nuclear dancer project
This project seeks to tell the story of nuclear energy through dance photography and video art in a nuanced way that challenges a viewer’s emotions and attitudes around nuclear power. When people think negatively of nuclear energy, the body is where their emotional reactions begin, specifically when perceiving nuclear as a threat to the body. Emotions around nuclear power and the spaces that generate it can range from fear or anger to mistrust or confusion, from curiosity and joy to excitement and hope; by investigating and responding to nuclear using my body in dance and performance, I hope to depict this clean energy source in a new and more accessible light. Dance is a practice built on precision and strength, attributes it shares with a nuclear power plant’s precise operations and strength of generating power. Utilizing improvised performance and dance choreography, I explore power line corridors and nuclear power plants in relation to the body as well as in relation to the natural environments surrounding them. Coastal nuclear power plants can harbor healthy marine communities and power line clear cuts can foster pollinator populations whose habitats are fewer and further between. Through my work as a nuclear dancer, these renewable energy spaces become a stage for imagery that captures, not the cartoon of nightmarish barrels of waste, but the dynamic and powerful green impacts nuclear energy can have for the environment and communities across the country.