A Dance Theatre Performance

The Living Lakes considers the Great Lakes as connectors and sites of conflict and dissonance among multi-ethnic communities. "Living Lakes" examines economies of labor, commerce and transport through projections coupled with theatrical sound and dance movement.

The collaborators engage in locating historic moments of ethnic presence in the American Midwest. We ask: How did African American, and Mexican American people find refuge, solace, work and pleasure in the frozen landscape of the Great Lakes region between 1910 and 1930.

We use tableaus, dance movement landscapes, projections and vocalized soundscapes to tell the story of multi-ethnic families making a place for themselves as they travel from south to north, from rural landscapes of Mexico and Mississippi, to icy farmlands and urban industrial cities like Detroit, Chicago or Kalamazoo.