Vancouver
Folk Festival
The Dance Page
© 2004 Doug Plummer |
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Since
attending my first Vancouver Folk Festival in 1992, I've gravitated to the edges of the
stages, where the dancers go. This most innate human drive, to move our bodies to a beat,
here exhibits a wholly democratic form. Every age is up there. Every body type is moving
their hips. We dance solo, we dance with a partner, we dance in groove with the group as
one. I dance with my camera and connect with the energy of my collaborators. |
| The Vancouver Folk Festival is one of the most
amazing musical events in North America. There are some who haven't missed a festival
since its inception in 1977, and there's a tribal feeling among attendees (like my wife)
who have been coming every second weekend of July for decades. Perched on the shore of
English Bay, with the city skyline to the East, the mountains rising behind West Vancouver
to the North, and the sun setting over the ranges of Vancouver Island to the West, it's a
festival set in the most spectacular setting imaginable. |
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And the music! This is where I hear
music I never knew I couldn't live without. From new singer/songwriters (this was one of
Ani DeFranco's first gigs), to Irish music, Asian music, African music, Cape Breton rock
and roll, Cape Breton traditionalists, Klezmer, blues, First Nation singers, gospel
singers, political songwriters (the tone of the festival is earnestly left-wing granola),
Mongolian throat singers, Taiwanese aboriginal dancers--it's an amazing melange of
non-commercial, pre-pop world (make that small "w") music. |
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To the photos: |
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My Other Dance and Music Sections:
The Contra Dance
Page
The Northwest Folklife
Festival
Irish Set
Dancing
New
England Contras
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| Archives | |
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