Ausdance VIC attended BOLD22 (2-6 March 2022), a spectacular five-day event celebrating intercultural, inclusive and intergenerational dance. As a leader in Creative Ageing, we were keen to connect and share ideas with colleagues.
Once again Liz Lea, Director and Curator of this extraordinary festival, presented attendees with rich food for thought by placing the art of being BOLD front and centre. How bold do you need to be to pursue a career in dance, especially when all things are not equal? What are the burning issues and how are they being addressed by companies, creators and organisations? Who is forging new practices, how are they doing it?
The BOLD Festival is an international presentation of intercultural, inclusive and intergenerational dance programming. It draws on the legacies of cultural elders, celebrating the empowerment of aging. It provides a platform for older artists, to celebrate their longevity and nurtures intergenerational exchange seeding new works from emerging artists and their cultural legacies.
This year, BOLD22 was a hybrid event, running both in person and partially online, with BOLD ON DEMAND running after the festival, granting access for 22 days after the live event, allowing national and international access and participation.
The opening event at the National Film and Sound Archive featured several rich and uncompromising dance films, showing dance as a vehicle for protest Our Bodies Back and reflection, We Are Becoming Invisible. The last film, a documentary, Dance with a Bullet, showed the extraordinary courage and determination of dancer and choreographer, Anmar Taha, who spent many years living and creating work in a war zone. This completed an evening that began with a film The God Tree, starring the intrepid 107-year-old dancer, Eileen Kramer, a woman who continues to dream big and make art.
The BOLD Festival 2022 brought professional and community dance artists together for workshops, performances, talks, forums and film showings. Dr. Katrina Rank, Director of Education and Lifelong Learning, presented a live a dance workshop for mature dancers and took the opportunity to connect with others through their evolving practices and open discussions. The conference itself presented a vast array of presentations with keynote speakers including Michelle Potter, Gary Lang and Eileen Kramer.
While the advantages of being at BOLD22 clearly included time and space to fully immerse oneself in each element on offer, it also allowed the opportunity to discuss ideas immediately after an experience. There was also great value in having access to international and national artists and leaders via the streaming and recorded sessions. If you’re looking for something to stimulate your practice or opportunities for self-directed professional learning, we encourage you to engage with The BOLD Festival.