KENT COUNTY, Michigan — Saturday, April 29 is International Dance Day, a day when people everywhere will move to the beat of music. In celebration of the holiday, some local women have teamed up to offer a once in a lifetime event.
“We are celebrating being awesome humans by flowing into some dances with a five person drum ensemble and a little bit of EFT tapping,” Taylor Bonga said. “That is a mind body healing tool that we can use to reduce stress, to improve our mood, to overcome concerns in our lives and uncomfortable feelings.”
Bonga, who lives in Lowell, has teamed up with Whitney Pyles, a movement facilitator who lives in Grand Rapids. Both women work in the world of wellness, and together they’ve created a unique event to celebrate all things movement.
“I saw there was International Dance Day on the calendar, so I contacted Whitney and I said ‘we should do a celebration of self on this day, and make it really playful, and allow adults to come together and really celebrate who they are, and drop into their bodies so they can feel safe and comfortable in them,” Bonga said. “There will be somatic movement, where it’s like free flow dancing, where you get to really drop into your body and move as freely as you want.”
As the planning got underway, they decided to collaborate with Dede Alder, a musician who lives in Saugatuck.
“I have an all-female percussion ensemble that has been working for the last six months on creating live musical accompaniment for a dance experience called ecstatic dance, and we just happen to line up where we we’re able to perform throughout Michigan including on International Dance Day,” Alder said. “The ecstatic dancing experience includes a warmup. You kind of build into some more energetic music, and then there's a release part, which the rhythm title is chaos, but it's sort of like a more shaking. You kind of just let loose, whatever is pent up. And then there's kind of a cool down process.”
The event, which is open to everyone at least 18 years old, is happening Saturday, April 29 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at Kids’ Food Basket in Grand Rapids. Some elements of the event will be held inside, while others will take place outside.
“Kids’ Food Basket is a wonderful organization that has a beautiful outdoor space,” Bonga said. “They provide security and stability for kids to nourish their bodies, and we thought it would be a beautiful place to come and celebrate life.”
She said the event is designed to make everyone comfortable, even people who don’t typically enjoy dancing.
“The random person who doesn't even like to dance should definitely come out and see for themselves how free they can feel when they are lightly guided and supported through new movements that are maybe new to them but will definitely open up their energy and their bodies to feeling good,” Bonga said.
Alder’s percussion ensemble, known as Sisters of the Drum, brings together musicians from different parts of the state. They recently left their respective homes to bring the joy of music to others.
“We're actually doing six days of tours, so we're actually going to be bringing that throughout the state of Michigan, and so this is one of our steps on our Ecstatic Dance Tour,” Alder said. “So my students, we focused on endurance, improvisation, interacting with live dancers, and so we're just very excited to bring that to life.”
For more information, or to register for the event, click here.
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