Comments from our Community of Participants
From the Artists:
“At BDF my dancers and I felt like part of an incredible group of artists. From the inspiring performances and late night chats on the porch to the daily encounters with inspirational colleagues from around the world, my experience at the Bates Dance Festival was one of the most nourishing points in my trajectory as a choreographer.” Adele Myers
"I thank you deeply for allowing me to experience my voice amongst my most esteemed colleagues. Bates is such a testing ground for the field. I always grow enormously there. My visits have served as large landmarks in my evolution as an artist, a mother, and a thinker in the field. I remain thankful that there is a place for such things. Victoria Marks
“Thank you for your support of me, of contemporary dance and of my family. I've grown here. I'm grateful for being a part of this community and for your vision in bringing the people you do.” Chris Aiken
“What a gift that time at Bates was for me, getting to know some great artists who work right in the same city yet who I may never have run across otherwise. Thank you for the encouragement, discernment and all around fabulous strong-womaness. Seriously, female artists in the field, like myself, need role models like you to make it all seem worth it.” Kate Weare
“Bates has been my artistic home, my incubation space and support as I bring ideas to paper and then to life. It is an unequaled, rare space to explore, refine and question, which is almost everything you crave as an artist. I always look forward to performing and teaching and living with some of the most vibrant voices in contemporary dance.” Tania Isaac
"The environment at Bates has always inspired me to push my dancing, to search for my voice, and to keep up with a daily, rigorous practice. Pivotal landmarks in my life coincide with my experiences there over the last fourteen years." Paul Matteson
"Bates has been the most important place in my artistic and personal life in America." Marianela Boan
From our Students:
“I came away from the festival feeling like I have a new base of support from the larger dance community. Dancing at Bates influenced the way think about movement, how I perform and how I will teach.”
“The festival was a remarkable experience that contributed to deepening my technical abilities and fostering my voice as an artist and teacher. “
“Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. Not only have I come alive again as a dancer and performer, but my life has been forever impacted as a dance teacher.”
“I have been repeatedly impressed with the organization and values of this program. It is really such a celebration of dance as an art form, and of music in the world of dance.”
“Bates is where I take the most risks, yet feel the safest. I came into myself as a dancer and as a person here.”
“There is a calm and powerful presence of the creative spirit here. It brought me home to my body and opened doorways to exploring dimensions of movement inside the moment. I came here silent and left singing a quiet song of freedom.”
“The Festival offers all the best parts of structured learning—hands-on and physical experience paired with engaging conversations, intellectual discovery, and a rich community.”
“Thank you for creating a space for dance that is human. Each time I have come to Bates I have been changed in a deep way. It has become my growing place.”
From Parents and Community Participants:
"Through the Youth Arts Program my girls have experienced the exhilaration of watching a glimmer of an idea become a beautiful and expressive piece of moving art. "
“Thank you for your commitment, experience and love for our children. What a gift you are giving to this community.”
"Before the girls came to YAP they thought of dance as cheerleading and music as limited to Disney spinouts. Now they come home choreographing their own pieces, making up songs and creating musical instruments out of things around the house. YAP is awesome!"
“My daughter attended Youth Arts last summer and loved it. It boosted her confidence and gave her a great way to artistically express herself that she continues to enjoy.”
“Our Maine dance community benefits tremendously from the classes, projects, performances and scholarships reserved especially for in-state dancers. “
“Through your creative projects you have built lasting bridges between very diverse segments of our community. Seniors, youth at risk, business professionals, refugees and athletes have developed a deep respect for and appreciation of their fellow citizens. “
“Bates is a nourishing and enriching environment. Here my children have experienced the freedom of creativity, the productivity of collaboration, the open exchange of cultures. In some small way, the Festival is helping to heal the world…”
From Audience Members and Donors:
"WHAT an event! I was transported to another world. Other worlds. It made me so hopeful for the redemptive and salutary role of art in our lives. You felt you were witness to something of great meaning and beauty, something transcendent and timeless, "other-worldly" yet borne out of our long-time cultural repository. I nearly wept when those lanterns went up."
“We look forward to the Musician’s Concert every season. It is an important part of the festival that showcases these amazing talents.”
“My wife and I have been members/attendees for years. Last night we attended the opening with Kate Weare Company. We loved it, and really enjoyed the Q&A at the end, since neither of us are artists, getting a bit of a window into the creative spirit and process is special.”
“I have seen dancers from Vietnam and Cuba, Portugal and India, San Francisco and New York and many other places at the Bates Dance Festival. What riches for the eyes and soul.”
“Every year I think that the Bates Dance Festival can’t possibly match the amazing performances of the year before, and every year it does.”
“The Bates Dance Festival is a central part of our summers – world-class dance and fabulous music.”
“The Inside Dance lecture series--as a non-dancer but avid audience member-- is one of the best parts of the Dance Festival.”
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