HILARY GRUMMAN

Hilary Grumman is a Seattle-based artist, educator, and community organizer. Drawing on training with international practitioners, and 13 years of personal floorwork research, Hilary co-founded Undercurrent in 2017 as a dance company committed to nurturing floorwork technique, experiential design, multi-media performance, and care-centered community building.

After growing up in Washington and earning her BFA from CalArts, Hilary pursued floorwork training with Piso Móvil, Flying Low, Psico-Físico, RUBBERBAND, Jorge Crecis, Adam Barruch, Ihsan Rustem, Moving Air, Duela-Cemento, A Surprised Body, CONTINUUM, and Bodyparkour. Deepening her research, she was awarded an Annual Residency at Delfos Danza in Sinaloa, Mexico, a Season Residency at London Contemporary Dance School in the UK, and a Summer Festival Scholarship at ImPulsTanz in Vienna, Austria. Weaving these methods into her own investigations, she has cultivated a cohesive, injury-preventative approach to fluid floorwork sequencing, challenging inversions, and immersive movement exploration.

Since 2017, Hilary has been an Artist in Residence at Fremont Abbey Arts Center, researching with local artists and leading 2-3 drop-in classes per week. Additionally, she currently teaches Undercurrent technique at the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts and has led pop-up workshops globally, including at Mark Morris Dance Center, Peridance Center New York, AWID Forum Brazil, The Dance Complex Boston, Spectrum Dance Theater, Bodies of Empowerment SF, EDGE Ciudad de México, Mosswood Hollow Retreat Center, and Velocity’s Professional Cohort of Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation (SFD+I, FKA Strictly Seattle). She also loves hosting workshops with other floorwork practitioners and has had the pleasure of teaming up with Nicole von Arx / NVA&GUESTS, Ground Grooves, 2nd Best Dance Company, Lavinia Vago, Tom Weinberger, Elia Mrak, RUBBERBAND dancers, et al. She has performed in Seattle, Mazatlán, London, Vienna, Tijuana, Montreal, Lewiston, Valencia, and Los Angeles. Her choreographic commissions include new works for CO—, Sessions in Place, The Round, Ode at Mini Mart City Park, Kaylee Elizabeth, Studio Current Sessions, and Starbucks, and she has previously been a collaborative member of Daniel Costa Dance and The Royal Society.

In addition to dance, she has worked in the human rights sector since 2011, radicalizing philanthropy practices internationally, advocating for Indigenous-led grassroots movements, contributing to EDGE’s Global Engagement Lab, and serving as Vice President for the CarEth Foundation.

Further information about Hilary and Undercurrent's work can be found on our home page.