Movement Artist
| Choreographer
| Producer |
Movement Artist | Choreographer | Producer |
Nik Graves
I am a graduate of Columbia College Chicago as a BA in Dance & a minor in Marketing with an honors accreditation. I am a founder and Organizer of We Are Collective in Chicago, IL. We Are Collective’s mission is to create a unique and uplifting movement space for the queer community at-large through the shared practices of performance, community events, and educational opportunities. Through this and other opportunities as a freelance movement artist and creative arts producer, I hope to share my passion of eating space and collecting energies to all types of groovers and audiences alike.
Reels Below :
Here are my choreographic reel & performance reel, please enjoy!
Be sure to check out the “works” page for full performances from the choreographic reel.
Artist Statement
My current choreographic and movement interest roots itself in ritualism, animalistic qualities, instinct, etc. I am attempting to break down the expectation of human while opening doors of movement being translated through species. This reveals itself in multiple ways and as I have developed this concept, I found that I am interested in two specific microcosms of movement stories. I have drifted toward the idea of identifying, translating, and dissecting the queer experience as it relates to nature. This was most recently explored with the lens of how natural defense mechanisms found in nature can be mirrored by the queer body and what it means for one to adapt to their environment. I also find myself drawn to how the instincts of queer people have changed throughout history with a common focus on what my grandparent’s generation’s experience was. I discover threads that have been woven through our history and bring a microscope to them to reveal what I find to be true. This isn’t always an extremely serious delve into queer history as one may assume. For instance, there is so much queer joy to celebrate as well and queer experiences that sit very neutral or as a building block to the foundation of many queer peoples’ lives.
As a choreographer, I approach each work with safety for both the movement artists participating and for the integrity of the work itself. This means being generous with understanding physical and mental limitations surrounding the safety of executing the work. My groovers will always come first in this line of protection. The movement can always change to convey the same meaning but a dancer’s body and mental health must be present to make the work happen. I also find it most compelling when a movement artist adds pieces of their own movement vocabulary and personality into the work as a whole. Unison is not perfection of movement but instead intention of movement. I care about specificity, but as it translates uniquely to the dancer’s body. I also find myself developing movement inspiration in process for certain transitions by connecting the groover’s movement vocabulary to mine creating a beautiful new language.
