Island Moving Co. is a classically trained contemporary ballet company based in Newport, RI, which produces new dance works through a collaborative creative process. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Miki Ohlsen, the Company has, for 30 years, produced and presented dances by a diverse group of choreographers, working with musicians, poets, and visual artists. Island Moving Co. has become known for its creative use of unusual venues, creating site specific work for Rosecliff mansion (The Newport Nutcracker at Rosecliff), Belcourt Castle (Dracula) and other Newport sites. Its site specific dance and art festival, Open for Dancing, has engaged over 500 participants in the community as well as choreographers such as Monica Bill Barnes, Joanna Haigood and Noemie Lafrance. The Company also works extensively in the schools, interacting with students K-12 in curriculum based movement residencies throughout RI and Massachusetts. Through creative movement programs that imaginatively link movement to the curriculum, the Company's dancers work with over 3000 children annually. The IMC received the Arts & Business Council’s Jabez Gorham Award for artistic and organizational excellence.
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