The hills are alive with movement! Modern Dance at the Plein Air Festival

Sage Tanguay 0:00
The hills are alive with movement. Last week I had the opportunity to speak with fellow UVA dance alumna and Bath County resident Cornelia Hodges about an upcoming performance which is part of the Bath County Plein Air Festival.

Cornelia Hodges 0:15
The event is called Modern Dance and Plein Air and BBQ. It is an outdoor modern dance performance with live music taking place Friday, October 4 at 6pm at the lodge at Warm Springs Farm.The piece is titled “Unbroken” and it’s inspired by Appalachian culture, expressing the resilience of people in the land that has persevered through many hardships. Its overall about 25 minutes long. Carli Mareneck is from Lewisburg, West Virginia. She choreographed the piece alongside with dancers, including myself.

Sage Tanguay 0:42
The choreography is heavily influenced by agricultural themes and the concept of loss. While the choreography is set to recordings by Chance McCoy, Gillian Welch and the Peasall sisters.

Cornelia Hodges 0:53
There’s also going to be three musicians playing live music, there’s a banjo, guitar, and fiddle player, and then they will keep playing throughout the evening in case people feel moved afterward.

Sage Tanguay 1:02
Is this the first time you’ve performed the piece?

Cornelia Hodges 1:05
We brought the piece to two arts related events, both in Lewisburg and Charleston, West Virginia. And then we have an upcoming performance at a festival in Sedalia, Virginia, which is September 28. So this will be kind of our fourth time bringing the piece. First time in Bath County though.

Sage Tanguay 1:23
Excellent. And what do you hope to accomplish by bringing the piece here to Bath County,

Cornelia Hodges 1:28

There’s not a lot of modern dance or dance in general and this community, so exposure to folks. We have obviously a strong presence of painting arts and musical a rts. So we saw it as a great opportunity to bring together different art forms. The dance performance is made possible with the support of the Bath County Arts Association. The BCAA puts on the art show every year but what many people may not realize is that they also have funding available for independent artists like you and me. Basically, you apply for funding either as an independent artist or as an organization for maybe continued education or performances like this one. So the Bath County Arts Association, I would like to thank them. They are an incredible asset to this community. And if anyone is interested to find out more about them, or how to support the organization, visit their website www.bathcountyarts.org Tickets are $40 and they’re available through Eventbrite www.bathcountypleinairfestival.org and click on “buy tickets”. It’s possible they will sell out so if you’re interested in attending, I encourage you to buy in advance. There’ll be a bar with beer and wine and other refreshments and then following barbecue dinner catered by Ginseng Mountain Farm.

Sage Tanguay 2:41
For more information about the dance you can contact Cornelia by email at:

Cornelia Hodges 2:45
corneliagranberry@gmail.com

Sage Tanguay 2:49
for Allegheny Mountain Radio. This is Sage Tanguay.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai