Outdoor Nanaimo dance project explores our connection to water

A dance project in Nanaimo dives into the waywater has shapedthe Vancouver Island communityand invites people to explore its everyday importance.

Body of Water: a stream of creative exchange, is Crimson Coast Dance Society's upcoming performance thatinterprets nature through contemporary movement to encourage water stewardship.

"Mainly, the project is about creating that connection with the water, the land, the people of the community, and an artistic creative process," local dance artist Genevieve Johnson told North by Northwest host Sheryl MacKay

Fosters appreciation

The collaboration is part of a larger project by Calgary-based artist, Nicole Mion, who has travelled to different places across the country to develop site-specific dance performances with local artists.

For this piece,Mion works with activist and artist Danielea Castell, founder of the Water Gratitude Project, with the goal of inspiring appreciation for the water that surrounds and feeds the region.

From May 15 to May 19, the artists will hold a series of workshops with community membersto shape the dance piece, and on May 20, the public can come out to see what they've developed in a free outdoor performance.

Johnson reflects on her own relationship with water as a Nanaimo resident,and what she hopes the workshops and final performance will bring to the community.

Dancing with nature

"Being able to dance in the environment outside and having those elements influence the quality of movement, that is really connected to what I do.

"It can be the rhythm or the vibration or the quality of the light on the water that you can translate in movement.

"We here in Nanaimo are happy to actually create that connection, but it's really important for everybody to try to connect and see our impact on the water has an impact on us," Johnson said.

With the backdrop of Bowenand Neck Point parks, the dancers will illustrate their surroundings as the audience follows in what Johnson describes as a walking tour performance.

She encourages audience members to interact with the performers and even dance along as they walk through the piece.

"They're walking with us, there's no seated area and it's not like a really defined wall between audience and performer," she said.

"It's nice once ina while to reconnect with it and make sure we remember water is life."

To hear the full interview listen to audio below: