COLLABORATE
In the studio, on the screen, in a classroom, on a stage, at the kitchen table: we’ll meet you there.
Invertigo is a collaborative company.
At every level — teaching, dancing, choreography, community programming — we come to the table with collaborators to co-make, from the ground up, from start to finish, and always for the joy and meaning of the process. As Artistic Director Laura Karlin says, we are about the process as much as the final product, iteration, or outcome . And nothing speaks more to the truth of collaboration than valuing the power and necessity of process.
Spotlight on: The Hope Street Family Center Partnership
Hope Street Family Center is one of Invertigo’s most long-standing community partners. This past June and July, Invertigo was invited to join the Family Play Time meetings via zoom as guest artist. Teaching Artist, Rosa Navarrete shared movement exercises with the families, using fun practices like the Name Game, Patterns of Total Body Connectivity, and Storytelling. The group built movement pieces together inspired by their exchanges. We had children of all ages, the youngest being four months old! Dance was centered, and Body and Mind were interlaced in this beautiful engagement featuring fun books like Llama Llama Rojo Pijama by Anna Dewdney and From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. Thank you Hope Street Family Center for trusting us with your sacred spaces, even the virtual ones. We had a wonderful time, dancing from page to page.
“We can see the effect of these classes physically, emotionally and creatively for our kids.”
– Gina Avila, Hope Street Family Center
Our most dynamic, meaningful collaborative projects often start with a small seed of an idea.
Do you have a starter seed you’re looking to grow? A project that needs a home, connection point, cross-marketer, incubation space, lively dialogue, interactive workshop, dance film, or whimsical flare? We are ready! Invertigo Dance Theatre forges enduring partnerships with future-oriented, anti-oppression, planet-friendly, and actively engaged creators, activists, educators, and artists. to fully embody our mission, we aim to democratize artistic leadership and cultivate a lively, equitable community.
Scroll down to meet a few of our collaborators and past partners — if any of these spark your interest and you’d like to connect, reach out to our Programs & Partnerships Director K. Bradford. Let’s make some art!
Craft Contemporary
After It Happened was about a community rebuilding after a natural disaster, and our partnership with Craft Contemporary was a vibrant series of 3 workshops. We held a community set-build, so people could be involved in creating our onstage world with us and weave their own stories into the set. The show featured materials that were repurposed and transformed, so we held a puppet-making workshop. Then we held an intergenerational Storytelling Through Movement workshop, and participants created a unique one-time dance installation within the Gronk exhibit. The partnership brought our respective audiences together, and proved to be a rich collaboration. Connect with Craft Contemporary here.
Independent Shakespeare Company
Every year since 2008, Invertigo has partnered with ISC to bring dance to their annual free festival. ISC is a generous, thoughtful partner, and their audiences reflect the broader LA population in a genuinely wonderful way. Each year, we create dance performances based on one of ISC’s summer shows, and perform it for expansive, enthusiastic crowds. From Feste’s Dream to Waiting at Home for the Witches, this partnership has yielded artistic inspiration and community connections, and it is a joy and honor. Connect with ISC here.
StirStudios
StirStudios created Invertigo’s original logo, and has collaborated on countless dance film and videography projects. Husband and wife Glyn Gray and Anh Dillon, are a dream team of design, artistry and tech savvy. They are both dancers, so their design and videographic sensibilities are beautifully attuned to the unique considerations that dance presents. They also run DancePlug, the global dance network and hub designed for dancers of all backgrounds and focuses.
World Refugee Day
As part of our community engagement for After It Happened, Invertigo partnered with the Refugee Forum of Los Angeles to bring a performance and community choreography workshop to the World Refugee Day event. Sofia, Sadie and Jessica performed a trio about women’s strength in the face of trauma, joy in the face of despair, community in the face of isolation. Laura worked with participants to create a dance for and with the whole community, using the themes of “hope” and “joy,” and the whole room moved together. One woman spoke to us afterwards through tears. She felt so personally connected to the subject matter, and she told us about her own experiences. It was such an honour to be able simply to stand and listen to her. Then she said, “I love the theatre. It is 6 years and I have not seen anything on a stage. Today I am very happy I see something on a stage again.” Dance is a great connector. Connect with World Refugee Day here.
