OZ Arts Nashville

FROM OUR FRIENDS

KINDLING ARTS FESTIVAL 2024

July 18-21

OZ Arts is thrilled to once again be a venue partner for Kindling Arts Festival. Among the festival’s 20+ performance offerings exploring the theme “Imperfections,” OZ will host three vibrant showcases of local dance talent.

See an astonishing 11 short-form dance works from Nashville choreographers between Out of Sight: A Dance Showcase and Lost & Found: Four Dances. Plus, witness a stunning collaboration between young songwriters and four of the city’s most talented dancemakers in The Girlhood Project. Learn more about the events at OZ below and explore the full festival line-up with weekend pass options at kindlingartsfestival.com

DANCE PERFORMANCES AT OZ ARTS NASHVILLE

Out of Sight: A Dance Showcase

Jasmine Clark & Gracyn Preston, Delaine Dobbs & Lily Sekeres, Friends Life Community, Sari Hoke, Numinous Flux, Brendan Pinkett, and Kyrstin Young & DeTavius Boyd 
Thursday, July 18 at 7PM Saturday, July 20 at 7PM

Dozens of Nashville’s most talented dancers take to the stage to share seven new dance works, ranging from intimate and tender portraits of love, beauty, and personal power to explosive and energetic displays of joy and celebration. This wide-ranging collection of choreographers explores the invisible and unseen aspects of our lives: the internalized power hiding within, the most vulnerable moments experienced during grief, and the sheer beauty permeating everything around us. Showcasing contemporary, hip-hop, tap, devised movement, and more in a jam-packed 90 minutes, this is a dance event that demands to be seen.

The Girlhood Project

Becca Hoback, Phylicia Roybal, Joi Ware, Alex Winer
Friday, July 19 at 7PM Saturday, July 20 at 2PM

This groundbreaking performance project pairs talented teen songwriters with professional choreographers and a large company of notable dancers to create original music and dance. Exploring the many facets of femme identity and coming of age, The Girlhood Project celebrates the diverse and dynamic expressions of girlhood, beautifully rendered through a remarkable cross-generational collaboration of local songwriters, musicians, and dancers. Experience dynamic dance from acclaimed choreographers Becca Hoback, Phylicia Roybal, Joi Ware, and Alex Winer alongside the original music created by local teens. 

This project is supported by the Bonnaroo Works Fund of the Community Foundation of MIddle Tennessee. 

Lost & Found: Four Dances

Dogs Eat Wind, Kourtney “Koko” French, Spencer Grady, and Becca Hoback
Sunday, July 21 at 2PM

Four of Nashville’s most sought-after dance talents share the stage in a multifaceted performance of longer-form works that explore global anxieties, personal identity, and spiritual fulfillment. Dogs Eat Wind reprises and expands their sensational group piece “help up, help down,” which fully captures the irony and borderline hilarity of trying to exist in today’s world. In separate solo performances, Becca Hoback’s “place” and Spencer Grady’s “spine” each mine personal histories to present some of their most experimental, vulnerable, and dynamic work yet. With her signature soulful flair, Kourtney “Koko” French shares “Almost Lost,” a group piece that challenges us to recenter amidst the chaos and lean on community to remind us of who we are. This must-see collection of choreography promises to be one of the Festival highlights, recharging the body, mind, and spirit.