Collective Creations
By Mandie Kolkman, FWDC Artistic Director
Many artists have chosen the creative life to reap the benefits that artistic experiences have to offer. Artists know that pursuing creative opportunities improves well-being, supports healing processes, unifies communities, strengthens the economy, and so much more.
But as we find ourselves “shifting gears”, “pivoting”, “creating a new normal”, “flattening the curve”, and “social distancing”, we have seen more than just artists engaging in the arts. Entire communities are now turning towards the arts for emotional, physical, and socioeconomic support.
As artists, we understand this universal need for beauty and expression and are trying our best to still create during these unprecedented times. Even though our rehearsal halls, studios, work spaces, and theaters are closed and our audiences are socially distancing, the creatives in our community have continued to produce content. This includes the FWDC artists!
The FWDC Touring Company created a screendance by communicating via an application called BAND, filming with iPhones, and receiving editing assistance from Punch Films. The end product showcased members of the Touring Company moving in their own spaces, engaging their bodies from head to toe, while “social disdancing”. Watch video
FWDC artist, Sadie Fenstermacher, wanted to provide this same creative opportunity for our youth Pineapple Dance Project. Using similar strategies, these young dancers were able to showcase that working together is still achievable! Watch video
These group video projects were so much fun to produce and we are preparing to create more! In the next few weeks, we can anticipate releasing an original Fort Wayne Taiko video.
On May 12th, FWDC launched a NEW video project titled, Collective Creations. Collective Creations is a series of original screendances and music videos created individually by artists of the Fort Wayne Dance Collective. Through these videos, we will be sharing our unique voices and visions to entertain and connect with our community.
The video I created for this project is a collaboration I participated in with Cassie Beer, singer/songwriter of Rosalind & the Way, and Alex Overby, filmmaker. The song in the video, “Blood on My Hands”, was very relatable for me. The lyrics are centered around working hard and overcoming obstacles. We worked with Three Rivers Distilling Company to film the project. Not only did their space have the perfect vibe for our vision, but their current work, producing sanitizer, has showcased how they too are working hard to overcome obstacles! Watch video
To enjoy more Collective Creations, visit fwdc.org/collectivecreations every Tuesday and view a new video! In the meantime, keep creating and engaging in artistic experiences!