Bloom of the Synthetic Tide by Lilly Dempski

Copyright Statement

3 minutes
Mixed Media Dance Performance
In Collaboration with Dr. Erica Majumder, Assistant Professor, Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 

Dance is my voice, my passion, and my way of making the unseen felt. My work explores the fluid relationship between movement and water. This piece was born from my ongoing exploration of water as a collaborator and a force that shapes movement as much as movement shapes it. 

Inspired by the way microplastics disrupt aquatic ecosystems, I used choreography to embody the entanglement of algae and synthetic waste. Toxic blooms form when algae wrap around microplastics, which alter delicate balances. 

I approached this concept physically, beginning in my bathtub, where I explored how water clings, resists, and yields—just as algae might to plastic. My movement vocabulary developed from this sensation of wrapping, mirroring the environmental entrapment. 

My dance philosophy is to embrace the complexity of emotion, the weight of ideas, and the power of movement to speak when language falls short. Through this work, I invite the viewer to feel the tension between beauty and destruction. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

blue water drop graphic

Lilly Dempski

ABOUT THE WATER PARTNER

blue water drop graphic

Erica Majumder

MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUPPORT FROM