The Team

From sanitation workers to firefighters, Venetian gondoliers to professional baseball players, power linemen to forestry technicians, Allison Orr creates award-winning choreography with unlikely performers. Inspired by the beauty and virtuosity in the practiced, habitual movement of labor, Allison’s dances feature the often-overlooked choreography of work that sustains our everyday lives. Building on her background in anthropology and social work, over the past 20 years Allison has honed a methodology of ethnographic choreography that engages community members as co-authors and performers in the creation of large-scale civic spectacles. Challenging audiences to expand notions of dance and performer, her dances have been performed for audiences of 60 to 6,000+.

Recently named a 2018 Doris Duke United States Artist Fellow, Allison was named Best Choreographer of 2016, 2017, and 2018 by The Austin Chronicle, Most Outstanding Choreographer of 2003, 2008 and 2013 by the Austin Critics Table, one of Tribeza Magazine’s Top 10 Austinites, and one of eight “Extraordinary Texans” by Texas Highways Magazine. Her large-scale work The Trash Project was named a #1 Arts Event by the Austin American-Statesman, #1 Dance Event by The Austin Chronicle, Most Outstanding Dance Concert by the Austin Critics Table. It is also the subject of a feature-length documentary film entitled Trash Dance.

Allison has been commissioned three times by the Fusebox Festival and was the single US choreographer selected by the Kyoto Arts Center as part of the National Performance Network’s Asian Exchange program in 2015. A guest artist for numerous dance programs including Williams College, Wake Forest University, the University of Maryland, and Texas A&M, Allison was a Melon Foundation Creative Campus Scholar at the Center for the Arts of Wesleyan University in 2014/15. Allison gives frequent lectures and talks, and was the keynote speaker at the 2015 Texas Commission on the Arts statewide conference. Her work has been funded by the City of Austin, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the MAP Fund, The New England Foundation for the Arts, Engaging Dance Audiences/Dance USA, numerous foundations, and the City of Venice, Italy.

Currently a Distinguished Fellow of the College of Environment at Wesleyan University, Allison directed 2016’s The Artist in the City — a hands on course in her community-based dance-making practice where Wesleyan students embedded within the local water/wastewater department to create collaborative artistic projects with city employees. Allison has also taught children, adults over 65, and people with disabilities. Before founding Forklift Danceworks, Allison danced and studied with Deborah Hay and MacArthur Award winner Liz Lerman. Allison is a native Texan and holds an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Mills College and a BA in Anthropology from Wake Forest University.

You can reach Allison at allison@forkliftdanceworks.org or follow her on Twitter.

Working in the mediums of dialogue, participation, and collaboration, Krissie Marty makes dances with people who aren’t traditionally considered dancers.  As Associate Artistic Director of Forklift Danceworks, she most often engages city employees in dance-making. She created and directed RE Source, featuring the employees and machinery of a Goodwill recycling warehouse, and co-directed with Allison Orr Served, a dance for Williams College Dining Services staff; The Trash Project Rotterdam as a commission for the International Community Arts Festival, PowerUP featuring employees of Austin’s electrical utility; Play Ball Downs Field on a historic Negro League baseball field; Afoot! a marching band extravaganza in Houston’s East End; The Trees of Govalle featuring employees of Austin’s Urban Forestry Program and Govalle neighborhood residents as well as conceiving of and co-directing the multi-year project My Park, My Pool, My City, dances for city pools and their people, including Bartholomew Swims, Dove Springs Swims / Nadamos Dove Springs, and Givens Swims.

Krissie’s community-based choreography has been made in partnership with Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Kennedy Center, Stratford Circus (London), Chateau de Cazals (France), and Adugna Dance Company (Ethiopia). Krissie worked as a faculty member and choreographer with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange for over a decade. She choreographed movement for theatre with Big Art Group (NYC and international tours), Washington Shakespeare Company, and Imagination Stage (DC). Krissie has worked with countless artists, teachers, and students at Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion, Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, the Pediatric Unit at Georgetown Medical Center, and in home health/hospice care centers.

You can reach Krissie at krissie@forkliftdanceworks.org or follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

Jenna has lived in Austin for thirteen years and is an arts advocate who strives to create and work with organizations that force people out of their comfort zones. Jenna has a passion for projects that provide communities with accessible and affordable learning opportunities in unique environments. She received her B.A. in English Writing and Rhetoric, with a Creative Writing emphasis, from St. Edward’s University in 2009 and has remained in Austin since to pursue a career in arts non-profit administration.

Previously, Jenna has worked in development and as an event producer for visual arts non-profit Big Medium; in development at local Montessori-to-IB private school The Khabele School (now Headwaters); in programming and development at free creative writing cohort Austin Bat Cave; and in event production for You’re Here!, a series of interactive and music showcases.

Jenna is also the founder of Attendance Records, a local non-profit organization that provides a platform for public school students to explore their identities through music, art, and writing. Through Attendance Records, Jenna has helped create six collaborative albums with several local bands and middle / high school students.

Jenna currently serves on CapMetro’s ArtMetro committee and continues to work on creative programming and events around town.

You can reach Jenna at jenna@forkliftdanceworks.org.

