Global Water Dances
Videography by Michèle Cramont
Connect to the environment through your body.
Support communities in need.
Join the fight for safe water.
Core Dance aims to bring voice to our communities through purposeful connection and action-oriented initiatives. Our work is deeply embedded in the issues that we all face, both nationally and globally.
We choose to act as environmental advocates by holding ourselves accountable for our actions and the effects of those actions on the planet. For us this means sharing important, relevant information with our community in ways that are accessible, taking an active role on the frontlines of the environmental crisis, and encouraging others to take action.
Photo by Simon Gentry
Global Water Dances (GWD) connects and supports a global community of choreographers and dancers to inspire action and international collaboration for water issues through the universal language of dance. Global Water Dances is a bold visionary worldwide artistic initiative focused on the critical need for safe drinking water. The organization uses one of most effective way to do that, through the dance, which is the language understandable by everyone despite their nationality. Global Water Dances uses the international languages of dance and film to promote awareness and a behavioral shift toward solutions for water preservation and conservation through community engagement.
Photo by Simon Gentry
Global Water Dances 2021- Fighting for Safe Water in Hawaii
In June 2021, we joined dance artists and environmentalists on the Big Island of Hawaii for Global Water Dances 2021. Working alongside the Hawai’i Wildlife Fund at Kamilo Point and Hawai’i Environmental Restoration in the lowland rainforest of Keau'ohana, we experienced the environmental crisis first hand, aid in local efforts, and bring our experience and the Call To Action to the Core Dance Community worldwide. Before traveling to Hawaii, the artists of Core Dance took the pono pledge and participated in the carbon offset of our travel to Hawaii through Carbon Buddy - both to hold themselves accountable for any cultural or environmental impact incurred during the trip.
Once in Hawaii, our Dance Artists participated in four days of cultural immersion with Ryan McCormack, esteemed Hula instructor originally from Waimānalo who holds a Masters Degree in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. He now calls the rainforest of ʻŌlaʻa, Hawaiʻi Island home, where his passion for hula and community expand great widths.
Alongside this cultural immersion, the Dance Artists from Core Dance offered a series of dance/movement classes, Moving with and for our Water at Volcano Art Center and multiple Global Water Dances community projects. Watch the video below for a glimpse into some of their work in Hawai'i.
Meet Our Collaborators
Megan Lamson
Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund’s Board President and Hawaiʻi Program Director
Megan has been coordinating HWF’s Hawaiʻi Island Marine Debris Removal Project and Anchialine Restoration Projects in southeast Hawaiʻi since 2008. She began exploring ocean critters in Hawaiʻi and California during her childhood, then earned a bachelor’s in marine biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s in tropical conservation biology and environmental science at the University of Hawaiʻi in Hilo.
Lamson focused her academic research on coral reef fish ecology and community-based marine resource management. She is on the board of non-profit, Ka ʻOhana O Honuʻapo, and has been actively working on conservation issues along the Ka’ū coastline since 2005. She has primary responsibility for grant writing and reporting for all of HWF’s Hawaiʻi Island projects. Lamson has also worked part-time for the state’s Division of Aquatic Resources in Kona since 2012.
Jaya Dupuis
Hawaiʻi Environmental Restoration Board President
Jaya has since 1989 immersed herself in the natural world of subsistence farming; and since 2014 has been project coordinator for the restoration of Keau’ohana native rainforest. She is also dedicated to community outreach and education of critical vegetation issues, in support of the lowland environment at large.
Ms. Dupuis is the author of of “Hawai’i Plant World Essentials“. You can also find her 2012 thesis about vegetation patterns in Hawaii: “Invasion and Resilience in Lowland Wet Forests of Hawai‘i“.
Volcano Art Center
Volcano Art Center (VAC) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational organization founded in 1974 by a band of eclectic and energetic artists. Today, Volcano Art Center continues to operate a successful fine arts gallery showcasing handcrafted artworks by over 230 local artists, as well as developing and offering programs for residents, keiki (children) and visitors alike, including the award-winning Na Mea Hawai‘i Hula Kahiko performance series at the kahua hula in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
Ways to Act Now
Thank You to Our Partners
