Poético Dance Collective transforms works in progress into virtual showcase

COVID-19 rendered many dancers without a performance platform. In the face of this sad reality, dance production has been interrupted across the board, rehearsals have been postponed, shows cancelled, and dancers, choreographers, and artists discouraged.

In response to this dark reality, Poético invited local artists to submit their incomplete, or unpolished, or performance-ready (but nowhere to perform!) pieces for Poético to showcase in Work In Progress: A Virtual Showcase. The result is a virtual show that explores the artistic process, and resiliency of spirit. Though quarantine continues to be a strange and isolating experience for many of us, this showcase reveals that dance and music live on in new and exciting forms, as do our dance communities. Showcasing work that is some way “in progress” invites viewers to experience a unique perspective of dance and art creation, and asks us to see the heart and dedication that lives within each piece. Poético hopes you will find it weird, fun, cool, distracting, nostalgic, hopeful.

The showcase is free, and consists of both a video and website platform with information about the independent artists and companies who participated. Over a dozen artists are featured, and the range in content and style is exhilarating.

Featured artists include:
ARTIST HOUSE/Asya Zlatina + Dancers –  Carry On!
Bridget Carlin and Catherine Westerduin  – Echoes
Burgundy Blue Dance Company – Untitled & Interconnected
Catherine Westerduin – Preparing to Shower: A Quarantine Striptease
En Axis – Asteroid
Enya Kalia Creations – Water Warriors (original)
Evelyn Langley and Amalia Colón-Nava – Bark Beetles
Grounded Aerial – Urgency and Resign
Jess Melck – Shake it Out and Over Soon
Lily Oglesby – Tunnel Groove
Megan Flynn – Forget, forget, forgotten
Mia La Sala – All Alone & Don’t Be That Way
Olivia Jenna Brown – Fairmount 2019
Poético Dance Collective – Lost in Space and Poético Learns Zoom: A Dance of Gestures and Gizmos
Rachel DeForrest Repinz – Gemini 1, Gemini 2, & Gemini 3
Sean Thomas Boyt – Sundance

Poético Dance Collective was founded in 2019 by Catherine Westerduin as an outlet for local dancers to learn together, perform, and form a community around movement. Former soloist of Kozlov Dance International, Catherine has danced throughout the US, Europe, and the Caribbean, and has placed in international competitions. Certified yoga teacher, Catherine enjoys exploring breath, movement, and mindfulness, while deconstructing balletic forms. Catherine is also a Licensed Social Worker in Philadelphia. At their core, Poético stands for Collaboration, Community Engagement, and Fundraising for organizations that stand by social justice, disaster relief, and the planet.