Jake Stepansky is a theatre-maker and arts advocate with a passion for making work that sands down boundaries between creator and audience. Jake graduated from Harvard University with a degree in psychology and theater, dance & media, as well as the Radcliffe Doris Cohen Levi Prize for outstanding achievement in musical theater. Jake has worked as a production assistant and educator at the award-winning American Repertory Theater (ART) in Cambridge, MA, including work on the NYC-bound productions of Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 and Nice Fish, and as a director at the ART’s second stage, Club OBERON. He has served as a student producer for Harvard’s annual ARTS FIRST festival, a development assistant at the Gate Theatre in London, and a freelance writer for Inside Arts magazine. In Austin, he has worked as a stage manager with paper chairs and Salvage Vanguard Theater.

You can reach Jake at jake@forkliftdanceworks.org or follow him on Instagram.

Gretchen LaMotte works in the realms of performance making, community action and healing. She received a BA in Science in Society from Wesleyan University with concentrations in Psychology and Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and a Certificate in Environmental Studies. At Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts, Gretchen worked for the Creative Campus Initiative, Zilkha Gallery, and the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance. With Forklift, she has collaborated on The Artist in the City (2016), Bartholomew Swims (2017), Served – Williams College (2018), Dove Springs Swims/Nadamos Dove Springs (2018), Givens Swims (2019), and From the Ground Up (2019).

You can reach Gretchen at gretchen@forkliftdanceworks.org.

Clara Pinsky (she/her) is an artist-organizer and arts administrator based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. in Dance from Wesleyan University, where her senior thesis, “Evaluating Community-Based Performance as a Strategy for Community Development” emerged from her work on program evaluation for Forklift Danceworks. Clara also directed BUILD, a dance featuring Wesleyan’s Physical Plant employees, using the engagement model developed by Forklift Danceworks. She has been working for Forklift since 2015, collaborating on The Trees of Govalle (2015), The Artist in the City (2016), Bartholomew Swims (2017), Served (2018), Nadamos Dove Springs (2018), Givens Swims (2019), and From the Ground Up (2019).

When she’s not making dances with Forklift, Clara works as a Research Associate at the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation while pursuing a Masters degree in Urban Strategy at Drexel University. Prior to working at Lindy, Clara served as Program Manager for Skywatchers, a community-engaged arts program in the Tenderloin Neighborhood of San Francisco.

You can reach Clara at clara@forkliftdanceworks.org.

Miriam Conner is a curator, community organizer and creative space maker. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and came to Austin, Texas when she was three years old. Graduating from St. Stephens Episcopal High School, she then received a Bachelors of Fine Art in Photography from the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles.

After graduating, Miriam came home to Austin and began managing Pine Street Station (an Artist warehouse and gallery) for two years, and has since planned countless art shows, in addition to co-founding Topology Art Warehouse. She has also worked with SXSW, Art Outside, Six Square – Austin’s Black Cultural District, The City of Austin and more.

She is also on the African American Resource Advisory Commission for The City of Austin.

“At the age of fifteen, I discovered what I want to do for the rest of my life. I know not many people are sure about what they want to do by the age of twenty-nine much less by the age of fifteen, but I am very grateful to have found that particular passion that wakes me up in the morning and tucks me in at night.My life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness lie within art.”

Hannah is a creative producer and arts advocate who has collaborated with artists and nonprofits in Austin and central Texas since 2006. From program development and fundraising to event design and communications, she has a passion for helping collectives find their voices and tell their stories with impact.

Previously, Hannah worked with Big Medium as Development Director, with the Austin Humane Society as Fundraising Events Manager, and with the Capital District of the United Methodist Church, the San Antonio Jewish Community Center, and in the art studio of Judy Paul. She received her BA in Art History with a minor in English from Texas State University, San Marcos (2009). Currently, she serves as the Grants Program Officer for the University of Texas Libraries.

You can reach Hannah at hannah@forkliftdanceworks.org.

Andrew Lee Dolan is a multidisciplinary performance artist whose work has premiered in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Austin, New Orleans, and Ireland. He is an Artistic Director of Red Eye Theater, has served guest artist residencies with Fairfield University and Century College, and has worked with Teatr Biuro Podrozy, the Playwright’s Center, Town Hall Theatre (Ireland), and many others.

As a professional producer, developer, and fundraiser, he manages a portfolio of $2m+ funding partnerships across multiple organizations. He graduated with an MA in Performance from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and holds an MFA in Directing and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech; his work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been working with Forklift Danceworks since 2010.

You can reach Andrew at andrew@forkliftdanceworks.org.

Rachel Nayer is a dancer, choreographer, yoga teacher, and environmentalist. She was born and raised in Austin into a family who celebrates the expressive nature of the body. Rachel completed her undergraduate degree in dance and environmental science this past year at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Recently, Rachel spent a year studying at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She has also worked for the City of Austin Brownfields Office, contributing to the revitalization of contaminated properties. Rachel is passionate about using the body as a tool for communication in order to viscerally represent themes of disagreement and resolution. She searches to share art, emphasizing its power to support and stimulate personal, social, and environmental change. Movement is her tool for celebration, community building, and acknowledgment.

You can reach Rachel at rachel@forkliftdanceworks.org.