Flight Festival

Performances and workshops in modern and Indigenous contemporary dance

Afestival celebrating contemporary dance is coming to the County, with workshops and classes beginning August 18, and performances from August 19 to August 22.The festival takes place at The Eddie Hotel and Farm, just east of Wellington, and is being organized by Arwyn Carpenter, Carol Anderson, Sophie Dow and Kristen Foote, who encompass three generations of dance artists and educators. Their aim is to create a festival of dance and music as a “meeting ground for expression and education about vital social issues.” Carol Anderson first came to dance through ballet lessons as a child in her hometown of Regina. Her family moved to Ottawa and then to Pointe Claire where she first encountered modern dance. She was introduced to the ideas of modern dance pioneer Rudolf von Laban, and her career was strongly influenced by the work of the Toronto Dance Theatre, which she first saw when she was 17 years old. “I remember being absolutely astonished by the way those people moved. I had never seen anything like it. I wasn’t quite sure if they were human or animal or spirit or some combination of those powerful forces,” she said. Anderson started university to study dance, but left to join a dance company for a number of years before returning to study at York University for a rigorous training in various dance techniques. “I went on to pursue further studies in Graham [technique] but mostly in the Limón technique. I totally fell in love with that way of moving. It’s very humanistic, based on breath, and there’s arcs of rising and falling, and very musical—it has the concept of the body as orchestra, which has become a very deep foundation of my whole way of thinking about dance.” She became the founding member of a Toronto-based dance company and toured across Canada, before branching off on her own as an independent artist and choreographer. At about this time she started to work with what was then called the Children’s Dance Theatre, and then returned as a faculty member in the dance program at York University, from which she retired five years ago.

Arwyn Carpenter (front) performs with Cristina Gonzalez during a Jazz Festival event at Oeno Gallery in 2018.

Arwyn Carpenter learned to dance at the Children’s Dance Theatre, and Anderson was one of her teachers. “I had posters on my walls of my bedroom of the dancers from the Toronto Dance Theatre, and then Carol came and choreographed for the young dancers and made incredible work for us. It was really quite a privilege to be dancing on big stages and touring all cross Ontario and getting the chance to have influence so many talking about modern dance in Canada.” Carpenter actually started teaching dance at age 15, before pursuing further studies at York University and then New Your University. Teaching was very much a passion for her, and she started working in the public school system, teaching dance to students who were having difficulty in getting their high school credits.

“Dance can be a tool for expression, and I literally saw that it could change the lives of these kids,” said Carpenter.

Anderson and Carpenter have collaborated on many projects over the years, and in fact Carpenter still dances the solo performance that was created for her at age 16 by Anderson. They have offered movement and dance classes at the Baxter Arts Centre, and choreographed a performance at Oeno Gallery as part of the Jazz Festival in 2018. Their new venture, Flight, is a celebration of contemporary dance built on four areas of activity. The first is communication through dance. The second aspect is education, with a series of workshops for adults and children. The third pillar is community engagement, so there is a collaboration of professional dancers as well as people who live locally in a celebration ritual for the earth. The final aspect is performance, so the evening shows are intended to celebrate the diversity of contemporary dance in Canada. The dance forms span western ballet to Classical Indian, to a fusion of dance forms brought in from all parts of the world. Particularly important is the inclusion on contemporary Indigenous dance, given the County’s proximity to Tyendinaga. The ultimate aim of the festival is to show that dance is for everyone.

Flight Festival is part of the Festival Players summer season, and performances take place on the outdoor stage at The Eddie Farm and Hotel, which creates a natural connection between earth and sky, and is a place where the community can come together. “The outdoor stage is sited in the most magical places. The designer chose the site so that the setting sun illuminates the stage, and it’s very welcoming,” said Anderson. The evening program includes José Limón’s Dances for Isadora, danced by Kristen Foote; hoop dancers Beany John and Kyle LaForme; Syreeta Hector dancing her body as words; and local residents Ritmo Flamenco (Roger, Valerie and Anjelica Scannura) performing Mujer Salvaje. There will also be three pieces created by Anderson, with live accompaniment by pianist Erik Geddis. “This is our first year, and we hope to grow the festival,” said Anderson. “We’re delighted Roger and Valerie and their daughter Anjelica can be part of this, and this is something we aim to continue where you have live music for all of the pieces, and that marriage of music and dance is wonderful.”

For tickets and more information, please visit flightfestivalpec.org.