Collaborators

LOCAL MODERN DANCERS

Meet our dance family. We are makers, mothers, beekeepers, professors, environmentalists, therapists, dancers and so much more. ⁠

Blair Bodie, Dorothy Burns, Sara Mannheimer, Ellie Oakley, Mariah Palmer, Cathy Werner, Anna Allen, Dana Terzi, Naomi Worob

CHOREOGRAPHERS

Sara Mannheimer and Mariah Palmer met while taking dance classes with Collective Movement. After attending classes together for several years, they eventually developed a dance language of their own. They have created dances for Independance, Local Earth Collective and Collective Movement and have created dances for film as well as live performances. Their dance ethos is all about playfulness, exploration and body positivity — especially in regards to embracing our changing bodies through movement.

CERAMIC SCULPTOR

Chris is an economics professor at Montana State University, studying education and health care policy, particularly as they relate to inequities for individuals from disadvantaged communities. She is also an emerging ceramics artist working with native clays and earth pigments.

Chris played an integral role in developing language to express the vision and direction for the Collective. She also helped conceive the concept for our “Dwelling” collection and taught our “Dwelling in the Earth: Native Clay Workshop.”

@chris.stoddard.art

FIBER ARTIST

Meghan Purcell is a fiber artist working with the ancient technique of wool felting. Her work explores ideas of genuine connection, sustainability, and the integrity of the human hand in an industrialized society. From sourcing wool locally, to assisting with sheep shearing and felting each piece entirely by hand, every step of the process is highly intentional.

Meghan taught our “Predator Friendly: Fiber Art Workshop” and has collaborated with us on costumes for our dance performances.

meghanpurcell.com

SORCESRESS OF STITCH

Christi Johnson is the founder of Mixed Color — a textile studio that produces original garments and creates embroidered pieces on vintage garments. As a teacher, she also offers workshops in natural dyeing and embroidery.

She taught our “Mystical Stitching” embroidery class as part of our “Grief” collection.

mixedcolor.net

AUTHOR

Kelsey’s work explores the complexities of human-nature relationships around the world. While an author of nonfiction essays for over a decade, fantasy remains her first and true love. BIRTH OF THE ANIMA, a finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award in fantasy, is her first novel.

She taught our “Dwelling as Belonging” creative writing workshop.

kelseyksather.com

NATURALIST

Cedar has always been passionate about sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for nature with anyone who would listen and relishes opportunities to do this through teaching. He has taught undergraduates, professional scientists, and the public in a range of topics in biology and natural history – outdoors, as much as possible. He currently teaches the Master Naturalist Course through the Montana Outdoor Science School.

Cedar taught our “Dwelling with Other Beings” animal tracking workshop and “Animal Communication: The Practical and the Mystical.”

@nature_in_plain_sight

ANIMAL COMMUNICATOR

Kristen began remembering her ability to communicate with the animal kingdom in 2015. Her teachers ranged from lineaged human communicators to matriarch orca to wildflowers to Tibetan yaks dwelling in the foothills of her Kentucky home. Her curiosity and heart for this field of connection has only grown since, blossoming into her wildest dream. Every day the vision she held in her heart since childhood comes true: to speak and be friends with the animals.

Kristen co-taught our workshop “Animal Communication: The Practical and the Mystical.”

faunaspeak.com

MOCCASIN MAKER

Shauna is a self taught moccasin maker based in Bozeman, MT. She also enjoys creating belts and other custom leather goods. She is from the Arikara and Hidatsa Nation out of North Dakota. She creates custom made to order moccasins for all walks of life. She likes to work with Bison, Tanáhà in Arikara, as it is five times stronger than cowhide. Tanáhà was important to the Plains Natives for shelter, clothing, tools, and food.

She made custom belts for our dance film, “In the Shadows.”

whitebearmoccasins.com

OWNER BODIGRAM DANCE

Blair Bodie is co-founder of BodiGram Dance Company. After extensive experience studying and performing dance in NYC and San Francisco she is now living in Bozeman, MT where she is helping to build the contemporary dance scene with Collective Movement and raising two young adventurists and movement enthusiasts.

