Event & Choreography

In Montclair, NJ, Derek Crescenti of Montclair State University leads a site-specific performance at Edgemont Park as part of National Water Dance, using movement to honor the water beneath our feet and draw attention to local streams.

Ancestral Land

We acknowledge Edgemont Park as the ancestral land on which this work takes place.

Water Issues & Intent

We’re dancing around a pond fed by Toney’s Brook, a waterway threatened by decades of overdevelopment and aging 1800s-era culverts. As climate change intensifies storms, Montclair faces worsening flash flooding, with stormwater overwhelming the brook and pushing into neighboring streets and homes — disproportionately impacting communities historically pushed into flood zones by redlining. This performance uses embodied practice to honor the stream and call for responsible stewardship of the waterways that often flow invisibly through our town.

Collaborators

This project brings together students, faculty and staff from the Montclair State University Department of Theatre and Dance to combine artistic practice and environmental advocacy.

Connect

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• @montclair_dance on Instagram