Technically, what Caitlin Dutton’s doing with her Coastal Danse Collective is called interdisciplinary arts – combining movement, music and visual art, in public places, in order to create something fresh and unexpected.
She has a more casual description: Hit–and–run art.
“What I’m hoping to do is to basically create art as if it happens out of nowhere,” Dutton says. “I want to attack downtown Savannah with as much art as possible in the span of a week, and see what happens.”
Here’s what to expect: Six young dancers – including Dutton herself – will materialize at “site–specific” locations all over the city, several times a day, and perform 5–minutes works. There are two musicians in the collective, and one of the dancers is also an illustrator.
“So it’s gonna happen in the blink of an eye,” Dutton adds. “You’re not going to know quite what to think of it at first. Until you see it again somewhere else.”
An Army brat who settled in Savannah as a child, Dutton began dancing with the organization Ballet South, then spent four years studying with the prestigious Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in New York.
Since then, she has choreographed and performed all over the United States, and in Great Britain.
But Savannah has never been far from her thoughts.
“When I was at Purchase, I witnessed so many new things that I never would have seen in Savannah,” Dutton says. “And I want to share it with my hometown. I want them to be as well–versed in the arts as I am.
“If you’re on the subway in New York, there’s music happening all the time, there’s art everywhere.”
One of her mentors, choreographer Lauri Stallings, is doing similar things in Atlanta. And that inspired her.
“I worked with her this past summer, and throughout the school year,” Dutton explains. “She’s doing site–specific all over the place and really transforming Atlanta. And I figure if they can do it, why can’t we?”
Coastal Danse Collective
Tuesday, July 6: 11:30 a.m., River Street; 3 p.m., Forsyth Park Fountain; 8:30 p.m., Ellis Square
Wednesday, July 7: 11:30 a.m., Forsyth Park Fountain; 3 p.m., Forsyth Park Field; 8:30 p.m., Ellis Square
Thursday, July 8: 11:30 a.m., River Street; 3 p.m.: Forsyth Park Fountain; 6 p.m.: Forsyth Park Field
Friday, July 9: 11:30 a.m., Ellis Square; 3 p.m.: Johnson Square; 6 p.m.: City Market
Saturday, July 10: 11:30 a.m., River Street; 3 p.m.: Johnson Square; 6 p.m.: City Market
