Dance Festival Northwest Brings Diverse Dance Forms to Lewis County

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Dance companies from all over the Pacific Northwest will come together to perform a variety of dance forms as Lewis County’s Southwest Washington Dance Center hosts the 27th annual Dance Festival Northwest. 

Choreographer and festival director Danielle Brosco has directed the festival for 18 years and she thinks this year’s lineup is one of the best they have had at the festival.

The dance center has been in Lewis County for 36 years, performing for many audiences and festivals, including The Nutcracker Ballet, the Miss Lewis County Pageant and Seattle’s Dancepalooza.

At the festival, the dance center will be providing three pieces including a video production of the dancers in different locations directed by Brianna Jones. One of the performances will be a Rhythm and Breath piece, a style Brosco developed 20 years ago. Rhythm and Breath is a dance style without music, where the music is instead created by the dancers. Brosco hasn’t brought this style to the festival in many years because it takes so much time to develop.

“It’s astonishingly hard to do, so it takes a lot of practice,” Brosco said. “They’re creating the music and dancing to the music.”

During a rehearsal, when Brosco asked the class how they felt about Rhythm and Breath, one dancer shouted “it’s hard,” while another dancer shouted, “it’s unifying.”

The festival will also host master teachers from different areas of the Pacific Northwest who will teach the master classes that the festival dancers attend. Barbara Lima is one of the master teachers that Brosco is excited to have at the festival.

“I try to discover somebody and give them an opportunity to work with all these different companies,” Brosco said. “I’m giving (Lima) a place to express and work because I think she’s really great.”



The Dance Center has been rehearsing not only for Dance Festival Northwest, but multiple upcoming festivals where they will perform, said Marcia Greenfield, administrative director of the dance center. Greenfield has been with the dance center for more than 20 years. This year was the first full year the dance center has been in their new building after renting a space for 35 years. Greenfield is excited to share their new space.

“I really enjoy watching the kids. I’ve been here long enough to see some of them grow up,” Greenfield said. “They were very young and now they’re getting to the point where they can be in with the performing company.”

The festival will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 at the Corbet Theatre on the campus of Centralia College. Tickets are available online, at Book ‘n’ Brush in Chehalis, the Southwest Washington Dance Center or at the door of the event. For more information about the festival, visit the Southwest Washington Dance Center website, www.swwdance.org.

Dance Festival Northwest 2019

Hosted by Southwest Washington Dance Center

7 p.m. on Saturday, March 23

Corbet Theatre, Centralia College

http://www.swwdance.org/new-page-1