She contributed to our “In the Shadows” piece as a dancer and mentor. She also taught “Dancing In: A Meditative Dance Workshop.”

bodigramdance.org

FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Nathan is an outdoor adventurist creating film and photos. His work spans icy cliffs and rock walls while easily transitioning into artful dance themes.

He has filmed all three of our dance films and is always up for whatever adventure we have in mind.

winterdancemedia.com

OPERATIONS CONSULTANT

Alexandra is the founder of Bloom Assistance. She works with creatives to help strategize and organize their workflow.

She helped us tremendously in the beginning phase, which can be especially overwhelming, to help clarify our goals and develop a sustainable work flow.

@bloomassistance

PHOTOGRAPHER

Scott works mostly with black & white film using natural light on location and in his studio. His process involves both traditional darkroom techniques and alternative processes like cyanotype and caffenol.

Scott brought his camera behind the scenes during the filming of our latest dance film, “In the Shadows.” His photos were displayed and auctioned off as part of our fundraising efforts for “Coexist.”

scottwhyoung.com

Cathy Werner is the founder of Mountain Air Dance—a non-profit dance company located in Bozeman, Montana. They bring quality aerial arts and contemporary dance through classes, workshops, and performances.

We collaborate with Cathy on various dance projects.

mountainairdance.org

STYLIST

Hailing originally from Helena, Celeste is proud to call Montana home. Her career of 10+ years has taken her around the globe- most recently getting to style hair at New York Fashion Week. Her true passion, however, lies in working behind the chair with her regular clients. In her spare time, you can find Celeste cruising in her El Camino or spending time in her fairy garden.

Celeste was our stylist extraordinaire for our latest dance performance with Tinworks.

parlourlivingston.com

WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Earthfire is a wildlife sanctuary and retreat center with a mission to reawaken our connection to wildlife and nature and protect habitats for all.

Coming to the sanctuary from a variety of circumstances, Earthfire cares for domesticated wildlife that cannot survive in the wild. Some were kept as pets, some came from fur or meat farms, and others were surrendered to Earthfire. All of them are cared for throughout their lifetimes. These resident animals serve as vibrant, evocative emissaries for their species and for species individuality, opening the door for all of us to see ourselves and nature through different eyes–eyes that recognize and embrace our interconnectedness with all of Earth’s ecosystems.

We collaborated with and supported Earthfire as part of our “Coexist” series.

earthfireinstitute.org

INDIGENOUS LED NGO

Cultural Survival is an international Indigenous-led NGO Cultural Survival. Established in 1972, Cultural Survival advocates for Indigenous People’s rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures, and resilience.

We supported Cultural Survival through our community quilt project and raffle as part of our “Grief” series.

culturalsurvival.org

BISON RANCH

Matt and Sarah Skoglund started North Bridger Bison in 2018. Their kids, Otto and Greta, also help out, primarily by holistically managing all superhero-themed stories and imaginary games at the ranch.

Through their management practices, which are rooted in Holistic Management and Regenerative Agriculture principles, the bison on their ranch help build soil, improve the quality of the soil, increase the amount of water retained in the ground, increase the amount and diversity of the grasses, forbs, and wildflowers on the landscape, and help reduce climate change through carbon storage in the soil.

They are also a predator-friendly ranch, which is why we collaborated with them on our “Predator Friendly: Fiber Art” workshop

northbridgerbison.com

WOLF ADVOCACY NONPROFIT

Wolves of the Rockies works to protect & defend the Wolves of Yellowstone National Park and the Rocky Mountains through advocacy, education, and gathering wolf advocates worldwide to consolidate voices into a force that will influence the protection and acceptance of wolves that call the Rocky Mountains their home.

We partnered with Wolves of the Rockies to help advocate for wolves as part of our “Coexist” series.

wolvesoftherockies.org

Greater Yellowstone Coalition is an organization that works with all people to protect the land, waters, and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

They joined us for an interview as part of our “Dwelling as Belonging: Creative Writing Workshop” where we discussed creative ways to communicate with lawmakers using personal stories and connection to place.

greateryellowstone.org