The Team

Founder and Artistic Director, Forklift Danceworks

Allison Orr is a choreographer celebrated for turning everyday labor into compelling dance. Drawing on her background in anthropology and social work, she has honed a methodology of ethnographic choreography that engages community members as co-authors and performers in the creation of large-scale civic spectacles. From sanitation workers and firefighters to power linemen, gondoliers, and wastewater personnel, Allison finds beauty and virtuosity in the work of people whose labor sustains our everyday lives — bringing their skills and stories to audiences of 60 to 6,000+.

In 2001, Allison founded Forklift Danceworks, the Austin-based company she leads as Artistic Director. Her landmark project, The Trash Project — a dance created with City of Austin sanitation workers and their trucks — earned widespread acclaim for highlighting the artistry of labor and affirming the dignity of essential work. It is the subject of the feature-length documentary Trash Dance. Her commissions span Fusebox Festival, the Kyoto Arts Center, and institutions across the US and abroad, including a 2014 selection as the sole US choreographer in the National Performance Network’s Asian Exchange program.

Among her many honors, Allison is a 2026 Doris Duke Artist Awardee, a 2025 inductee into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, a MacDowell Fellow, a Dance/USA Fellow in Social Change, and a 2018 Doris Duke United States Artist Fellow. She has been named Best Choreographer by The Austin Chronicle and Most Outstanding Choreographer by the Austin Critics Table numerous times. Her work has been funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Doris Duke Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the City of Venice, Italy, and many others.

In 2023, Allison released Dance Works: Stories of Creative Collaboration — part memoir, part guide — reflecting on decades of making performances with municipal employees and exploring how community-based art can serve as a tool for addressing civic issues and deepening connection to place and community. She is currently a Distinguished Fellow of the Bailey College of Environment at Wesleyan University, and was a Mellon Foundation Creative Campus Scholar at Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts.

Allison holds an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Mills College and a BA in Anthropology from Wake Forest University. A fourth-generation Texan, she lives in Austin with her husband and two children.

You can find and follow Allison on Instagram.

Rachael Garbowski is a seasoned professional in the nonprofit sector, specializing in development, strategic partnerships, and community building. Previously serving as the Director of Development for both Big Medium and AIA Austin, she has played a pivotal role in supporting artists and fostering artistic communities in Austin and across Texas. Rachael has also held key roles in various organizations, including serving as Managing Director of Austin EMS Relief Fund, Corporate Relations Manager for The Contemporary Austin, and Director of Development for Texas Land Conservancy. With a background that includes a BA in Art History and Theater from Bates College, as well as formative years at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, Rachael’s commitment to the arts is deeply ingrained. She is currently dividing her time between Brooklyn and Austin, where she has resided for over a decade. From 2021 to 2023 she owned and operated Ani’s Day & Night, a hybrid coffee shop, bar, community space, and event venue, reflecting her commitment to creating inclusive spaces for connection and creativity. She is excited to embark on her new role as Institutional Giving Manager with Forklift Danceworks.

As Development Coordinator, Josiane brings a decade of experience in the arts and nonprofit world to Forklift Danceworks. Born and raised in Laredo, Texas, Josiane came to Austin to study at St. Edward’s University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Writing and Rhetoric with a minor in Communications. She has completed internships with several local nonprofits, including Latinitas and the Austin Film Society.

For four years, Josiane worked at the Texas Commission on the Arts, assisting with various grant programs for arts organizations and artists. Following her time at TCA, Josiane worked at KMFA Classical 89.5 for six years, where she supported the Board of Directors and development department. She was also part of the development team that worked on the capital campaign to build KMFA’s new home in East Austin.

Josiane is excited to maximize her expertise to support Forklift’s amazing mission to activate communities through a collaborative creative process that values authentic connection. 

Angela is a theatre artist, administrator, and educator with a passion for making the arts accessible and connecting communities through storytelling and spectacle. Originally from New Jersey, she previously served as Producing Artistic Director at Eagle Theatre, producing and directing AEA productions and community events in Hammonton, NJ. She also worked as Director of Performing Arts for a Camden, NJ–based nonprofit, introducing theatre as a tool for social-emotional learning, and taught acting as an adjunct professor in Rowan University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. 

Angela holds an MA in Theatre from Villanova University and a BA from Rowan University, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Directing at Texas State University, where she teaches and directs in the School of Theatre. She lives in San Marcos with her husband and two cats.

Born and raised in Austin, TX, Rachel Nayer is a performance artist, choreographer, and yoga teacher. In 2018, Rachel completed her undergraduate degree with honors in both Performance/Choreography and Environmental Science at Scripps College in Claremont, California. She is passionate about using the body as a tool for communication, celebration, community building, and acknowledgment. Rachel first joined the Forklift team in the summer of 2018 for Dove Springs Swims/Nadamos Dove Springs, and since then has collaborated on Givens Swims(2019), The Way of Water: Waller Creek (2022), and The Way of Water: Onion Creek (2023/24).  

Francis Rodriguez (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer and educator currently based in Austin, Texas. She began collaborating with Forklift Danceworks in 2018, working as an artistic intern for Dove Springs Swims/Nadamos Dove Springs. Since then, Francis has participated as a choreographer in the projects: Austin FC Collaboration (2021), Dance For Dogs and People Who Walk Them (2022, 2023), The Way of Water: Waller Creek (2022), The Way of Water: Onion Creek (2023, 2024), and The Way of Water: Miami (2025). Throughout these same years, she worked as both a teaching artist and program coordinator of Forklift’s Leaps & Bounds program, leading creative movement lessons for early childhood classrooms across AISD and other Austin area preschools. Francis holds a BFA in Dance from The University of Texas at Austin (2018).

Born and raised in Austin Tx, Damian comes from a background of film. At 18 years old, he wrote and co-directed his first short film and debuted it at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, he has continued to work on his craft, exploring other avenues of visual media in commercials, music videos, and feature films. Damian has done work for Microsoft, Capital Metro, Austin FC, E4youth, I ACT, DAWA and others. “I enjoy the process of filming and editing, but I love having the ability to turn a life’s moment into a beautiful story”.