Protected by Invisible Fence is a choreographic work that examines the often-unseen technological forces shaping contemporary life—from the pressure to optimize health and productivity to the performance of identity on social media. A responsive network is created onstage by eight human performers and eight technologically enhanced crowd-control stanchions that detect when performers pass by or touch them and share quantifications of these activities through sound and light. Vernacular movement patterns, adapted from sources such as TSA screenings, warehouse workflows, screen savers, and reflex tests, invite audiences to reflect on how surveillance technologies influence our relationships with one another.

Collaborating Artists: Kristin Abhalter, Christina Chammas, Eunjin Choi, Joseph Kramer, Lauren Kunath, Rich Norwood, Harlan Rosen, Stephanie Stoumbelis, Kenny Ward, Yuxuan Zhong

Run time: approximately 75 minutes

About the Artist

Ginger Krebs performs, choreographs, and leads collaborative ensemble projects in Chicago. Described as “inherently funny without having a clear joke to ‘get’,” her performances celebrate people’s creative responses to constraints, and marvel at the everyday heroism of human beings who speak truth to power. Her early artmaking focused on sculpture, much of which questioned the psychology of perception and proprioception (the body sensing itself) and imagined infrastructure for systems of exchange. Ultimately, her interest in networks and relational dynamics led her to want to enact systems through movement, so Krebs has been making dance since 2005. Krebs has presented recent projects in Chicago at the Cultural Center, Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater, and The Dance Center of Columbia College. She has been awarded residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California; the Bogliasco Foundation in Genoa, Italy; the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) at Florida State University-Tallahassee; MacDowell; Ucross; and Djerassi. Her work has been recognized with an Artist Fellowship Award in Performance-Based Arts by the Illinois Arts Council, a MAP Fund grant, and a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award. She teaches at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.