Not only a performance, but an art installation open to any museum goers, Under the Blue invited people to explore a museum gallery through touch, sound and sight. The first part of the development process included a community art project where artist in residence Solomon Enos encouraged people of all ages to make dots and dashes on the wall, representing the billions of phytoplankton that live in the ocean. With the help of over one thousand people, the community turned the space into an underwater wonderland!

During this portion, Danica led workshops in special education classrooms who had signed up to see the show. During these sensory workshops, she engaged the youth with various smells, textures, puppets and songs they may experience during their field trip. This also allowed her analyze how the students naturally interacted with some of the show materials, which directly impacted the story and structure of the performance. Some students even designed their own animals based off the prompt “What do you think lives at the bottom of the ocean?” These animals were then painted in glow in the dark paint on the walls, and revealed only when museum goers and audience members went to the deepest part of the ocean with a UV light.

Tour the Under the Blue Gallery in a 3D virtual tour here!