Propelled Animals

www.propelledamimals.org

Founded in 2014, Propelled Animals is a group of artists, dancers, scholars, musicians, and designers who embed innovative and provocative art in unconventional spaces. We are committed to creating work that interrogates, challenges, and ultimately attempts to dismantle the systemic "isms" of oppression. We adapt our projects and processes to address the specific needs of the communities we engage. Our performances encourage efficacy of the body, resilience, and radical tenderness as strategies for self-empowerment. We are Esther Baker, Raquel Monroe, Barber, Heidi Wiren Kebe, Courtney D. Jones, and Papa Djiga. 

Our work is centered on art as social action and ritual as performance.

The Propelled Animals have presented work nationally and internationally including site-specific performances at: University of Iowa and Englert Theater (Iowa City, IA); University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA); Wassaic Project (Wassaic, NY); Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA); Lynden Sculpture Garden (Milwaukee, WI); Pivot Arts Festival (Chicago, IL); Kelly Strayhorn Theater (Pittsburgh, PA); The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (Philadelphia, PA); Philadelphia Contemporary (Philadelphia, PA); Trade School: Philly + Detroit (Philadelphia, PA), University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX); “La Ville En Mouv’ment” les arts dans la rue (Ouakam, Senegal); Palm Festival, (Palmarin, Senegal).

In 2022 we received generous support from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to support our debut in June 2023 in Dakar, Senegal at the ‘’La Ville En Mouv’ment’’ les arts dans la rue, Ouakam, Senegal and the Palm Festival in Palmarin, Senegal. This project was also funded in part by University of Texas at Austin and the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University.

In 2019 we were recipients of a MAP Fund grant for our project TRANSMISSION and the Frank-Ratchye Further Fund (FRFF) grant through the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2020 we postponed the project due to COVID-19. In 2021 TRANSMISSION became SWITCH SIGNAL and morphed from a live stage performance to a performance film that premiered in September 2021 at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater.

Our work has been made possible with the generous support of the National Performance Network (NPN), USArtists International through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, MAP Fund, Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of the Arts Midwest & Crane Group, and The Puffin Foundation.

We are recent International LabX-change artists-in-residence at High Concept Labs (Chicago, IL).

We are currently incubated artists with Headlong Studios (Philadelphia, PA).