Dance Ōtepoti founder Anna Noonan said next weekend, May 4 and 5, will be filled with talks and taster sessions, performances and workshops.
A panel discussion will explore crossovers between dance, health and wellbeing, there will be a lunchtime concert on Saturday, May 4, in the Octagon and an afternoon concert on Saturday afternoon from 2.15pm at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum.
A workshop presented by the University of Otago 2024 Caroline Plummer Fellow in Community Dance Marcela Giesche is one of the highlights of the weekend.
Giesche is the founder and artistic director of LAKE Studios Berlin in East Berlin.
Even before she knew about the Caroline Plummer Fellowship, she was hoping to use a year’s sabbatical to come to New Zealand.
Dunedin reminded her of growing up in the university town of Alfred, New York.
"That’s where I went to school and high school and where I started with my first ballet training."
She aimed to develop a local version of her piece called Self-Portrait 24, in which a collection of 24 people developed a dance structure together.
"The idea is that many different types of people come together to do this piece."
Eight experienced dancers will be combined with 16 amateurs.
"And then through the mixture of the more amateur and the more professionals, there is created a network of support and also of mutual inspiration."
Giesche aims to offer free workshops for a variety of groups and through that process gather the 24 people who will rehearse for about eight days before two performances at the New Athenaeum Theatre, on September 7 and 8.
People interested in participating can also visit selfportrait24.info.
The idea that anyone can dance, enjoy dance, or be connected to it was very closely connected to the way Caroline Plummer felt about dance in the community, she said.
Being connected to our bodies and movement can bring joy, fulfilment, and embodied sources of knowledge, as well as balance a sense of self, a sense of possibilities, and general wellbeing through practising embodied presence in the moment, she said.
- Marcela Giesche — Movement Workshop for Everyone takes place at the Community Art Gallery on Sunday, May 5, from 10am to 11.30am.
