Planetary Dance / Anna Halprin

This year marks the 34th year of Anna Halprin’s “Planetary Dance” a dance ritual composed of several ceremonies and prayers in which community members join to call for peace. The Planetary Dance occurs in public spaces throughout the world. On June 1st at sunrise Anna will perform the Planetary Dance in the Mount Tamalpais Foothills in Marin County. She welcomes people of all ages, backgrounds, and artistic capabilities to join her.

For information on the Planetary Dances visit planetarydance.org

For more than 70 years dance legend, Anna Halprin has choreographed and performed site- specific dances in diverse spaces throughout the Bay Area and the world. This year, Anna participated in dance anywhere® and explored a new location for performance: Woodlands Market, a supermarket near her home in Kentfield, CA. “We danced at our local grocery store where old, young college students, mothers with babies come to shop.”

Anna Halprin

As the clock struck 12 noon, Anna and her friends and dance students took over the produce section at Woodlands Market. The dancers performed a happy and celebratory dance improv to “Happy” by Pharell Williams and “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” by Michael Jackson. The dancers used props from their surroundings to highlight their dance. Anna danced with pineapple, one of her dance students sang into a banana phone and another dancer juggled oranges. The dancers were accompanied by shoppers and employees. “Some people joined, others clapped to the music and everyone – especially the employees, kept time to the music”.

Anna Halprin

Anna Halprin

Anna decided to participate in dance anywhere® because she was excited by the idea of dancers around the world joining in a moment of dance. “I think dance anywhere® is a wonderful event. It is truly a great thing to think of people dancing together around the world”. Anna’s dance anywhere® performance enlivened the supermarket on an otherwise ordinary friday lunch hour. “Everyone seemed to have a passing moment of release and fun, as we did”.

Anna’s work often explores unconventional spaces and challenges traditional conceptions of space and the art appropriate for these spaces. “I love to see people dance anywhere® in unexpected places.”

For more information on Anna Halprin visit annahalprin.org. For information on the Planetary Dances visit planetarydance.org

For more information on Anna’s dance anywhere® performance view her participant page