Trash Dance. Yes, you read right.

    What happens when you combine a choreographer, a UT film professor, and the City of Austin sanitation department?  Trash Dance.

Trash Dance teaser from Andrew Garrison on Vimeo.

   In 2009, Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks choreographed a dance for 24 City of Austin sanitation workers and 16 trash trucks.  Sounds goofy?  Keep reading.  

   Orr spent a year convincing the sanitation department to agree to the project, and then spent a year getting to know city sanitation workers and learning each job.  As you can see from the trailer, she faced some doubt from the sanitation workers themselves, but all of these groups combined to produce several standing-room-only performances at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (where else can you find enough pavement to maneuver 16 trash trucks?).  "Trash Dance" sounds goofy, but touched thousands of audience members.
   University of Texas film professor Andrew Garrison produced a documentary about the Trash Dance project, which demonstrates the transformation that Trash Dance started.  The project gave sanitation workers pride in their jobs and abilities, and helped audience members gain a new respect for the men and women who provide a key service for the city.  In short, I think the project made everyone involved a little more human.  I, for one, cannot wait to see the documentary when it is released in DVD!  For now, Austinites can see the world premier of the documentary on March 10th at SXSW.  For more updates, visit Garrison's Kickstarter fundraising page.  This project is a great testament to the way that the arts can enrich everyone's lives, no matter how unlikely a participant they may be.