Waterfall Workshop

Waterfall is a global ritual, taking place on iconic staircases around the world. Twenty or more dancers cascade slowly together down a staircase. It is created in an intensive workshop in which dancers and other movers learn to move together as a body of water through a series of practices developed by ANIKAYA Artistic Director Wendy Jehlen that draw on elements of Butoh, Parkour, Contact Improvisation and Deep Listening.

There will be a 2-day workshop on Sunday, Oct 8 from 1-4 & Monday, Oct 9 from 12-2:45pm. Immediately following the workshop, we will go to the Exorcist steps in Georgetown to create the Waterfall.

Waterfall is an intersection between two of ANIKAYA's public dance series - Sacred Spaces and Mass Movement.

• Sacred Spaces is a series of public space interventions that unveil the sacred in the urban landscape.
• Mass Movement is a series of actions that call attention to urgent issues that require us to move together as a species to address. Mass Movement actions, like change, are impossible without many people moving together in solidarity. The practices that are taught in Mass Movement projects teach us to work together with care and to connect across what we imagine to be barriers.

In 2023 Waterfall will take place in Boston, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Sao Paulo, with future iterations planned in 2024 in New York City, India, Japan, Turkey and Benin. The workshop will be taught in ASL and English.

During the two-day workshop we will learn a ways of moving together, first on the floor and then on indoor stairs. Wendy will guide participants through a series of exercises to prepare the body, the mind, and the group to create this performance together. The process will teach us to move not as individuals but as one body of water. After the second workshop on Monday, we will proceed to Georgetown to the “Exorcist stairs” https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-exorcist-stairs-washington-dc where we will briefly experiment with what we have learned, and then we will perform the Waterfall. The Waterfall will be captured in photo and video.

DATES: October 8th - 9th, 2023

• Sunday, Oct 8th: 1:00pm - 4:00pm | Dance Exchange (workshop)
• Monday, Oct 9th:  12:00pm - 2:45pm | Dance Exchange (workshop)
• Monday, Oct 9th: 4:00pm | Georgetown - Exorcist steps (performance)

*** Don't miss it! Join us and buy your tickets now!