Crimson Coast Dance Society’s Body Talk program is about more than studying dance movements.
It’s about transformation, awareness of life choices, freedom, empathy, openness and bringing these elements and others into one’s life both on and off the dance floor, said Jamie Black, facilitator of the program and instructor Dianna David.
“It’s so magical it made me cry last night,” said Black, during a rehearsal for the program.
The participants perform during Mirror Image: Body Talk Spring Break Performance Sunday (March 20) at 7:30 p.m. at the Port Theatre.
For the first five months of the program, David worked with the youths through Skype and focused on helping the participants, dubbed the Body Talk Cru, gain insight into what it was to be a creative person and connecting to personal experiences.
“The group wanted to focus on real issues we as people face. The mirror image gives us the opportunity to look at and reflect on ourselves and personally create that empathy and compassion,” said David. “Life is a performance process … we are always performing, presenting ourselves.”
David formally worked as a mechanical engineer but felt something was missing and decided to quit her job. She built her own company and now works as a performing artist, inspirational speaker, storyteller and artistic career coach.
She said there were four main points she talked about with the participants around personal awareness: I am a creator, I am a work of art, I am original and I am the choices I make.
“We’ve been pushing the boundaries with this program,” she said.
One of the original aims of the program, created by the society’s artistic director Holly Bright, was to guide participants over a number of years so eventually they could step into a leadership position within the program and create the dances for the performance at the Port Theatre.
This year, there was an entire new group of participants. David said it was challenging to start from scratch to get the crew members to the facilitator level but they stepped up to and met the challenge.
“I feel so proud of them,” said David.
The Mirror Image: Body Talk Spring Break Performance is presented by Crimson Coast Dance Society and the Port Theatre Society.
Tickets for Mirror Image, the finale performance by Body Talk Cru members, are $22. They are available by calling 250-754-8550 or online at www.porttheatre.com.
For more information about the Body Talk program please go to www.crimsoncoast.org.
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