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Original Title: The Mighty Mississippi: A Source of Inspiration for Dance
Original Content:
The Mississippi River, a symbol of American culture and history, has long been a
source of inspiration for artists. Now, a group of dancers and choreographers
from Winona, Minnesota, are drawing upon the river's majesty and mystique to
create a new dance work, thanks to a grant from the McKnight Foundation.
The project, titled "River's Edge," brings together a diverse group of
dancers, ranging from seasoned professionals to up-and-coming artists, to create
a unique and captivating performance piece. The dance will be set to an original
score, incorporating music, sound design, and spoken word to evoke the river's
power and beauty.
"We're thrilled to have the opportunity to explore the Mississippi River as
a source of inspiration," says Sarah Hauss, a choreographer and dancer
involved in the project. "The river has such a rich history and cultural
significance, and we're excited to bring that to life through movement and
music."
The dance will be performed at various locations along the Mississippi River,
including parks, piers, and riverfront areas. The performances will be free and
open to the public, making it accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds.
"We want to share the beauty and majesty of the Mississippi River with our
community," says Hauss. "We believe that dance has the power to bring
people together and inspire a sense of connection and community, and we're
excited to see how 'River's Edge' will resonate with our audience."
The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to supporting
the arts, has provided a grant to support the project. The grant will help cover
costs associated with production, marketing, and performance.
"River's Edge" is a testament to the power of the arts to bring people
together and celebrate the beauty of our natural world. Don't miss this unique
opportunity to experience the Mississippi River in a new and innovative way.
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TITLE: Dancing on the Edge of something Giant: How One Minnesota Town Turned the Mississippi Into Movement
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The Mississippi River doesn't ask for permission. It just moves—3.7 billion gallons every second, carving through the heart of America like it's been here forever and knows it. Sarah Hauss understands that kind of certainty. When she stood on a Winona riverbank last fall, watching the water throw itself downstream like a dancer who forgot to be afraid, she thought: This is what courage looks like.
That's the moment "River's Edge" was born.
Not in a grant proposal or a committee meeting—but in the gap between what Hauss had always danced and what she actually wanted to say. The McKnight Foundation money came later, $25,000 that let her stop arguing with budgets and start arguing with choreography. "I didn't want to make another pretty piece about pretty things," she told me over coffee last week, her hands still rough from carrying lighting rigs. "I wanted to make something that felt like the river actually feels—that relentless, gorgeous force that doesn't care if you're watching."
Winona isn't a town that whispers. It's 27,000 people tucked into the southeastern corner of Minnesota, the kind of place where everyone knows your dentist and nobody locks their doors. The dancers Hauss assembled aren't what you'd expect from a "community project"—they range from a 67-year-old retired teacher who picked up ballet for the first time last year, to a 19-year-old hip-hop kid who had never performed indoors. What they share is messiness. What they share is bravery.
The piece itself defies easy description. There's original music, yes, but also recorded sounds from the river itself—the groan of ice breaking in March, the laughter of kids cannonballing off the pier in July, the eerie winter silence when the water just... stops. There's spoken word, but it's not poetry in the way you'd expect. One performer reads a letter her great-grandmother wrote in 1932, floating the river on a ferry boat. Another whispers grocery lists.
Critics will call this "community dance." Hauss hates that phrase. "Community dance usually means a bunch of people waving scarves in matching shirts," she says. "This is something else. This is letting the river tell us what to do."
The performances will pop up along the riverfront throughout summer—parks, piers, sometimes just a flat patch of concrete where the water bends close enough to touch. Free. No tickets. No reserved seating. Just whoever shows up, whenever they show up, watching strangers move like the river's watching too.
Here's what Hauss really wants, the thing she'll never put in a press release: she wants someone to cry. Not from the dancing— from seeing their own life reflected in all that moving water. The Mississippi has carried freight and slaves, floodwater and fishermen. It split a nation and rebuilt it. It's seen more than any of us ever will.
And now, for one summer in Winona, it's going to see some dancers try to keep up.
Don't miss it.
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