CarnivalGlass aims to promote the power of dance through bringing movement to the forefront of the human experience; in that dance is the poetic embodiment of how we live our lives. Through that poetry, we use elements of dance movement that conjure our personal experiences along with the inspiration of those around us. CarnivalGlass is a pop-up project-based dance company founded by Christiana Wheeler.

This Is A Protest, the premiere show from CarnivalGlass Was choreographed and set to music from well-known grunge, heavy metal and 90’s alt rock bands while using contemporary and hip-hop dance, bringing a dance experience not previously seen in Colorado. In this show we use dance and music to deal with storylines surrounding injustice, pharmaceutical dependency, land protection, personal rights and the disillusionment of the current political and emotional trajectory as a society.  With our title, “This is a Protest,” we hope to communicate both our anger and passion towards change and waking up society through dance. 

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT, Christiana Wheeler:

“As a drummer and guitarist I am very interested in how music takes over the body and how that is interpreted through contemporary dance specifically. I crave complex rhythms which I translate into the form of dance with movements that replicate the feeling and drive of the music in my body. Choreographically, I believe it is incredibly powerful to embody music through dance in a way that portrays those instruments' emotions to translate those feelings to the witness. The language of dance fascinates me, so as a director and choreographer I love to bring out dancers’ individual voice through the language of dance to allow them to speak wholeheartedly with the music carrying and complementing the movement vocabulary.”

Christiana Wheeler is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in dance. She began her training at the age of two and graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance spring of 2021. She has worked with artists and choreographers such as Wade Madson, Kate Wallick, Laura Smith, and performed with The Guild Dance Company from 2019-2021. She teaches a variety of dance techniques at Colorado Conservatory of Dance, Broomfield, CO, and Dance Dimensions, Longmont, CO, and is Dawson School’s middle school musical theater production choreographer, Layfyette, CO. Christiana currently dances with Wild Heart Dance, Animus Movement, and is director/choreographer of her own dance ensemble, CarnivalGlass Dance Theater Christiana connects with dance as her primary source of self expression as she learned to dance before she could read, speak, and practically walk.