“When we saw the eagerness in the community, we decided we really had to do this.” Xochipilli Mexican Ballet, pictured at 2018 Dance for World Community. Michael Basu photograph
It was a cruel irony that Dance for World Community had to be cancelled in 2020.
If there ever were a time the world needed to come together, to celebrate what might be possible, it was 2020.
Cancelled last year, and postponed from its usual June date this year, the 12th version of the Dance for World Community Festival will fill Harvard Square again on Saturday, Sept. 25, starting at noon. More than 70 dance troupes, in all forms, will showcase their styles on four outdoor stages along Mass. Ave. near the Sanctuary Theatre, home of the José Mateo Ballet Theatre.
In addition, dozens of social service organizations will participate, furthering José Mateo’s vision of a diverse community coming together through movement.
“After last year’s cancellations, and this year’s postponement, we knew not to start planning too early,” Mateo says. “It was constantly changing. But when we saw the eagerness in the community, we decided we really had to do this.”
The enthusiasm of dance troupes and service organizations is contagious, and symbolic of the DWC’s mission.
“It’s not a lot of large organizations,” Mateo says, “but a lot of dance. We’ve built a network over the years.”
Participating troupes include Urbanity Dance, Neena Gulati’s Triveni Ensemble, Laura Sànchez’s LS Flamenco, and hip-hop, salsa and modern companies. The Homeless Empowerment Project, the Cambridge Peace Commission, the Cambridge Community Foundation and other organizations will be there as well. It’s all free, and culminates in a parking lot dance party in the early evening.
“We’ve eliminated the indoor venue, so all of our stages are outside,” Mateo says. “We’ve tried to boost the amount of food and crafts tables, and the advocacy tables.
“We’re calling this festival ‘Re-Emergence,’ meaning that we’re understanding things better,” he says. “In the beginning there was a lot of fear, and now we know that things that are not going to return so quickly. We are more clear about what to avoid.”
It’s been a long journey for DWC, even before the pandemic disrupted everything. Yoking the dance world with social activism has always been a passion of Mateo’s, but the greater Boston community needed convincing.
“When we started, people were scratching their heads, especially dance groups,” he says. “They always practiced their art apart from the world, on the private stage. It’s wonderful that art can be escapist, but none of us is exempt from major social issues. And dance brings people together.”
Inclusion is the norm at the festival, and last year’s protests, civil action and climate upheavals underlined longtime DWC concerns.
“We’ve been talking about the impact of climate change and climate injustice for decades,” Mateo says. “Now everyone is beginning to say, ‘I’m impacted by that too.’
“We’re trying to use the arts as a counterbalance—we can celebrate the positive, and acknowledge the world we live in, in a context that is not in denial.
“Dance has a broad range of expression,” he says. “Certainly it is more often joyous. But we can have a joyous expression through movement, and still recognize that our world faces urgent issues.
“People are learning that these are personal concerns, but they are related to the work that they do as well.”
The 12th annual Dance for World Community takes place on Saturday, Sept. 25, from noon–6:00 p.m. on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge, between Bow St. and Putnam Ave. DWC is free. Visit danceforworldcommunity.org or call 617 945-1944.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.