The Junction Dance Festival To Open: 19 Workshops, 21 Choreographers, 5 Performances
It’s not just that the Upper Valley is home to such vibrant arts, it’s that the arts here continue to grow, change, multiply, succeed and then succeed again. A prime example? The Junction Dance Festival, about to commence its 2025 season. (July 12 to 20). President and Director Elizabeth Kurylo has been shepherding the festival from the beginning, and recently commented on its rapid evolution into a series of events that will span both states:
“This is our 4th annual Junction Dance Festival. What began as a modest three-day event has grown into a six-day celebration, featuring 19 free workshops across Lebanon, WRJ, and Barre, [Lebanon Ballet School, AVA Gallery, Dartmouth Health's Aging Resource Center in NH, and DANCE AND Movement Center, and Briggs Opera House], and showcasing the work of 21 choreographers in 5 distinctive performances. We are extremely grateful of the generosity of donors who made this journey possible.”
You are invited to “Unleash Your Inner Dancer,” or alternatively, to spectate. The possibilities are too many to list. You may want to take a moment to review the entire program here for listings, dates, and times.
Of special interest is the performance of "Thumbelina" by Avant Vermont Dance on the Green in Norwich VT on July 12th;
Guest artist: Meshi Chavez, Butoh artist. Butoh is a Japanese dance form that emerged in response to the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He will teach a Butoh workshop and perform on July 19th at Briggs Opera House, along with 8 other artists. https://www.middlebury.edu/college/people/meshi-chavez
Guest artist: Rachel Bernsen. Rachel will be performing July 14th along with the group "soft rocks", and teaching a Contemplative Dance Practice on July 15th at Briggs Opera House. https://www.rachelbernsen.com/home.html
And Guest Artist Michael Bodel will teach a workshop and perform on July 20th at Briggs Opera House along with ChoreoLab residents Sonia Plumb, Elias Francis, Chloe Shafer and Angelina Labate. Michael is this year’s Vermont Dance Alliance artist in residence. When Michael last appeared in Artful, it was in a story about his performance and choreography of “Forecasts and Findings,” a piece where he danced with, among other things, one hundred pounds of grain. This performance for TJDF involves something lighter—cardboard. https://www.vermontdance.org/institute-for-folding.
“If in life you stumble, make it part of the dance.” —River Maria Urke
TJDF is in part supported by the Vermont Arts Council, Vermont Community Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Photo just above, “the institute for folding” by Michael Bodel with Hanna Satterlee and Caitlin Morgan. Vermont Dance Alliance resident artist project in development.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.