Lotus Debuts at Bloomington Trashion Refashion Show

This year’s opening act for Bloomington’s Trashion Refashion event on April 8 at the Buskirk Chumley Theater was an exciting melding of performing and visual art.  Lotus staff member Tamara Loewenthal’s performing dance group, the Foot Squad, strutted their stuff as they clogged and flatfooted through several dynamic dance tunes.  Their outfits were created from a combination of Lotus T-shirt and wristband surplus supplies.  Foot squad member and former Lotus staff LuAnne Holladay repurposed old volunteer T-shirts into what she has christened T-skirts, which whirled and twirled with the dancers’ moves.  The dancers fashioned colorful and unique vests of woven and connected wristbands in a variety of original styles that complemented the skirts nicely.  Performing on their portable wooden stage to live music provided by Jamie Gans on fiddle, Jack Laskey on banjo, and Rob Fischman on guitar, the dancers brought the audience to their feet in a rousing start to the evening.  The dancers included Tamara Loewenthal, Serena Loewenthal, Annie Stowers, Katie Zukof, Andrea Oeding, and Kathleen Clark Perez.  A special thanks to Stephen & Gail Hale and Jeanne Smith for inviting us to participate in this project.