The Power Company Collaborative

Established in 2000, The Power Company Collaborative celebrates 26 years of empowering all people through dance. With dance as our root of origin, The Power Company Collaborative is a multidisciplinary group of artists committed to empowerment of all people through creative engagement. The Power Company Collaborative believes power can be found in art, dancing, collaboration, and the spirit of each individual. It is our hope that our name and slogan, "The Power Company - moving people" embraces the idea of power for all. The Power Company Collaborative invites you to join us in tapping the most precious source of power: energy and light for the mind and spirit of all people.

Founded by Artistic Director Martha Brim and led in collaboration with Associate Director Amanda Ling, PoCoCo currently creates project based performance installations and dance happenings throughout Columbia and beyond. This dynamic duo strives to spark creativity throughout the Midlands! Brim and Ling are not bound by the constraints of the proscenium stage they are instead inspired to bring dance directly into public spaces to interact with the people.

We are funded by a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. PoCoCo is housed and rehearses in residence at Columbia College, SC.

Testimonials

"The Power Company is an enormous asset to the community. Their work is fresh, innovative, sensitive, witty, and intelligent." - The State

"Unpretentious/authentic/never condescending….

PoCoCo invites audiences into performance experiences that transcend the usual trappings of artistic elitism and theater formalities. All are welcome to be a part of their richly collaborative events." - Libby Patenaude

"For decades, the Power Company Collaborative has been the standard bearer in the Columbia, S.C., region and beyond for modern and post-modern dance, a segment of the performing arts that has the ability to make a profound impact on audiences and dancers, inside and out. As a fan and former student of contemporary and cutting-edge dance and performance art genres who returned to her hometown from a major city, where I had easy access to numerous dance companies for classes and performances, it was a cultural lifeline to discover Martha Brim and her collaborators at PoCoCo here in our region of South Carolina. This organization is innovative, inclusive and singular in a landscape where this type of performing arts company is quite rare and hard to find. Attending PoCoCo's recent 25th anniversary celebration performance, in particular, was a moving, delightful and intellectually stimulating experience, with an energetic crowd and a robust body of work spanning years and years of creative collaboration."- Tracie Broom

"As a community member, Power Company thrills and encourages me to keep creating. Keep collaborating. Keep pushing the boundaries of creativity and live my one life brilliantly." -Shannon Ivey

"Since 2000, PoCoCo has been a staple in the midlands dance scene and the community at large. It creates a space for dancers in the community to innovate and collaborate. PoCoCo takes dance into many different spaces and creates experiences that support the essence of dance as community." - Erin Bailey

"Many years ago, I took a job that required a lot of knowledge about all of the performing arts.  I was comfortable with music and theatre but not with dance, especially contemporary dance. It was a mystery, how it was created, what it meant, how to talk about it. So, in a moment of madness, I asked Martha Brim of Power Company Collaborative to set a solo dance piece on me as the dancer with the goal to understand the inner workings of it when I watched it.  In short, It was one of the hardest things I have ever done!  The Power Company Collaborative actually had me do a couple of performances of it on a tour they had produced.  Performing with them, I experienced the passion, the preparation, the physicality , the art that defined the Company. 

The Power Company Collaborative has a history  of commitment to excellence, bringing a quality experience to our area and opportunities for our community to see what I saw.  I am eternally grateful to the Company as I now understand the process and product when producing contemporary dance." - Larry Hembree