Kickstarter

SpectorDance is a local dance company from Monterey County, so it is big news that we’ve just been invited to perform Ocean at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on June 3rd.

Performing at the Smithsonian is a huge opportunity to help raise awareness about issues facing the ocean and inspire change right in the policy-making heart of our nation. It’s also an opportunity for SpectorDance Company to step up to the next level in visibility and artistry and highlight Monterey County as a thriving art center on the West Coast. We need your help to make it happen!

About Ocean

A collaboration between SpectorDance and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Ocean is an innovative dance media project merging art and science to investigate the effects of human activity on our world ocean, engage young audiences, foster constructive dialogue and inspire responsible stewardship.

Ocean weaves together commentary from experts like National Geographic Explorer Sylvia Earle and ocean chemist Peter Brewer, commissioned music, exquisite underwater footage and contemporary dance movement.

While science reaches to the intellectual level for understanding, dance and the arts can reach the visceral and emotional levels. In combining the two, Ocean has the potential to foster in audiences a deeper understanding of the issues and a commitment to make better choices in support of ocean health. As Sylvia Earle explains, “Perhaps with knowing will come caring, and with caring, impetus toward the needed sea change of attitude, one that combines the wisdom of science and the sensitivity of art to create an enduring ethic.”

Help us go to the Smithsonian!

Ocean has been making waves in our local community with performances for students and general audiences at Carmel’s Sunset Center, the National Steinbeck Institute for Arts and Culture and SpectorDance. We’re presenting at TEDxMonterey and getting into Monterey County schools with our Ocean curriculum and bringing students to our performances.

Collaborating with the world-renowned scientists at MBARI creates the opportunity and the responsibility to bring this innovative and artistic educational experience to as many schools and audiences as possible. We believe Ocean can make a real contribution to inspire the “enduring ethic” Sylvia Earle calls for to restore the oceans.

Performing at the Smithsonian is an emphatic first step to bring this creative project to as many audiences as possible, but it is not a cheap first step. Through the hard work and persistence of the Smithsonian and NOAA, we’ve got travel and lodging funds covered for the trip. But we still need to pay our dancers and support staff as well as additional costs associated with the trip.

Please help us raise $5000 toward bringing Ocean to the Smithsonian to help raise awareness of the issues facing the ocean and inspire East Coast audiences. We are at a crucial moment with our environment and Ocean can make an impact that is urgently needed right now.

Please spread the word

Ocean is a community collaboration through and through. SpectorDance has collaborated with MBARI as well as great partner presenters like Sunset Center and the Steinbeck Institute to get to where we are now. You are part of our community as well. Please spread the word about Ocean and encourage your friends and family to give a donation on Kickstarter. We are a 501(c)( 3) so all donations are fully tax deductible. Thank you for your support!