Art & Science Collaboration
Current collaborators are Dr. David Gruber, Professor of Marine Biology, Baruch College, CUNY, and Dr. Vincent Pieribone, Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, Co-authors of Aglow in the Dark: The Revolutionary Science of Biofluorescence. Both were consultants for the Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence exhibit, at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Gruber and Dr. Pieribone write about their experiences for the New York Times Blog, Scientists at Work: Notes from the Field. Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue and an Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic; and Celine Cousteau, creator of Ocean Inspiration and Founder of CauseCentric Productions.

We share a love for the ocean and advocating ocean conservation through our work as scientists and artists. It is through this shared mission that we have created and presented the first section of the technologically innovative piece entitled,
Aqua Borealis © 2008 - a dance of traveling biolumes, rainbowed sculpture, and liquid light. This new work is inspired by the extraordinary marine organisms that use bioluminescent and biofluorescent forms of light to communicate in the ocean. LEDs. This dance aims to further KMD’s work on raising awareness of ocean issues and marine conservation through the performing arts (begun in 2003).

Previous collaborations involved: Dr. John Waldman, Professor of Biology, Queens College, CUNY, author of Dance of the Flying Gurnards: America’s Coastal Curiosities and Beachside Wonders, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “Celebrate Urban Birds Day NYC” in conjunction with International Migratory Bird Day, where the dance Field Guide was commissioned and performed in Central Park. The Aqua Project – an evening of dance inspired by the ocean and to raise marine environmental awareness – was presented at The Joyce SoHo in 2007. The company partnered with local retail store Patagonia, The Blue Ocean Institute, and The Coastal Marine Resource Center of New York (CMRC) - they provided outreach, take home sustainable seafood cards, and education on how plastics affect the health of the ocean. For the most up-to-date information on plastics in the ocean, and to learn just how important this issue is to human and marine health on our planet, visit Algalita, 5 Gyres and The Plastic Pollution Coalition.

In 2010 Kristin McArdle Dance ventured to Martinique to premiere their new dance entitled,
Turtle Dreaming, inspired by the plight of endangered leatherback sea turtles in the Caribbean for the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Network’s annual meeting (WIDECAST)