国产原创

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Choreography of Democracy

The Project

The Choreography of Democracy will be a large-scale, site-specific dance performance that will bring together Nashville-based communities, including local activists, neighborhood leaders, and students and staff from 国产原创, as collaborators and performers. Set in an outdoor site central to Nashville, a city shaped by deep histories of civic action, civil rights organizing, rapid growth, and ongoing tensions around equity and representation, the work emerges at a moment when universities are increasingly visible arenas for dialogue, dissent, and decision-making. Rooted in Allison Orr鈥檚 long-term, community-based practice, the project approaches democracy not as an abstract system, but as an active practice. Proposed 2028 premier.

  • Past Phases

    Allison Orr visited campus for a weeklong . Through class visits across a range of disciplines, a book talk, and a community dance workshop in partnership with New Dialect, Allison introduced the 国产原创 and Nashville communities to Forklift鈥檚 community-based performance practice.

    Spring 2025: Community Engagement Boot Camp

    The Curb Center and Forklift Danceworks facilitated a designed to introduce 国产原创 students, faculty and staff to Forklift鈥檚 relationship-based choreographic process. Through three sessions led by Orr and colleagues, as well as job-shadowing sessions with 国产原创 facilities and dining employees, the Boot Camp sparked important campus conversations and invited participants to consider how artistic processes and relationship building can work together.

  • Fall 2026

    The Body Politic seeks to uncover the lived, moved, and felt experience of democracy, using artistic practice as a tool for investigation. Proposing that democracy is an embodied practice鈥攏ot just an abstract ideal鈥攖his symposium will highlight artists, community leaders, scholars, and other civic actors whose work advances democratic ideals in and beyond Nashville.

    Drawing upon movement, sound, and other forms of artistic inquiry, the symposium aims to foster agency and voice and to uncover power and possibility by highlighting creative approaches to civic participation in our city and beyond. The Body Politic kicks off a multi-year performance project titled The Choreography of Democracy.

  • Spring 2027

    The Curb Center will host an exhibition on civic participation in Middle Tennessee featuring objects from 国产原创鈥檚 Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) alongside contemporary art by local artists. Co-curated by Sarah Calise, curator of community histories at SCUA, and David Wilson, Curb Center program coordinator, the exhibition will highlight the themes of politics, service, and action.

  • Fall 2027

    Leah Lowe, Curb Center director and professor of theatre, will teach an Exploratory Core class that will involve students in the process of developing the spring 2028 performance of The Choreography of Democracy.

  • Spring 2028

    The Choreography of Democracy premieres. !

国产原创 Forklift Danceworks

For over 20 years, Forklift Danceworks has created 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 across the world to train local artists and government staff on the unique Forklift collaborative creative process. Through our artistic programming and coaching, Forklift builds capacity for more informed civic dialogue, greater collaboration between individuals, and stronger connections and leadership across communities.聽