‘Collective effervescence’ at the beach
The art of gathering has been lost over time with hyper-individualism, says Nelson dancer, choreographer, and mass movement director Chloe Loftus.
It’s evidenced, she said, in the loneliness epidemic.
For Loftus, the antidote is congregation — coming together — which forms the theme of a mass movement project she has planned for Tāhunanui Beach as part of this year’s Nelson Arts Festival.
To put together The Gathering Tide, she’ll be corralling anyone who wants to take part over the age of 16 through a series of community workshops, which will feed into a free sunset performance at the beach on October 26.
No dance experience is required.
“The joy with creating mass movement projects is that simplicity is actually what is most effective and beautiful,” Loftus said.
The event also sought to “activate” the beach and to connect locals to their sense of place and belonging.
Italian-born and New Zealand-raised, Loftus returned to Aotearoa in 2016 after nearly 20 years in the UK, where she established her career as a choreographer specialising in outdoor, site-specific and large-scale community work.
That included choreographing for mega-events such as Cardiff’s City of the Unexpected, an interactive arts festival held in 2016 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s birth, which attracted a colossal audience of 350,000 people over one weekend.
Now based in Nelson, Loftus is still often on the road, and toured her inclusive aerial work, The Air Between Us, to 31 festivals across 13 countries.
From her experience of putting together mass movement eventsthose participating reached a state of “collective effervescence” as people moved together, creating a sense of “belonging, connection and euphoria”.
Since returning to our shores, she’s been delighted to see that more arts festival directors saw the value of free of charge offerings.
“It’s such a time of isolation and particularly of overwhelm, with what’s happening in the world politically and environmentally,” she said.
“I feel more and more there’s a real sense of importance of creating these events that allow us to gather in person and to inspire that sense of connection, and through that, a sense of hope.”
After the performance, both audience and performers are invited to take a collective dip, while local musician and DJ Alvaro Saura Moreno will accompany the crowd to dance under the night sky.
The Gathering Tide will take place on Tāhunanui Beach, Monday October 26 at 7pm. In the event of rain it will be postponed to October 31. Anyone wanting to take part can sign up via the event’s listing on the Nelson Arts Festival website.
This Post Has 0 Comments