This dance exploration workshop will take place at the Bosun (Harris) Ranch—a scenic family-owned property near New Denver, and the historic location of a Japanese internment camp. 

Contemporary dancer and teacher, Rachel Harris will guide this dance workshop over her family’s ranch. She will share stories and history of the ranch and the Japanese internment there and will explore how this history affects how we resonate with the place and how our bodies can be in dialogue with the world around us. The workshop will begin at the ‘old ranch house’, the historic Harris family home and will continue across the fields to where the Japanese camp was located. Participants will explore how their bodies can be a tool for listening to what the land has to tell. Together, they will make a danced homage to this place, to its past, present and future.

Musician Paul ‘Garbanzo’ Gibbons will accompany the workshop with bamboo flutes and percussion.

Rachel Harris is a professional dancer now based in Montreal but  with family roots in the Slocan. She has collaborated with over thirty choreographers in a career that has spanned thirty years and has taken her around the globe. Parallel to dancing, Rachel guides movement workshops in women’s shelters in Montreal as part of Dance Against Violence.

All participants of this workshop receive 40% discount on their entry ticket to the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre (NIMC). 

Location: Meet at top of Harris Road between Silverton & New Denver BC

Cost: $40-70 sliding scale

Included: some light snacks, cool water and 40% discount on a ticket for NIMC.

Participants: Open to all, 12 years and older. Mixed abilities are welcome though participants should be comfortable walking. Max 25 participants.

Bring: water, snacks, sun & rain protection, comfortable walking shoes and a blanket or chair if you like.

Harris Ranch fields, Silverton BC

Historic photo: Japaense Canadian Internment Camp at the Harris Ranch

Harris Ranch fields, Silverton BC