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About Colette

Baltimore City

Colette Krogol (she/her/ella) is a Cuban-American, bilingual artist, originally from Miami, Florida. She is a choreographer, director, performer, filmmaker, and educator. In 2020 she received the Helen Hayes Award for 'Outstanding Choreography in a Play' for her work in Round House Theatre's production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Krogol is the Co-Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Orange Grove Dance(OGD), a dance, design… more

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Frequency

FREQUENCY casts its performers into a vast friction-filled digital landscape that evokes images and relationships from a past grievously misremembered. A duet between Artistic Directors Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves, FREQUENCY is a throwback to the company’s genesis as a duet company and reflects the significance of time spent trying to tune two lives together.
Premiere: September 2019
Length: 50 minutes Direction, Choreography, and Performance by Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves of Orange Grove Dance Lighting Design by Dylan Uremovich Projection & Media Design by Mark Costello  Original Music by Dylan Glatthorn Sound Design by Matt Reeves Videography by Jonathan Hsu of JHsu Media Video trailer edited by Matt Reeves
  • FREQUENCY (Performance Trailer)
    FREQUENCY casts its performers into a vast friction-filled digital landscape that evokes images and relationships from a past grievously misremembered. A duet between Artistic Directors Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves, FREQUENCY is a throwback to the company’s genesis as a duet company and reflects the significance of time spent trying to tune two lives together.
  • Frequency (Colette Solo)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
  • FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    FREQUENCY (image by J.Hsu)
    •

    • Leaning Toward the Sky

    As the United States Botanic Garden's 2019 Dance Commission, Orange Grove Dance created an immersive site-specific dance and design performance.
    Come curiously explore the lush and abundant living collection of the USBG Conservatory as never before with Orange Grove Dance's transformative site-specific choreography and design. Performed among the Celebrating New American Gardens exhibit and elsewhere in the Conservatory, Orange Grove Dance illuminates and further reveals the richness and wonder of life cycles in plants, people, and mythology through dynamic dancing, an original sound score, and vivid projection design. Step into the Garden for an evening of discovery that exists at a special place within yourself; that place where, if you stand still for a moment and listen, you can hear the heartbeat of the universe aligning with your own.
    • LEANING TOWARD THE SKY @ U.S. Botanic Garden (Trailer)
      LEANING TOWARD THE SKY @ U.S. Botanic Garden (Trailer) *The 2019 Dance Commission for the United States Botanic Garden. Orange Grove Dance illuminates and further reveals the richness and wonder of life cycles in plants, people, and mythology through dynamic dancing, an original sound score, and vivid projection design. Step into the Garden for an evening of discovery that exists at a special place within yourself; that place where, if you stand still for a moment and listen, you can hear the heartbeat of the universe aligning with your own. Direction & Choreography: Colette Krogol & Matt Reeves *Choreography created in collaboration with performers Music Composition: Dylan Glatthorn Projection Design: Matt Reeves Costume Design: Matt Reeves Lighting Design: Peter Leibold VI Stage Manager: Tori Ujczo
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by J.Hsu)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by J.Hsu)
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by J.Hsu)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by J.Hsu)
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by J.Hsu)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by J.Hsu)
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
    • Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
      Leaning Toward the Sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden (Image by Mariah Miranda)
    •

    • The Barrier Project

    THE BARRIER PROJECT by Orange Grove Dance is a part of the Mapping Racism Project.

    After months of field work and conversations with residents of the historic neighborhood of North Brentwood, Maryland, THE BARRIER PROJECT became a multi-location site-specific dance and design performance that traversed audiences through the town in May of 2019.

    The event began at Sis's Tavern where participants could enter the historic site and experience projection design throughout it's raw walls with the sound score from community members talking about the history of the building. At a certain point, the audience gathered back outside where they were each handed an individual audio headset, which we transmitted the sound score to them wirelessly. We all then took a walking tour of North Brentwood and and it culminated at a guardrail barrier that stands as a dividing line between historically segregated black and white communities. This location is where the final part of the experience took place.

