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Our Story

dropshift dance is a provocative, inquisitive and authoritative investigator of movement. Conceived through a collaborative incubation laboratory of movement, sound, and visual installation, the work engages audience with dialogue, choice and experimental practice. The company works through a rigorous process of studio investigation to create work that energizes the space and creates an alternate world for the performer and viewer. Using specific directives of quality, imagery, and trajectory dropshift creates movement environments that allow the viewer an opportunity to connect and engage with what is abstract by layering the physical experience with one that is human and authentic.

dropshift was founded in late 2009 by Chicago based artist Andrea Cerniglia as a movement project dedicated to a collaborative and investigative studio practice and pushing the boundaries of the art form in performance. The company makes work for solo and ensemble members throughout the season and is directed by Ms. Cerniglia. Movement investigation and creation is conceived in collaboration with the dancers and is directed through an imagery based narrative in order to mine each voice of creation and allow for abstraction in performance. The company mines abstract concepts and asks questions that dissect societal structure, dynamics, and events which surround and impact us. The exploration is limitless and yields a performance to which viewers are invited to find personal connection through evocative image.

Collaboration extends beyond dance into the realm of dance film, visual art and installation piece, and musical composition. dropshift is interested in uniting a myriad of artistic points of view and allowing for an equal contribution and voice from each. This multidisciplinary approach engages viewers in a visual, aural, and human experience in order to explode the definition of dance performance and move audience towards a transformative experience.

dropshift has been creating and self-producing work since 2009. This work has been consistently supported by the Illinois Arts Council and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events as well as many local Chicago businesses and individuals. The company has been presented locally and internationally. In June of 2013, dropshift premiered new work at Art for Impact’s, Roots of Change Festival, in downtown Vancouver, BC. The company’s work has also been presented at Links Hall, The Hairpin Arts Center, I AM Logan Square Gallery, The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, Produce Music and Dance Festival, Hamlin Park and Holstein Park, Chicago, IL.