Flight Festival

Festival of contemporary dance at The Eddie

The Flight Festival of Contemporary Dance is now taking place at The Eddie Hotel and Farm, just east of Wellington. Now in its second year, the festival brings professional contemporary dancers to the outdoor pavilion stage, as well as workshops, classes and a day camp for children. The festival was created by Arwyn Carpenter and Carol Anderson as a way to bring contemporary dance to the cultural arts mix in Prince Edward County. “This comes from a dream initiated with Carol of a space for dance in Prince Edward County. Carol is in love with the landscape of Prince Edward County and it called to her in the expressive form of movement,” said Carpenter. A form of the Festival was held at the Oeno Gallery sculpture garden in previous years, and last year Festival Players invited Carpenter and Anderson to hold the event at The Eddie. “From the beginning it’s been very important for us to follow our four pillars,” said Carpenter. “The performance aspect is absolutely stellar, but it’s just one of the four things we are trying to do with Flight. The other piece is the education pillar, where we offer camps and classes and workshops for every member of the community. We have a longterm vision of bringing contemporary dance to the County that isn’t just the passive viewer, but is the active participant. The other pillars are community and connection, and that’s what we are doing by making friends in the County and in Tyendinaga, and really trying to make a bridge.” Providing a diverse representation of dance is an important part of the festival, with Black and Indigenous dance performers, as well as dancers with diverse body shapes, age ranges and abilities. “Everybody’s got dance in them, but unfortunately in our culture, we get a little removed from our bodies, and helping people access that inner dancer is what we’ve been trying to do with our workshops over the years,” said Carpenter.

Dancer Kristen Foote will be performing on the pavilion stage during Flight Festival as well as leading a workshop on Limón dance technique.

One of the events offered at Flight is the children’s workshops, led by Carpenter, with assistance from young activist Rihanna Harris. Rihanna had been taking dance classes for a couple of years, but is now focusing her attention on her school studies, although she still dances at home and with Carpenter. She says that she loves working with the kids in camp and is also looking forward to performing in a new dance choreographed by Carpenter. This unique work is a dance based on the Celtic legend of the Selkie, a being that can shape-shift from a sea creature to a human being. It will be performed by six dancers on paddleboards on the pond at The Eddie and will be accompanied by live music from soprano Patricia O’Callaghan and guitarist Tim Posgate. The dancers will be wearing costumes created by Bloomfield artist Rhonda Nolan. This will be Rihanna’s first time on a paddleboard, but she’s taking this adventure in stride.

Kristen Foote will be returning to the stage to perform a dance created by Isadora Duncan. Foote started ballet and tap lessons when she was just three years old, and as a young teen she met Anderson and Carpenter at what was then the Children’s Contemporary Dance Theatre. This is where she learned the José Limón dance technique, and she would go on to become a member of the Limón Dance Company for 17 years. The Limón technique is based on an approach to dance pioneered by Doris Humphrey that centres on the body’s response to gravity, in the sense of falling and then recovering. Limón added in the action of breathing to the movement. “It’s very organic, using the natural forces of swing and suspension and opposition. There’s the physical action of falling into gravity and defying gravity. It’s a metaphorical position as well—rising up against the forces that are pulling you down,” said Foote. “I danced with the company for 17 years, and I am still exploring and teaching. I’ve developed a curiosity about what’s possible— physically, emotionally and intellectually—because I joined the company at 19 and I sort of grew up investigating these things. Each time I come back to the studio or come back to a different piece of the repertory, it would reveal something new about myself. I feel I’ve always had this drive in me to move my body, and I am drawn to the music as well, and the complexity of Limón’s work is really stimulating.” One of her areas of interest is how dance is passed from one generation to another. There is a form of dance notation, but few are able to write it down and even fewer are able to read it. “A lot of details and the nuances, I think, are often lost in that translation from something physical to something on paper. It’s a conundrum, particularly for historic works that are rarely seen and the choreographer is no longer around. How do we pass these works on? Dance is one of those ephemeral art forms. You see it, you experience it, and it’s done. The wonderful thing about Limón’s work is that he wasn’t interested in repeating things; he wanted it to be a lived experience.” In addition to performing, Foote will be offering a workshop on the Limón dance technique. Other performers include Tanio-Cree hoop dancer Beany John, South-Asian dancer Suma Nair, Kanien’kehà:ka dancer Barbara Diabo, and senior dance artist Claudia Moore. For more information and tickets to the performances, which run from today until Saturday, and a special closing performance on Sunday morning, please visit flightfestivalpec.org.