Normally, hundreds of dancers make their way to Grand Rapids to display their talents at the annual Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, or RAD Fest. While they won't be making the trip this year due to COVID-19, they still have been perfecting their talents and will be performing virtually this year.
The Midwest RAD Fest is a juried event. Each year, Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers receive over 300 live performance and screen dance submissions from all over the world. Rachel Miller, RAD Fest Curator, with the help of an adjudication panel, chooses around 50 of those works to feature at the festival.
RAD Fest is one of the only dance festivals in the world to feature “alternative” dance. The festival focuses on artists who dabble in emerging, experimental, radical, and boundary-breaking choreography.
On March 5 and 6, RAD Fest features curated virtual performances, masterclasses, interactive artist talks, and panel discussions, given by professional dance artists from all over the country and the world.
This year, artists based in California, Colorado, New York, Chicago, Syria, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, and other remote locations will join dance artists from the state of Michigan in presenting performances, screen dances, and installations, as well as teaching master classes, leading discussions and giving artist talks.
Events on March 7 are geared towards young dancers. Emerging dance artists 18 years of age and younger from all over the country will perform in a concert, take master classes, and, this year, they will attend a Dancing After High School panel and discussion.
To register to be an audience member for RAD Fest, visit midwestradfest.org.
