Episode 16: Forklift Dance: Seeing the Beauty in Everyday Work and Sparking Change Through Creative Collaboration (Part 1 of 2) with Allison Orr

In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Jessica sits down with Allison Orr, dancer, choreographer, and Founder and Artistic Director of Forklift Danceworks, to explore the experiences that shaped her distinctive approach to community-based artmaking—and her belief that we are all inherently creative.

From an unexpected encounter with a window washer to large-scale collaborations with firefighters, sanitation workers, and electric utility workers, Allison shares how curiosity, deep listening, and one-on-one relationship-building have become central to her work. Through projects including In Case of Fire, Trash Dance, and PowerUP, Allison and her community partners draw upon workers’ movement expertise and personal stories to co-create performances that reveal the beauty and artistry in work that often goes unnoticed.

The episode also features Peter Bay, longtime music director and conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. While a symphony conductor may, on the surface, seem to have little in common with the essential workers at the center of many Forklift projects, Solo Symphony reveals a powerful throughline. Allison looked beyond the artistry audiences could already see to discover the person behind the baton, weaving Peter’s life as a conductor together with his personal story. Peter reflects on the vulnerability of sharing so much of himself, the depth of the audience’s response, and how the experience gave him a new appreciation for the impact of a conductor’s work.

Across these very different collaborations, a common idea emerges: when we pay closer attention to the work people do—and to the people doing it—we may begin to see something we had overlooked. For audiences, Forklift’s performances offer an opportunity to learn about work they may rarely think about and develop greater appreciation for contributions too often taken for granted. And for the people performing, being seen and celebrated can provide an opportunity to recognize the value of their own work and contributions in a new way.

Part 1 ultimately invites us to consider what can happen when someone pays close enough attention to see the beauty—perhaps even the dance—in what we do, and in doing so, really sees us.