by Elise Goitia '18

Knox students and the Galesburg community came together to do a unique form of community engagement by performing the National Water Dance on the City of Galesburg's Lake Storey Beach.

The National Water Dance Project is a community arts engagement program first developed in 2011 as an opportunity for anyone to express movement as a vehicle for social change. The Knox College Dance Program was one of more than 115 dance schools and organizations from across the country participating in the 2018 National Water Dance event on April 14.

"Being able to dance and connect with other dancers across the U.S. is amazing," said senior Claire Cody. "It was a really great opportunity to celebrate how water is essential for life and should be honored, protected, and loved."

The goal of the project is to initiate a national "water ethic" that can inform and inspire participants and audience members to take responsibility for conserving and protecting water. Stretching from New York to Hawaii and from Alaska to Puerto Rico, dancers created simultaneous, site-specific dance performances.

"Especially with things going on in Flint, Michigan, this is important," added Cody. "It was really cool because I got to learn a lot about the pollution and privatization of water on my study abroad program, when we went to Cochabamba in Bolivia where the The Cochabamba Water War happened. This was an opportunity to embody that."

There were 18 people involved in the performance of the piece, ranging in age from nine to over 50. The Knox Dance Ensemble and community members rehearsed together prior to the event  and started the afternoon with games and other activities at Lake Storey before they performed the National Water Dance.

For Auty Rohweder '16 and her mother, Paige Carlson Rohweder '09, performing in the Water Dance was an opportunity to dance as both Knox alumni and Galesburg residents.

"That they reached out to the Galesburg community and said, ‘Come', that it's the whole country at the same time of the day on the same day, and we're doing this to bring awareness, I think is really cool," said Carlson Rohweder.

"That's one thing that's hard to do, breaking out of the Knox bubble, and it goes both ways," she added. "I think it's great that Knox and Galesburg take those opportunities. It's one big network, and getting to dance with my daughter is so cool. We worked hard to make sure she could have  opportunities to dance."

"I've always done the interesting dances at Knox," added Rohweder ‘16. "This kind of goes along with those, because this is not your typical dance space or piece on the beach."

Assistant Professor of Dance Kathleen Ridlon said that she saw the National Water Dance as a way to bring together the surrounding community through a unifying purpose.

"This National Water Dance day has been so great to bring community together, to bring Knox students and Galesburg community members, and to share a movement choir," she commented. "To all be doing the same move at the same time with the same ideas in mind is wonderful."