REAson d’etre dance strives to provide artistic expression through movement, inclusive of age, ability, level, or background. We create, stage, and program dance works based on Contact Improvisation so we can utilize the inclusiveness that can be a part of this dance form. Our vision is for both professional dancers and everyday people to be inspired by and invigorated through Contact Improvisation. This mandate involves initiatives that work to dismantle racism, ableism, and other “isms” since their existence hinders us from achieving our mandate. We are committed to examining the art form of Contact Improvisation and acknowledging its history of inequity, ableism, and racism. We strive to engage in a continuing process of educating ourselves and acting for change.
We believe that increasing accessibility breaks down barriers to dance, creating stunning humanity that is the heart of the artistic aesthetic we reach for.
Our contact research labs are the root from which all our programming grows. Our contact research labs are a mix of performance, research, rehearsal, and incubator. A musician improvises, sweeping dancers into explorations of different themes. We believe teaming Contact Dance with exceptional live music deepens the form. The contact research labs build community. It’s about relationships, with the quality of communication being the aesthetic measure.
Classes in functional movement help Contact Dancers move with ease and prevent injury. We see healthy movement as beautiful and reach for it as an artistic aesthetic.
The creative meeting of dancers and musicians at our Jams gives birth to ideas and collaborations that become main-stage professional works. Our productions use multi-disciplinary story-telling involving dialogue, music, and song, with Contact Dance at their heart. Professional dancers, ranging in age, enable inter-generational storytelling that brings meaning to people’s lives.
REAson d’etre dance is disability lead and has a disability focus. The current artistic director has a learning disability and Autism. A significant proportion of our creative teams are composed of mixed abilities including creative leads, project leads, and collaborators with disabilities.
