The Mighty Niagara Film Fest is again ready to set sail and explore the ever-expanding ocean of the moving image. The festival launches on August 16th, and continues until August 19th. It’s keenly focused on films made about, or in Niagara and by filmmakers with connections to the region. The festival uniquely makes space for the experimental and the extraordinary. For more information about the festival, click here. Here, we invite you to meet the artists of MNFF.
Meet Dahlia Steinberg
Photo provided by: Dahlia Steinberg
Instagram: @dahlia.b.dancing
Event Details: Experimental Dance and Performance Niagara: Workshops in Fall 2023. Location TBA. Adult, recreational, somatic movement exploration, floor work and mobility training. Also offering community sharing and performance opportunities in 2023/24.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I am a local dance/movement artist and facilitator with a professional background in modern/contemporary dance, choreography and performance as well as yoga and Pilates teaching and the last 11 years in solo practice as a massage therapist under the business name, Ebbnflow Massage and Movement Education.
What inspires you?
Creating space for myself and others (those who attend my movement classes) to practice and experience authenticity through movement, supported by an eclectic blend of somatic movement and dance improvisation practices that I have trained in, facilitated and developed over the years as a contemporary dancer, choreographer and movement based therapist.
Tell us the story behind how you got into your craft?
As a teenager I was introduced to dance improvisation and choreographic composition by my first mentor, Maxine Hepner in Toronto. This modality of creative expression gave me a voice and was undoubtedly the foundation for my ongoing interest in improvisational dance expression and choreographic creation which eventually developed into a way of life guided by the many bodywork based healing modalities I have experienced over the last 30 years.
What drew you to participating in this specific piece of work?
I was simply a spectator of the film while I was on vacation for the first time in Zipolite. I thought the film would resonate with both the LGBTQ2+ and the indigenous community. I could relate to the wide eyed curiosity of the main character and his coming of age process due to my own feelings of greater, newly found sexual acceptance in coming out more publicly as bisexual. I had just landed in a place that embraced a philosophy of integration of our whole selves, with our sexuality being such an integral aspect of attaining true personal freedom and self acceptance. I was intrigued by the fact that the film was made in the area and from the perspective of an indigenous young man. Meeting Oz Lo Moreno personally was also part of the incredible experience of the culture and lifestyle of the local artists living and working in Zipolite, which offered a window into the beauty of living a more integrated life with a blend of artistic expression and both physical and spiritual healing at the centre of it.
What do you love most about MNFF?
The support of local artist’s work and the open mandate to bring in films from elsewhere that resonate with the community and culture that’s growing in such beautiful ways here.
What does 2023 hold for you?
Finding a balance in my life that embraces more creativity and authenticity along side of my work as a massage therapist. Continuing to offer movement classes to the community is a big part of that as well the community building experiences that it offers. Stay tuned for what’s next via my instagram page!
