A group of water advocates and dance lovers are coming together to perform a choreographed piece in Brome Lake as a part of the Global Water Dances 2023 with the objective of raising awareness for clean water for all. 

The Global Water Dances is an international 24-hour movement to inspire collective action and collaboration on water issues. The Global Water Dances organization was initiated by an international network of dancers and non-verbal communication experts certified by the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) whom support and connect a community of dancers and choreographers from across the globe. 

The group of dancers, from the likes of Sutton, Abercorn, West Brome, and Brome Lake, are led by experienced choreographer Joanne Birtz, who holds a Masters in Dance and Choreography. On June 10, the group will come together to perform their water dance with the hopes of inspiring others to do their part in addressing water issues in their communities. During a time where the world is facing water shortages and challenges with unequal access to clean water, Birtz emphasized that it's time to take concrete action.

“When I renewed my LIMS membership, (…) I re-noticed this movement on the site and I thought ‘okay, I’m in a position where I can do this this coming year.’ In March, I went back, I signed up as a site leader and I started thinking about what to do, whether it’s a solo or I get a group together,” explained Birtz. “(…) After thinking through that, I decided to do it in a group and to do it here. Global Water Dances, their point, is to bring forth the importance of water on the planet. As a site leader, (…) you have to work with other groups, environmental groups, do some workshops with some of the dancers or schools, and basically bring forth that side as well - where water is at, what were need to do, and the importance of it to all.”

The Global Water Dances organization provides that “interconnection” around the globe, which plays a significant role in raising awareness, said Birtz. 

“There’s been five site leader workshops and what’s important to them is the connection of those site leaders together. What is shared isn’t just how to do it, what to do, but what’s happening in your community with water, what’s happening over there for water,” she mentioned. “[When they did their last water dance,] (...) there was 187 sites and there was at least one on every continent. (...) That community of water, which is our earth, is starting to build a little bit through them.”

Birtz noted that it’s “obvious” that the world is experiencing issues, including at the local level. 

“Trees are important, but trees can’t be there without water. Nothing can live on this planet without water. I’m also a diver and it’s been obvious in the last years when you dive, in the same place that you used to dive, that there’s way less fish. You see garbage in places that you shouldn’t see the garbage, we know there is the big garbage areas, but it’s all over,” she explained. “It’s really obvious that water is an issue. Even locally some people have run out, the aquifer in Sutton is low.”

According a press release published by UNESCO in March, the 2023 UN World Water Development Report warns that we are heading towards a global water crisis. On a global scale, 2 billion people currently do not have access to safe drinking water. Between 2 billion and 3 billion people will experience water shortages at least one month out of the year and the global urban population facing water shortages is expected to double from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7-2.4 billion by 2050. The report suggest that the situation will only worse if there is no International cooperation to address water issues. 

Recognizing that people hold the perception that Canada has an abundance of water that will never run out, Birtz emphasized that “it’s not the case, hence Global Water Dances.”

“We need to protect it. It’s raining plastic in Aukland, up to 8 million bottles of plastic a year. So yeah, I think it’s time that we all really focus on that because without that the rest of the focus doesn’t really work,” emphasized Birtz. 

With an extensive career in dance and choreography, Birtz taught at a university, she ran her own dance company, and produced and directed dance shows. Birtz decided to use her expertise to contribute to the cause. She approached different people, including non dancers who lived around the Brome-Missisquoi area to see if they wanted to participate in the water dance and the initiative took off from there. 

“I obviously had to think about where I’m going to do this. One of the requirements is that it has to be by water and water has to be visible. (…) The pond across the street from where I live, the berm is exactly on the opposite side of the house and kind of a grassy area is, and the berm is about 6 feet wide and flat all the way around the back,” Birtz highlighted. “It came to me that it would be really fun because all of the films I saw everybody is in front of the water, which is normally where you’d always end up. But if we did it there, the dancers are on the other side of the water from where people are watching. There’s something really fun about that because the water is very visible throughout. The other thing about that is that they reflect in the pond as they’re dancing.”

From the setting, Birtz worked with the participants to “expand their movement vocabulary, reach out to things they never do” and their “general movement and body awareness.”

“I would lead them through them coming up with different movements that speak to them given the piece, the situation, and water, then asking them to write a haiku, and from that haiku continuing that process and coming up with a 30 [second] to one-minute section of dance,” she explained. “(…) And then I guided them in getting that all put together into one big piece.”

Each water dance is filmed and sent off to the Global Water Dances organization to put together a montage that serves as the awareness campaign. 

Those interested in attending the water dance in Brome Lake can send an email to Denise Beamish at dbcountryhome@gmail.com for details on time and location.

To learn more about the water issues that concern Brome Lake, listen to an interview that CIDI conducted with Conservation Lac-Brome here.

Listen to the full interview below with Birtz below: