OGD'S MISSION:
Our mission is to bring dance, design, and film to all communities as a vibrant process capable of reflecting the extraordinary nature of the human experience. ARTISTIC DIRECTORS: Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves
Krogol and Reeves are dancers, choreographers, filmmakers, and teaching artists. They hold Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Florida and together are th
e Artistic Directors of Orange Grove Dance, a multi-media dance company that creates visually athletic experiences through the lenses of dance, film, and design. Though both originally hail from Florida, the formative years of the company (since 2007) were spent in New York City. Currently, they reside in the DC area and are pursuing MFA's in Dance at The University of Maryland. As Orange Grove Dance, they have taught master classes and workshops, as well as set repertory across the United States and Europe. During the 2011-2012 academic year, they were guest faculty for The School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida. Their work has been produced and presented extensively nationally and internationally with their most recent work being performed and exhibited in Spain, Italy, Finland, Iceland, Scotland, The Netherlands, and Israel.
“Our work is permeated by a love for dreaming, directing, teaching, and investigating new ideas within communities. As artists and human beings, community is vital and the company is built on the ideals of integrating dance, art, film, and movement with all communities, large and small. We create dance based on our physical, emotional and mental environments. It informs and is integral to our art. With every new choreographic process and teaching practice we begin, our ultimate goal is to create a lab-like environment rich in experimentation and discovery. We use our skillsets as artists to reflect the powerful nature of the human body in motion and we believe in fostering a creative culture fiercely rooted in collaboration that weaves together the unique abilities of our collaborators, audiences, and artists alike.”
Orange Grove Dance has produced and choreographed three films, with their most recent The Archetypes set to enter festival presentation in the coming months. In 2015 Colette and Matt choreographed, filmed, and exhibited two new dance cinema installations; Mappatura della Memoria in Toffia, Italy and Castells i Somnis in Llorenç del Penedès, Spain. They have served as Artists in Residence in Jerusalem, Israel (2013) where they taught technique classes and set new repertory on the students of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, in Skriðuklaustur, Iceland (2012) where they created the dance film ELta Blöð, in Rauma, Finland (2012) where they taught and created a Dance-U-Mentary film, Rauma in Motion, and lastly in Nikiski, Alaska (2008) where they worked with the local Elementary school and professional dance company. They have performed and toured nationally and internationally with prestigious companies, such as Neta Dance Company, Dendy Dance Theater, Diavolo, David Dorfman, Gabrielle Lansner, Dance Tactics, and The National Yiddish Theatre.
