Dancing Outside the Box
by Ashley McLain
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of Art with Altitude.
A New Steamboat Resident Shares Stories of Dance from Her Hometown
What do trash truck drivers, firefighters, utility line workers, softball players, swimmers, soil testers, tree trimmers, and watershed protection backhoe drivers have in common? They are “virtuosic movers” when seen through the creative lens of choreographer Allison Orr.
Based in Austin, Texas, Forklift Danceworks creates inclusive, one-of-a-kind performance projects that share stories, build understanding and create community. With a mission to activate communities through a collaborative creative process, Forklift has reached over 50,000 people with free performances that typically feature the people whose work sustains our everyday lives. Additionally, Forklift Danceworks partners with different communities worldwide to train local artists and government staff on the unique Forklift collaborative creative process.
This organization weaves together my love of dance and live music, my technical background as a community and regional planner/environmental consultant, and my nostalgia for PBS’ Sesame Street. “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” choruses through my head whenever I think about Forklift.
I am a new Steamboat Springs resident, splitting time between Colorado and Texas. I joined the Forklift board concurrent with watching a talented backhoe operator place boulders on a muddy hillside with the precision of a jeweler setting diamonds. That’s what inspired me to share the book, Dance Works: Stories of Creative Collaboration, by Allison Orr, with the Steamboat arts community.
Dance Works tells the story of Forklift, from inception to present. Though a trained dancer, Allison found challenge and joy in choreography—specifically community dancemaking, with support from mentors who nurtured her curiosity and creativity. The organization is more than 20 years old, and their best-known work, The Trash Project, has been delighting audiences for more than a decade and is the subject of Trash Dance, an award-winning documentary.
Dance Works is told in rich language with insightful detail. Allison’s meticulous record-keeping allows her to bring not only the performances themselves to life, but the months and years of preparation required to gain the trust of her performers. I have deep respect for Forklift’s commitment to paying their community-based performers. Because the sets need to accommodate heavy machinery and can require extra safety precautions (PowerUP, The Trash Project, In Case of Fire), Allison and her creative team must build and maintain momentum for a show for months to ensure successful execution.
Detailed explanations of Forklift’s diverse scale of undertakings are included in the book, ranging from “large” (PowerUP’s eighteen 45-foot poles plus one 100-foot power pole for freeclimbing on a 350-by-500-foot outdoor set) to “small” (Givens and Dove Springs community pools). Appendix 1 is a treasure, explaining 11 essential steps for successfully undertaking collaborative performances. Appendix 2 lists a delightful body of work—I haven’t even touched on their projects with Wesleyan University staff, gondoliers in Venice, or softball players in Kyoto! Even the Index begins with the term “active belonging.”
These quotes embody what Forklift Danceworks represents. “I had to…deliver on what I think all of us artists know is so precious: the chance to create awe, wonder, and magic,” Allison says. For Allison, awe is felt for the people who keep the world running. As one of the PowerUP performers says with conviction: “You have to go and work until you finish it. We’re first responders, we have to finish. That’s what we do.” Forklift’s pieces shine a bright light on these public servants. The latest ambitious project, Way of Water, includes collaborative performances planned for Austin, Miami, El Paso and hopefully overseas.
Elevate the Arts: Order a copy of Dance Works online at forkliftdanceworks.org/dance-works-stories-of-creative-collaboration (or on Amazon) to support an excellent organization. You’ll have a new lens through which to see and appreciate beautiful work that helps keep our cities alive and thriving. AM
