Experimental Choreography at Out on a Limb

by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS

Out on a Limb, Olympia’s second-annual showcase for experimental dance, promises some surprises, a few chills and a chance to be part of the dance. The event, curated by members of the Random Acts of Dance Collective and Company Y, features a diverse selection of work inspired by butoh, contact improv and performance art.

Last year’s event sold out on Saturday night and came close on Friday, said Roel Hammerschlag of Radco and Company Y, who came up with the idea for the showcase. “We got uniformly positive feedback,” he said. The Olympia dance community was talking about it for days.

This year’s performance features a mostly new batch of choreographers, which is part of the event’s mission. The only repeat is Radco regular and somatic therapist Karen Kirsch, who proposed a lobby installation that will invite audience members to choreograph and perform their own 21-second dance before the show or during intermission. Those dances will be videotaped and combined to create an evolving program to be shown in the lobby.

Other choreographers include Radco regulars Hammerschlag and Meg Hunt; Seattle’s Constanze Villines, managing director of Khambatta Dance Co. and artistic director of Re:flexion Dance Co.; Kimberly Holloway, who’s presented work at such notable venues as the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland; and Michael Hoover and Katie Lappier, co-directors of Tacoma’s Barefoot Collective. Also featured are Olympia’s Christopher Arnett and Lisa Weber Cochran and a performer appearing under the stage name Patricia Mintross.

While it’s being staged at Olympia Family Theater, Out on a Limb is targeted at adults, teens and older children with an interest in dance, Hammerschlag said. It includes mature themes and at least one piece with frightening moments.

What: Out on a Limb

Where: Olympia Family Theater,
612 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8

How much: $20

Get tickets: 360-451-0074 | Company Y

Skip to content