Gravity’s Ripple II, an original, site-specific outdoor contemporary dance project, was presented by Dublin Arts Council and OhioDance in collaboration with The Ohio State University Department of Dance and Ohio Department of Education Division of the Arts in September 2010. The approximate 40-minute free public performance took place on the sloping riverfront grounds of the Dublin Arts Center in Dublin and was inspired by the rolling hills of the site and the Scioto River.

The project was part of DAC’s ongoing project Ripple Effect: Artistic Impact of the Scioto River, designed to offer unique opportunities for visual, performing and interpretive art projects associated with investigation of the Scioto River.

Gravity’s Ripple II choreographer Julie Fox, who resides in Columbus, considers herself a teacher, choreographer, performer and writer. She has danced in classical ballet and opera productions, and has performed and choreographed contemporary dance works, including site-specific and improvisational, primarily in Houston, Chicago and Columbus. Fox earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre/Dance from the University of Houston in 2006 and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from The Ohio State University in 2009.

“Creating dance works in the outdoors presents an exciting challenge and opportunity to collaborate with the most expert and talented of all artists – nature,” Fox says. “With highly choreographed and beautifully improvised motion, sound, architecture and light, nature continues to weave an elaborately simple and profound dance that guides and propels. In essence, there are three dances here – nature, this dance unfolding in nature and the audience’s dance as they listen and experience the intersection of the two.”

Fox worked with six primary dancers from The Ohio State University accompanied by three musicians. She also integrated movement by select dancers from Ohio’s Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University and The College of Wooster.

As part of her process, she harnessed the gravity of the hillside and listened to the current of time rushing by as she used her work to explore the historical journey of Columbus and surrounding communities’ relationship to the ecosystem of the Scioto River.

The Gravity’s Ripple project included master classes for Columbus students from Duxberry Park Arts IMPACT Elementary School and Fort Hayes Performing Arts High School. 

Additional support for the Gravity’s Ripple project was provided by Ohio Arts Council, a Franklin County Neighborhood Arts grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.