    Premiered: May 2019
    Length: 45 minutes

    Directed and conceived by: Orange Grove Dance
    Choreography: Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves in collaboration with performers

    Performers: Colette Krogol, Chris Law, Shanice Mason, Juliana Ponguta, Matt Reeves, and Nicole Sneed
    Projection & Sound Design: Matt Reeves
    Stage Manager: Tori Ujczo

    Voices of the North Brentwood Community:
    Mr. Arthur J. Dock
    Stuart Eisenberg
    Una Palmer
    Mayor Petrella Robinson
    Denise Thomas

    Alongside voices from a 1994 interview with North Brentwood residents graciously shared by The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

    Thanks to Chris Law and Ama Law for their vital role within the creation of this work. Through important conversations and a dedication to this project you helped bring this work to life.

    Special Thanks
    Joe’s Movement Emporium, Brooke Kidd, Neena Narayanan, Andre Mazelin, Mayor Petrella Robinson, Stuart Eisenberg, PGAAMCC, Jake Rollow, Ryan Craun, The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and Gustavo

    Collaboration
    A partnership between Hyattsville Community Development Corporation and Joe’s Movement Emporium.

    Community Collaborators:
    Cities of Hyattsville & North Brentwood
    Prince George’s African-American Musuem & Cultural Center
    Pyramid Atlantic
    Ally Theatre Company
    Orange Grove Dance

    Support for Mapping Racism comes from:

    MID-ATLANTIC ARTS FOUNDATION: Cross-Sector Arts Grant
    City of Hyattsville
    Prince George’s Arts & Humanities Council
    Prince George’s County Council Member, Deni Taveras
    Long & Foster Real Estate Broker, Ann Barrett

    • The Barrier Project Trailer
      THE BARRIER PROJECT by Orange Grove Dance is a part of the Mapping Racism Project. After months of field work and conversations with residents of the historic neighborhood of North Brentwood, Maryland, THE BARRIER PROJECT became a multi-location site-specific dance and design performance that traversed audiences through the town in May of 2019. Directed and conceived by: Orange Grove Dance Choreography: Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves in collaboration with performers Performers: Colette Krogol, Chris Law, Shanice Mason, Juliana Ponguta, Matt Reeves, and Nicole Sneed Projection & Sound Design: Matt Reeves Stage Manager: Tori Ujczo Voices of the North Brentwood Community: Mr. Arthur J.
    • The Barrier Project (Image by Mark Roth)
      The Barrier Project (Image by Mark Roth)
    • The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
      The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
    • The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
      The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
    • The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
      The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
    • The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
      The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
    • The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
      The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
    • The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
      The Barrier Project (Image by J.Hsu)
    •

    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light.

    Orange Grove Dance, under the direction of Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves, transforms the stage with its trademark virtuosic athleticism and evocative multimedia design. Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. uses sophisticated sensor technology and digital-media interaction to explore the nature of recurring dreams that tear through our homes, awakening us from sleep.

    “These dreams are the bridge to the stories that we have been told since we were young and the places we’ve still never touched.”

    Based on mythopoetic research into personal dreams and stories of one family’s migration from Cuba in 1980, Orange Grove Dance opens up new dialogues on timely themes such as migration, exodus, and transformation. An excerpt of this work won the Audience Choice Award at the 34th Annual Choreographers’ Showcase in 2017 and was described by Dance Metro DC as a “magically spun… visual tale of suspension, tension, and community within a multilayered moving painting.”

    Original score and sound design: Dylan Glatthorn and Jeff Dorfman.
    Projection Design: Mark Costello
    Lighting Design: Peter Leibold

    Premiere: October 2016
    Restaged: January 2019 for Dance Place DC
    Length: 1 hour

    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light.
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. uses sophisticated sensor technology and digital-media interaction to explore the nature of recurring dreams that tear through our homes, awakening us from sleep. “These dreams are the bridge to the stories that we have been told since we were young and the places we’ve still never touched.” Based on mythopoetic research into personal dreams and stories of one family’s migration from Cuba in 1980, Orange Grove Dance opens up new dialogues on timely themes such as migration, exodus, and transformation.
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. 5 Min excerpt
      5 mins excerpt from 'Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    • Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Waking Darkness. Waiting Light. (Credit C. Stanley)
      Image from live performance of "Waking Darkness. Waiting Light."
    •

