UMO Ensemble is one of the most innovative, compelling and critically acclaimed not-for-profit performance companies based in the Pacific Northwest. In the past 24 years, UMO has made over twenty mind-blowingly gorgeous, original pieces of physical theatre.
Our mission is to stir the human spirit and incite the imagination by providing awe, challenge and inspiration through the original and compelling art that is UMO.
We are a theater of connection – to our audience, to the ensemble, to our bodies, to the imagination. Our work is image-rich and physical. We work with a broad palette, combining character, movement, music, sculpture and story. We seek the ancient alchemy of live performance, through which thoughts and images under the surface of culture are given voice and form.
UMO began their creative collaboration in 1989. The company is committed to a permanent Ensemble of performers who create and compose their own productions. The Ensemble’s creative process is rooted in physical theater: improvisations in movement, character, vocalizing, and writing are the basis for the creation and development of new works. In the past twenty five years, UMO Ensemble has become known as one of the most innovative, compelling and critically acclaimed performance companies based in the Pacific Northwest. The Ensemble has performed in theaters, at festivals and in schools throughout the Northwest, the United States, Canada and Europe and is considered one of the premiere ensembles to coin the phrase “physical theatre”. UMO has created over 30 new works of theatre, expanded to include a rich family of multidisciplinary associate artists and inspired the next generation of artists through The UMO School of Physical Arts.