THE PEOPLE DANCED
At MAGMA - Movement Arts Gloucester Massachusetts
11 Pleasant St., Suite 64
March 1, 2024 7 - 8 PM
This event is FREE to the public
“The People Danced” project looks into the living memory of the history of social dance in Gloucester, as part of Gloucester 400+. It is a collaboration between Project Director Sarah Slifer Swift, the Gloucester Cultural Initiative(GCI), and filmmaker Casey Buckles. Come see the debut of two original films that are reflections of live events that took place in October 2022 and July 2023, plus the launch of “The People Danced” website, with an interactive opportunity for people to share memories of social dance on Cape Ann.
Project is funded in part by: Bruce J. Anderson Foundation, Finlandia Foundation National, Cape Ann Finns and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
To Support Community Engagement project like this,
The People Danced was planned as a community-based living history project to celebrate, document, and participate in the social dances of the various immigrant groups that have enriched Gloucester with a diversity of cultures and traditions, each with its own dances. The project was expressed through documentary films and participatory dance events throughout 2023, the year of the Gloucester 400th celebration.
As a leading event, the Gloucester Cultural Initiative sponsored a festival of Finnish-American dances on October 22, 2022, in partnership with MAGMA, Cape Ann Finns, Gloucester400+, and the national Finlandia Foundation.
Choreographer Sarah Slifer Swift, with the dance company Movement Arts Gloucester Massachusetts (MAGMA), envisions dance as a living art that transmits values, culture, and connectedness amongst communities. In this project, dance is the lens through which we understand something bigger about our humanity, our creativity, and vitality. Social dances have played an integral role in the cultural landscape of America. Our goal with this project was to celebrate and bring focus upon the diverse immigrant population of Gloucester through their traditional dances.