    • OPEN BOX Project

    The OPEN BOX Project is an evening-length collaboration between Rogue Collective and Orange Grove Dance featuring compelling music and dancing. Performed in the vast tunnels of Dupont Underground, the architecture serves as rich inspiration for this interactive evening, which explores how space, material, light, and sound affect the experiences and actions of their inhabitants. Influenced by American minimalism and popular music the string players of Rogue Collective blend their sounds and creations with the dynamic, virtuosic, and visually athletic choreography of Orange Grove Dance.

    This was created and presented through a CulturalDC Space4 Grant

    Premiere: December 2017 at Dupont Underground
    Length: 50 minutes

    • OPEN BOX PROJECT- TRAILER AND SELECT EXCERPTS
      The OPEN BOX Project is a brand-new evening-length collaboration between Rogue Collective and Orange Grove Dance featuring compelling music and dancing. Performed in the vast tunnels of Dupont Underground, the architecture serves as rich inspiration for this interactive evening, which explores how space, material, light, and sound affect the experiences and actions of their inhabitants. Influenced by American minimalism and popular music the string players of Rogue Collective blend their sounds and creations with the dynamic, virtuosic, and visually athletic choreography of Orange Grove Dance. Premiered in 2017 Performances @ Dupont Underground
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from the live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Orange Grove Dance - Open Box Project (Credit Zachary Z. Handler)
      Image from live performance of OPEN BOX PROJECT at Dupont Underground.
    • Open Box Project (Performance Trailer)
      The OPEN BOX Project is an evening-length collaboration between Rogue Collective and Orange Grove Dance featuring compelling music and dancing. Performed in the vast tunnels of Dupont Underground, the architecture serves as rich inspiration for this interactive evening, which explores how space, material, light, and sound affect the experiences and actions of their inhabitants. Influenced by American minimalism and popular music the string players of Rogue Collective blend their sounds and creations with the dynamic, virtuosic, and visually athletic choreography of Orange Grove Dance. Performances @ Dupont Underground
    •

    • Remnants

    Remnants is a bridge to the stories that we have been told since we were young and the places we have still never touched. This Orange Grove Dance world premiere takes audiences on a mytho-poetic and dream-like journey that physically conjures up the visual metaphors of the inexhaustible burning hope of the human spirit. What does it mean to start over? What are the things we carry? What survives within us? What is left behind? 

    Remnants was commissioned and presented as part of The Kennedy Center's 2018 Direct Current Festival

    Premiere: The Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, March 2018
    Length: 50 minutes

    Within this project, I took on the roles of Director, Choreographer, Performer, and Rehearsal Director.
    • REMNANTS performance trailer
      Remnants is a bridge to the stories that we have been told since we were young and the places we have still never touched. This Orange Grove Dance takes audiences on a mytho-poetic and dream-like journey that physically conjures up the visual metaphors of the inexhaustible burning hope of the human spirit. What does it mean to start over? What are the things we carry? What survives within us? What is left behind? Presented as part of the Kennedy Center's DIRECT CURRENT inaugural season. (World Premiere)
    • Orange Grove Dance: DIRECT CURRENT - Millennium Stage (March 11, 2018)
      Remnants is a bridge to the stories that we have been told since we were young and the places we have still never touched. This Orange Grove Dance world premiere takes audiences on a mytho-poetic and dream-like journey that physically conjures up the visual metaphors of the inexhaustible burning hope of the human spirit. What does it mean to start over? What are the things we carry? What survives within us? What is left behind? Presented as part of the Kennedy Center's DIRECT CURRENT inaugural season.
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Remnants (Credit Mark Costello)
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    • Remnants @ The Kennedy Center
      Remnants @ The Kennedy Center
      Image from live performance of REMNANTS at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater
    •

    • Work Reimagined

    Due to the pandemic, my artistic projects shifted in scope, space, and concept. Commissions that were originally planned for large gatherings and spaces like the Reflection Pool/Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC were reframed. Work requiring planes and trains to be on site and in residency  had to be reimagined. The world as I knew it evaporated yet it seemed that making work and building connections through movement and technology was even more vital and necessarry. 

