THE COMPANY

push/FOLD is a Portland-based contemporary dance company creating original performance through movement, music, and story.

Co-directed by Samuel Hobbs and Holly Shaw, push/FOLD brings together dance, original music, and interdisciplinary collaboration to create visceral performance worlds rooted in physicality, connection, and story. The company's work is known for its powerful momentum-based movement and partnering, shaped by Hobbs' Visceral Movement Theory™, an approach developed through their background in athletics, dance, and biomechanics. Hobbs' audio-spatial synesthesia further shapes the relationship between choreography and original score, developing movement and sound as interconnected parts of the same work.

Since its launch in 2018, push/FOLD has created and presented work throughout the Pacific Northwest, nationally, and internationally. Its productions range from intimate contemporary dance works to large-scale interdisciplinary projects such as Vespers, which brings together five dancers and a live choir of up to 100 vocalists in a shared world of movement and music.

Beyond the stage, push/FOLD's work extends into education, artist development, and community. Its programs include Physics in Motion, a K-12 youth-reach program connecting dance with physics and STEM concepts; artist commissions and mentorship; professional development; movement education; and opportunities designed to strengthen access and agency for artists and audiences.

In 2019, push/FOLD founded the Union PDX - Festival of Contemporary Dance, an artist-led platform bringing together artists across movement forms and communities through performance, commissions, education, professional development, and exchange. Through Union PDX and the company’s broader programming, push/FOLD works to expand the range of artistic voices experienced by audiences while building meaningful opportunities for artists to create, connect, and grow.

At its core, push/FOLD is driven by the belief that art is deeply personal and powerfully communal, creating a place where movement, sound, story, artists, and audiences meet.

push/FOLD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization based in Portland, Oregon, working with artists, schools, arts and cultural organizations, presenters, and community partners to create performance, expand access to arts education, and support artists in the development and presentation of their work.

push/FOLD is a member of:

• Latinx & Hispanic Dancers United
• PDX Dance
• Portland Arts Leaders (PAL)

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