maintain in our making and imagining processes.
Teaching and Creative Residency, February 19-25, 2023
University of Kentucky and Luigart Studio, Lexington, KY
Work-in-Progress Performance, April 6-8, 2023
{Re}HAPPENING 11 at Black Mountain College, NC
Workshopping September 18-25, 2023 with Public Sharing September 24, 2023 @ 1pm
Shapes of Movement with Rena Priest on Sunset Beach, Lummi Island, WA
Taking place on the shoreline of the Salish Sea, we are honored to partner with WA State Poet Laureate Rena Priest, member of the Lummi Nation who will contribute spoken word to the work.
Shapes of Movement is a multi-year project that explores our interdependent relationship with Nature through choreography, sculpture, and weaving. With an installation made up of a modular metal structure and compositions of handwoven textiles, two dancers activate the space within and around the structure creating relationships between each other, the weavings, and Nature.
Partnerships are key at every site, both in the Arts as well as in other disciplines to deepen our connection to Place and Nature. Earth Law Center (ELC), international leader in the Rights of Nature Movement will share video documentation of our Lummi Island project on their website.
Collaborator Links:
Erin Carlisle Norton and The Moving Architects
Crystal Gregory
gwen charles
Kathy Imlay