Event Details
Dates
12/11/2021 – 03/12/2021
Time
11:00 -12:00 on 19th Nov, 26th Nov, 3rd Dec
Location
Online
Ticketing
Free
Event Type
Residency,
Additional Info
Register via Zoom
‘Dance Dates with the Trees’ hosted by Galway Arts Centre’s Dancer in Residence Bernadette Divilly – From Friday 12th November
Dance Dates with the Trees orientation session to be followed by four 9 minute dance dates every Friday (19th Nov, 26th Nov, 3rd Dec). These will be supported by podcasts which will made available.
Orientation session for Dance Dates with the Trees
Friday 12th November 11am -12pm
Register via Zoom HERE
A growing body of research shows that regularly spending time around trees provides a wide range of human health benefits, from lowering stress to improving cognition to boosting longevity, according to experts.
In a September 8, 2021, interview on WBUR’s Radio Boston, Peter James, assistant professor in Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health, said that trees’ effects on us “translate into long-term changes in the incidence of depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer.” (Harvard Source). ‘Dance Dates With the Trees’ harnesses and resonates with this thinking.
Description of Dates Dates
At the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Bernadette set up a series of research dates with different people to investigate dancing mindfully through the pandemic. Bernadette had the idea to do this using radio, phone, WhatsApp, and podcasts. Dance Dates included working one-to-one and with small groups for dates as brief as 9 minutes or as long as 30 minutes. Each Dance Date has three parts: meditation, movement, and creativity in relationship. They are designed to support regulation of stress and ease in the face of dancing without direct contact.
There are four waves of Dance Dates, corresponding to the four waves of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021. They influence and inform each other. They began with the Ballinasloe Library group in November 2020, for the 50-plus age group, held online. This was followed in March 2021 by International Contemplative Dance Community for all ages, also held online. In June 2021 we organised our third Dance Dates with Galway Arts Centre, for all ages and held online. The final one will be held in November 2021, organised by Be Dance Art Lab Ireland in partnership with Galway Libraries, Galway Arts Centre, and Galway Dance Project.
Register via Zoom HERE
Bernadette Divilly Website
