Thanks to generous sponsorship by the American Ice Theatre (AIT), Kate organized the first annual American Contemporary Skating Festival in Boston earlier this month. This unprecedented weekend event of learning, networking, and community-building was made possible through support from AIT founder Jodi Porter and co-director of AIT-Boston, John Mucko.
Attended by nearly 50 professional skaters, coaches, and choreographers from around the world, the two-day festival was devoted to exploring the art of skating both on- and off the ice through a lens of artistry, dance, and improvisation, rather than technical rules and traditional elements. The Festival’s motto, “Create, compose, communicate, collaborate, and connect” sums up its ethos.
The first day consisted of informal seminars where attendees could volunteer to present their philosophies on body movement and artistic skating and those interested in further exploration of a topic could share insights and facilitate conversations around it. The second day of the American Contemporary Skating Festival featured a showcase of several different choreographers’ pieces, displaying works-in-progress and exploring through performance the new insights gained from Day One’s learnings.
Kate was honored to be able to bring this inaugural Festival to life, providing an opportunity for the global artistic skating community to come together and share ideas, learn from each other, and improvise together in new ways. For more on #acsfest2017, see this blog post from a German attendee, and this blog’s links to watch video clips from the weekend. And save the date for an expanded American Contemporary Skating Festival next year: June 8-10, 2018.
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