If you close your eyes and follow the music, you will be led to Withrow Park. Amidst its trees lies Dusk Dances’ 30th festival, a week of magic evenings curated by Sylvie Bouchard. The festival is a collage of ten-minute music, dance, and poetry performances that promise to evoke tears, laughter and everything in between. In this rare space, everyone in the community is together at the same time, in the same place. It’s a beautiful reminder of how art brings people together.
The evenings open with House dance and Vogue workshops led by Raoul Jiggyman Wilke and Danah Rosales: these are a warm invitation to self-expression. With their infectious energy, Wilke and Rosales guide a light and playful exploration of movement that everyone in the community can enjoy. From grandparents to grandchildren, all can experience a deeper connection to self and others through a judgment-free dance flow.
And once the blood is flowing and the cheeks are flushed, Fly Lady Di’s sparkling personality leads the walk through the park to the first performance of the evening. Here, Rhythm Playground‘s jazzy beats are both passionate and playful – and they are completed by Jeraj’s electrifying tap dancing, Russouw’s bass, and Hodgson’s saxophone. Their exhilarating piece is full of surprises that keep the crowd cheering, whistling, and moving their feet to the beat. All along, woven into the music, is the sound of children laughing.
The walk continues to No Return, where the audience is drawn into a circle around Michael Mortley’s touching choreography to ‘Door Way of No Return’ by Charles C. Smith. Mortley embraces the body as an instrument of storytelling, speaking without words alongside Jäjé, as she reads Smith’s poem. Her voice is a drum calling us home, into the earth again. Moving, tender and powerful, this piece is at once a hand reaching out to us and the song of a people unified into one voice.
Lisa Odjig and River Christie-White’s Traditional Hoop Dance performances follow. Charged with hopeful and joyful energy, they are delicately interconnected with Moving Parts, which is choreographed and directed by Denise Fujiwara. While each presentation is unique, the two come together to tell one story. Complete with a choir of moving singers, Moving Parts explores the return to ourselves and the many challenges that it often entails. This piece was a reminder that regaining harmony with ourselves and the earth is possible . . . if we can stay present and curious.
To move through Dusk Dances as I did, from one performance to the next, is to be carried off into a colour-drenched, image-rich dream . . . until the music finds you and awakens you to the next dance – the next dream – before you. The story morphs and transforms in delightful ways as you walk through the park.
Each evening is a magic, one-time occurrence shaped by the people present that night. And each is a unique celebration of the healing power that comes from listening to each other’s stories.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to slow down, open yourself up to beauty and sensation, witness life unfolding in nature . . . and be reminded of the ways in which we are all connected.
Come dance in the dusk until August 6, 2023. Visit duskdances.ca for more information.
©Emilia Voudouris, Sesayarts Magazine, 2023
