Recently, I had the opportunity to collaborate on a dance project with Karola Luttringhaus, the artistic director or Alban Elved Dance Company and the Sarus Festival in Wilmington, NC. I was thrilled for this opportunity because it provided the opportunity to both connect with my creative side and to travel to someplace I had never been before.
Although Wilmington, NC is only about 3 hours from my home in Columbia, SC, I had not had the opportunity to explore this unique small city and its beautiful beaches. I love the beach. I am not very good at sitting still and relaxing but when I am at the beach, I am able to just sit in a chair and watch and listen to the waves crashing on the shore. Something about this has always been incredibly soothing for me and my mind stops racing and I can just be for a short while.
Over the course of the weekend, myself, along with three of my dance colleagues from Columbia took part in the Sarus Festival, a dance focused arts festival with performances, lectures, workshops, film showings and other events that took place over the course of a long weekend. We spoke as part of a panel that discussed art and its relationship to nature, showcased our dance film, "Fire in the Belly" (conceived and directed by my colleague Amanda Ling), performed in "Alula and Keel', a site specific dance work created by Karola and performed our own sited specific work, "Stir", an excerpt of Amanda Ling's new choreographic work.
I have been dancing in site specific works (dances created for a certain location) for 20 plus years. What I love about them is that every rehearsal is also a performance. People are constantly intrigued, confused and awed by what you are doing. Anyone who happens to be in the space while you are rehearsing (or performing) is suddenly thrust in to the performance whether they want to be a part of it or not. There are always questions and interest about what you are doing. I love that it brings dance and art to the people. Audiences in theaters are shrinking and when people happen upon these types of performances, it often can spark an interest and encourage them to seek out performances in a more traditional setting.
The weekend spent dancing on the beach, was so great for my well-being. I had the sand in my toes and water lapping around my ankles making me feel connected to the earth. It was soothing and inspiring. During the actual performance, it began to pour down rain. We could see it coming down the beach. The beautifully artistic costumes that Karola had made out of paper mache began to disintegrate, which was beautiful comment on the strength of nature. It was amazing to dance in the rain and even more amazing that the audience members stayed for the entire performance!
Other highlights of this trip included connecting with some really fabulous people and artists that I am now looking forward to staying in contact with and working with again on future projects. We also had a great time beginning to explore Wilmington and some of its unique shops and fabulous restaurants. (Indochino had some of the best Thia and Vietnamese food that I have had in a long time and Savorez was amazing Latin American cuisine!) There were so many parts of the city- especially the water front that we did not have a chance to explore so I am definitely looking forward to my return.
Traveling to new cities, making dance and art and meeting new friends and colleagues is such an inspiring time. It reminds me why travel and movement are such an important part of our well-being!
Aug 25
3 min read
