SLUG Magazine writer Asha Pruitt: “Shelby Taylor established Fleet Cooperative in 2023, but she doesn’t call herself the founder of the dance group. Instead, she prefers the title of dramaturg — an advisor who researches and interprets a theatrical work in collaboration with the performers. “Someone who listens and asks questions and facilitates the work,” Taylor explains. Dramaturgy in dance is important, she says, because “a lot of mainstream dance has been taken from [its] historic context without knowing where it came from.”