About

Next Event Date

April 19-21 2024

What is Inanimate 48?

This is a 48 hour dance-meets-film virtual event

Ever heard of a hackathon? Think of Inanimate 48 a little like that, but in this case, it’s a dance hackathon…with apparatuses based in circus disciplines, dance, or elsewhere.

Each year, the event will begin on a Friday evening, and participants will have 48 hours to dance, explore, and create a brand new work. They are tasked with filming and submitting whatever you create. Besides the requirement to use a weight bearing object, there are no rules.

This rapid creation process is meant not to create something of perfection and polish, but a time to allow yourself to make personal creative growth.

Funds from the event go to a select charity.  After all submissions are collected, each participant has 1 week to to select one work to receive a cash prize as a way of saying “great work, keep it up!” 

Unrules

    • Anyone can participate.
    • There are no categories.
    • Any style of dance is permitted
    • Submissions may be edited or unedited videos.
    • Submissions may be of any length.
    • Any attire is allowed. Please note that if your video does not comply with the standards of Youtube or Vimeo, it may be removed and we will not be able to include you in the competition, or possibly share your work directly on other platforms.

Rules and Guidelines.

    • You MUST interact with some inanimate, weight bearing dance apparatus, such as a pole, fabric, lyra, rope, invented apparatus, etc. Other humans, animals, or flow props do not count, although they may be included along with your apparatus. You do NOT necessarily have to be “aerial” in your interactions.
    • You are expected to come up with an original composition during the 48 hour time period, from concept to final product. If your work is revealed to be created outside of the competition’s timeframe (48 hours), you will be disqualified without refund.
    • There is a $30 fee per submission. $10 of this will go toward a prize pot.  $15 will go to a selected charity of choice. $5 will go back into the event to cover the costs of running it.
    • You may participate as a soloist, duet, trio, or group. One full fee is required per group. There are no extra fees for extra people.
    • In order to be considered for the event, a video must be uploaded and link submitted via form by the specified deadline. Videos may not be set to private or password protected.
    • If your work is revealed to be plagiarized or there are uncredited participants, you will be disqualified without refund.
    • Evidence of hate speech, overtly racist or bigoted themes, or anything deemed crossing the line of appropriateness may disqualify you without refund. We are very liberal and anti-censorship here, but we will consider issues on a case by case basis, largely based on if a work causes harm to any group of people. Please think critically about how your work may affect others before you construct and put it out into the world.
    • The rules may change at any time in order to be efficient in the process or in order to better uphold the mission and values of Inanimate Dance.

Details on how it works

  • Register through the form on the website. Your registration must include the name corresponding to the account you will be sending payment from, otherwise we will not be able to confirm your payment. Registration will be open once dates are announced.
  • Pay the registration fee through Paypal to inanimatedance@gmail.com. You will only receive a submission form link after the payment has been confirmed.
  • As the event approaches, if you are fully registered, you will receive an email with a link to the submission form for weekend event.
  • The event starts on Friday at 4 PM Pacific time, 7 PM Eastern time.
  • You may submit any time from then until Sunday at 12 AM Pacific time. (We know that is more than 48 hours, but we like to allow wiggle room for different time zones).
  • During the weekend, create, choreograph, and dance your heart out. Don’t have a space to do this in? Grab a friend or a few and rent a space together, use a friend’s home space, get creative with your apparatus (no one said you can’t use furniture or public playgrounds), or contact your local studio about being an event host!
  • We recommend setting up a nice clean space and filming your final creation at some point midday Sunday, or possibly even Saturday night to allow enough time to finalize and submit the video.  Need help with lighting, filming, and editing? Check out our guides here. 
  • Upload your video to Youtube or Vimeo. The video must be public or unlisted. It cannot be private or password protected.
  • Submit your work via the link given in your registration email. This will require a link to the video, your contact info, the name of the choreographer[s], name[s] of dancers, and any stage names you would like us to use. It will have an optional section where you can write up to 500 words about the submission. You can write whatever you want here.
  • The best part…keep your eye on our social media feeds and your email to see all the cool work that came out of the event

Organization mission

Inanimate Dance is a platform and oasis for creative work that does not fit within any other established value systems. We strengthen our community by being inclusive to all types of dance, apparatuses, and bodies. We create connections through sharing dance creations of others and leading an international community in collaborative events.

At this point in time, Inanimate Dance mainly exists to run Inanimate 48, a 48 hour apparatus based dance choreography competition. 

Founder : Meri Burgess

“We” use the royal we a whole lot, because we like to think of this as something shared by the community at large, but Meri Burgess is the founder and primary/currently only organizer of Inanimate Dance.

Meri Burgess is a movement artist who practices a multitude of disciplines, including pole dance, aerial, cyr wheel, contortion, acrobatics, and many styles of dance. Meri has been teaching movement since 2014, with a 6 year tenure at Vertical Fusion in Boulder, Colorado, but has also taught across the US and Europe. Her accomplishments and certifications are the following:

Certifications

  •  ElevatED Level 1 Pole Certified Instructor
  • Floor Flow Level 1 Certified Instructor
  • Graduate of Frequent Flyers 9 Month Professional Training Program in Aerial Dance (2014-2015)

Companies

Regular collaborations work with:

Competitions

  • 3rd Place & People’s Choice @ Colorado Pole Championships 2014
  • 3rd Place @ Colorado Pole Championships 2015
  • Finalist @ Pole Theatre USA 2015 – Pro Art
  • 3rd Place @ Colorado Pole Championships 2016 
  • 1st Place @ Pole Theatre USA 2016 – Semi-Pro Art
  • Pole Theatre World Semi Pro 2016 Finalist
  • 1st Place @ Colorado Pole Championships 2017
  • 2nd Place & People’s Choice @ North American Pole Dance Championships 2017 – International Elite
  • Finalist @ Pole Theatre USA 2017 – Pro Classique
  • Finalist @ PCS Pro Division at the Arnold Sports Festival 2018
  • 1st Place @ PSO Mountain Low Flow Level 4/5 2018
  • 1st Place @ PSO Northwest Artistic Level 5 (Pro Qualifier) 2019
  • 1st Place @ PSO Golden Gate Artistic Level 5 (Pro Qualifier) 2020
  • Judge’s Choice @ Pole With Purpose hosted by Positive Spin
  • 1st Place @ PSO United Artistic Level 5 2020
  • 1st Place @ PSO Libra Virtual / US Nationals Artistic Level 5 2020
  • 1st Place @ Pole Theatre Canada 2022 – Pro Art

You can follow her personal instagram account here.