Sarasota dance company performing in world event to promote environmental protection

SARASOTA, Fla. - Two Bay Area organizations are coming together for an artistic performance highlighting the importance of the environment. 

Dancers at Sarasota Contemporary Dance are rehearsing their performance for the 2022 National Water Dance event on Hermitage Beach. 

"It's a semi-annual event that encourages us to think about our water resources, how precious they are, how we can serve them," said James Monahan, the Hermitage Artists Retreat programs manager.

The goal is to encourage environmental protection through dance. Their performance is titled "Dancing Out of Time."

"For us, this dance is really the gratitude for the water that we have and the access and how privileged we are," explained Leymis Bolaños Wilmott, the artistic director and co-founder of Sarasota Contemporary Dance. 

The professional dance company's show will be live-streamed simultaneously with performances from groups across the country and all around the world.

"There's people from Mexico, people from Hawaii also performing at the same time," Wilmott explained. 

The performances will be streamed at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 23.

Bay Area dancers taking part in the performances say they are looking forward to being on a world stage, from their own backyard – which happens to be a beach. 

"For us, participating in this is not only helping us to reconnect with nature and remind us of the importance of preservation but also inspiring the audience as well," said dancer Eugenia Titterington. 

For the Hermitage Artist Retreat, it fulfills their mission of having artists stay and practice their art on the beachfront campus. 

"We offer these free events to the community so they can come and experience a sneak peek into the artistic process," said Monahan. "And when we have such great resources like Sarasota Contemporary Dance here, we do everything we can to marry those two things together."  

To sign up and go to the performance, or for information about streaming, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.