Launch |

When launching our first PHASES show, we were tasked with not only promoting our show, but the collective itself.

To start, we captured our dancers on a neutral, seamless background that could be used for a range of purposes. We were drawn to a rich, tan background which felt like an appropriate departure from the classic white or black and paired well with the desire for hints of gold and sparkle to play on our celestial themes.

Theme |

The theme of our first show was a little serendipitous and stemmed from the title, PHASES, itself. We wanted the theme to remain broad to allow our performers a wide range for artistic interpretation. The phases of the moon served as the perfect guide and tied back to the collective’s original inspiration of circles and cycles.

We provided a short interpretation of each moon phase and encouraged our performers to rely on their own knowledge, experiences, imaginations, and emotions to select their phase and theme. We asked them to pitch one or two phase interpretations. As expected, our performers impressed us with distinct interpretations of various moon phases, and our run-of-show worked itself out magically. 

Promo |

The raw image of Gabby, our full moon performer, was sent by the photographer as a teaser the night of our photoshoot. I immediately pictured her basking in the full moon's light. Designer Alison Pond brought this to life and it became our hero image for A Moonlit Odyssey.

Additionally, we created a moon phase countdown for social media showcasing additional artwork. The posts coordinated with the moon leading up to the show, which took place under a full moon in September 2019. 

The moons were accompanied by photos of our cast and copy developed from questionnaires previously requesting their definitions of pole dance and personal experiences as performers and pole dancers. 

Event |

We were determined to move away from a typical performance showcase and instead sweated every detail to ensure our audience had an experiential evening.

Our audience members were greeted by moody celestial music and a hostess that guided them to their seats. Instead of an MC or host guiding the show we opted for a pre-recorded VO track read by actress Kaija Matis. Her bewitching voice paired with ambient celestial music, mixed and mastered, led to a seamless and focused experience. She introduced the evening and each performance with insight to the artist's moon phase interpretation. In between each performance we had freestyle dancers holding the audience's attention as they reset the stage to keep the show running seamlessly.

For finishing touches, we had moon phase cocktails served at the bar and produced lush art programs featuring photos, bios, and an illustration, quote, poem or similar from each performer that served as inspiration for their piece and gave further insight to their artistry.

Executive Producer: Laurel Carroll

Graphic Design: Alison Pond

Photography: Ty Boespflug and Gus McTigue