KOHALA COAST — This Saturday, people will gather at more than 100 sites around the world to take part in Global Water Dances, a multi-continent celebration of the importance of water.
Prince Dance Theatre, based in Waimea, will lead the dances and represent Hawaii in this movement at the local event beginning at 9 a.m. at Hapuna Beach.
Global Water Dances grew out of a conference of dancers and environmentalists who met to come up with ways that dance could mobilize people to protect the planet.
“When people dance together, they connect in powerful ways and they generate a sense of agency in themselves and others,” Vannia Ibarguen said, artistic director of Global Water Dances.
Global Water Dances began in 2011, and has taken place every two years since then. The event has brought performers and audiences together in more than 250 cities, unified around a call to action to honor and protect water. Choreographers at each site create a dance for that site, whether it be a river, lake, beach, park, or pool. All performances are free of charge, and family friendly.
“We are very excited about our plans for Hapuna Beach,” said Angel Prince, founder of Prince Dance Institute. “We welcome this opportunity to use movement to remind us of the power of water as it moves through our lives in so many different ways. In North Hawaii we’re especially concerned about clean water.”
Global Water Dances is a project of the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City.
“We know that Global Water Dances changes peoples’ attitudes about water,” said Ibarguen. “In 2013, we gathered survey responses from almost 1,000 people from four continents who attended their local performance. Seventy-five percent of the respondents reported that the performance increased their interest in water issues and 78 percent said that the dance event inspired them to take action regarding water issues.”
Anyone who wishes to perform in this dance should email info@princedance.org or call 217-3008, and be willing to attend several rehearsals prior to Saturday.