National Water Dance is a national community of dancers and movers who believe in the power of dance to move our bodies, our spirits, and our collective energies in bringing attention to the fragility of our waters and the impact of climate change. By creating a national simultaneous movement choir, we unite with our neighbors across the United States to move with one voice for responsible stewardship of our Earth. Learn more about the project here.
As clean water becomes an increasingly precious resource with the growing use of AI, environmental pollutants, and climate change, I feel the urge to shift my attention more rigorously to gratitude for and preservation of our water. I am approaching this movement practice as an honoring of the river and surrounding land, grateful for the vitality, grace, and power of water.
We will learn a brief gesture phrase to open the movement practice and perform improvised movements for the remaining exploration. The entire physical practice will last about 15 minutes, with the option to find stillness, witness, and/or step away at any time. The opening movement gestures are linked here for your reference. I will guide us through an improvised score inspired by Laban's Movement Choirs, in which we reflect on our experiences with water and our surrounding environment. We will be dancing outside near the river between grass and gravel trail with no shade, so prepare to arrive wearing sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, and equipped with bottled water.
What to expect:
learn a brief gesture phrase to open the practice
perform improvised movements individually and with others
dance for roughly 15 minutes, with the option to find stillness, witness, and/or step away at any time
we will film our dance to send to National Water Dance for screening on Sunday, April 19th at 11am for the National Water Dance Watch Party
we will be dancing outside near the river between grass and gravel trail with no shade
What to bring/wear:
dress in blues of any shade! no logos or text, please!
tennis shoes or boots
long pants and long sleeves
sunscreen
sunglasses
a hat
water! in a reusable bottle