    The projects shared below were all conceieved, reconcieved, created, and performed between April 2020 and September 2021. Zoom, Vimeo, live-streaming platforms, Isadora, Dropbox, and Facetime became a lifeline for artmaking. These technologies allowed my work to become even more accessible to audiences and participants around the world.

    Additionally, Orange Grove Dance hosts an annual intensive (more info on the 2020 intensive below). In 2020, we built out a 5-day immersive Dance, Design, and Film Intensive experience where participants from over a dozen different US states  participated. It was an exceptional time to share, learn, and reflect on the new live performance frontier we had all been driven to undertake. It has left me forever changed as an artist because it redefined what I thought was possible for dance, design, and film. 
    • Paso Installation at Kennedy Center
      PASO brings dance film into an exciting new container where audiences peer into a grand heptagonal structure to watch the adjacent walls come to life. A unique panoramic world unfolds seamlessly with each of the seven panels offering a unique viewing experience that investigates the prism of paths inside oneself and within nature. The seven sided structure (with each panel 8ft wide by 14 ft tall) is designed by Ben Levine. Paso was commissioned by Extreme Lengths Productions as part of LENS at The John F. Kennedy Center (September 2021). This work features a collaboration amongst a small crew of artists that worked remotely and in small isolated pods from Baltimore, New York, and DC. LENS is supported by a Projects, Events, and Festivals Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, awarded to Ben Levine. Creative development for this project took place during a residency at Aunt Karen’s Farm.
    • Paso Installation at Kennedy Center
      Paso Installation at Kennedy Center
      PASO live experience. Audience arrived in the studio and peered into the seven-sided structure to view the cinematic experience of PASO.
    • Inner Island
      'Inner Island' exists as a lighthouse on the edge of a secluded, unsteady cliff where technology serves as a soft beacon of light and a narrow navigational aid. Due to Covid-19, Choreographers Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves were unable to be in the physical space with Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company and created the entire work through Zoom and video technology. Social distancing of 6 feet was mandatory between company members out of safety and these unique circumstances deeply influenced the choreographic journey of this work.
    • Inner Island.JPG
      Inner Island.JPG
      Moment from Inner Island Live-Streamed performance.
    • National Water Dance 2020 Virtual Performance
      Orange Grove Dance performed live through Facebook Live as part of NATIONAL WATER DANCE on April 18th, 2020, with an original score by Dylan Glatthorn, and live performances by London Brison, Jonathan Hsu, Colette Krogol, and Juliana Ponguta with behind-the-scenes direction by Matt Reeves. Directed and Choreographed by Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves. Choreography was created in collaboration with OGD performers. National Water Dance is an annual performance that occurs across the country simultaneously with the same opening and closing gesture. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, National Water Dance DC was taking place on the National Mall at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool. Our company, along with many other organizations and DC dancers were planning an afternoon of movement, connection, and conversation regarding the importance of water, our voices, and community. Now although our physical space has changed our mission remains.
    • National Water Dance 2020 Still
      National Water Dance 2020 Still
    • OGD Summer Intensive 2020
      OGD's 2020 virtual 5-day Dance, Design, & Media Intensive led by Artistic Directors Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves alongside key OGD company members. Intended for serious pre-professional and professional dancers, this intensive features a unique class schedule of OGD Technique and Repertory, as well as participation in the company's brand new Creative LAB series for the digital stage. The Creative LAB will feature a collaborative class atmosphere engaging pivotal design and compositional principles at the core of OGD's creative process. This year's LAB kicks off with Layering the Moment, Harnessing the Solo, and Dancers in the Dark. This intensive was held primarily on Zoom in order to maximize personal interaction and feedback. No audition required for pre-professional and professional dancers age 18 & up. If you have questions about placement within the intensive please contact [email protected] to discuss.
    • OGD Intensive 2020.PNG
      OGD Intensive 2020.PNG
      Final collective moment from the 2020 OGD Summer Intensive
    •