Austin Energy employees are looking to do more than provide power for the city of Austin through an amped up performance Sept. 21 and 22 called PowerUP

"Let me just say, I am absolutely, 100 percent confident that this is going to be about the coolest thing anyone is going to get to see this year," said Councilwoman Laura Morrison.

PowerUP features Austin Energy employees and equipment to visually present and explore individual's relationship with electricity. The performance will include line workers and electrical technicians as well as bucket trucks, crane, field trucks and 20 utility poles. The performance is presented by Forklift Danceworks—a modern dance company that focuses on engaging all types of people in the creation of art.

Allison Orr, the founder and artistic director for Forklift Danceworks who also directed the production, said the show highlights the relationship between the human body and its relationship to the electrical pole or crane bucket.

"These guys, like the Austin Resource Recovery employees, they have to be choreographed in their everyday work," Orr said. "I mean, they are really depending on each other for their safety and their lives."

Forklift Danceworks also produced The Trash Project, a performance that featured Austin Resource Recovery employees and equipment.

Orr said she has been working on this production since 2011, but initially approached AE about the idea in 2009. Orr said she's interested in the "movement that comes from daily life," and that AE employees have motions in their job that are "highly skilled and almost virtuosic in nature."

The performers who gave a preview of what to expect for those watching PowerUP, Trey Longoria, Harold Reyes and Mark Herndon, said they did not need a lot of convincing to do participate in the production.

"It's been fun, but it's been a challenge," said Longoria. "As far as climbing, you can see Harold is taller than Mark, so everyone climbs a little bit different, so trying to get everyone in sync to try to get everyone do the same steps has been a little challenging, but I think they've come to master it."

Herndon agreed that participating in the show has been a challenging experience.

"It's a lot of climbing," Herndon said. "Normally, in our day to day job, we climb up to the work location and do our job, but here we're doing a lot of up and down along with the music."

Longoria, Reyes and Herndon all said they were happy to take part in the project.

The performance runs from Sept. 21 through 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Travis County Exposition Center, 7311 Decker Lane. Admission is free for the public, although tickets must be reserved.

For more information on the performance and tickets, visit www.forkliftdanceworks.org.