Click here for information on holding a workshop with Michael Bedar and team on making educational danceumentaries (documentaries with dance narration), such as occurred at the Marin County Civic Center in 2004.
Bailagua Fronteriza, or Dance of the Border Waters, portrays the interlocking relationships the make up the Tijuana River Watershed region, which straddles the Mexico-U.S. border. The video uses three elements--speeches and dialogues, site visits, and choreographic interpretation--to weave together the story for the film's intended audience: the present and future decision makers that will determine the health of our rivers, estuaries, and coastal ecosystems, and in turn, our own health.
A circle of costumed, thematically choreographed dancers represents the regional dynamics. Of eleven total dancers, three embody the currents of water itself; six others embody the corresponding Mexican and American scientists, politicans, and people living in the river valleys; and two represent that ancient, giving soul of the river and the land that has sustained diverse peoples here for centuries.
Informative visits to the critical sites in the watershed include unique riparian and marshland habitats, fertile river banks for agriculture, sand-extraction mines, dams, reservoirs, border crossings, aqueducts, and new developments.
Interviews and speeches with actual scientific advisors, politicans, activists, and neighbors are featured throughout the video, including the Mayor of Tecate, Juan Vargas; City Councilwoman of Imperial Beach, Patricia McCoy; project manager of the California Coastal Conservancy, Jim King; Coordinator of the Coastal Training Program, Oscar Romo; and members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the City of Tijuana, and more.
This video (20 minutes in length) was created for the Coastal Training Program, which works with regional decision makers on both sides of the border--Southern Californians and Baja Californians-- to increase understanding about the science of sustaining the wonderful natural resource that is the Tijuana River National Estuary Research Reserve.
MAKE YOUR OWN "DANCEUMENTARY": Bailagua Fronteriza's director, Michael Bedar, taught a workshop on making educational environmental "danceumentaries" (documentaries with dance narration) at the Bay Area Environmental Education Resources Fair (Baeer Fair), Saturday, January 31, 2004, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California.
A student at Prescott College, Arizona, is using Bailagua Fronteriza in his profound thesis on environmental education and dance.
View the DVD cover of Bailagua Fronteriza. Download it, print it (on recycled paper), then fold it in half, and it's the perfect fit for a DVD case.
Artistic Cast
Executive Producer
Oscar Romo
Director and Producer
Michael Bedar
Choreographed by
Natalie Good
Peter Deunov
Dobrina Russell
Lyrics and Vocals by Sarabela Server
Music composed by Sarabela Server and Peter Deunov
Costumes and Props by Selena Wilson
Assistant: Mark Miller
Dancers
The Tijuana River...........Dobrina Russell
Grandmother Nature..........Deborah Good
Fresh Water..........Robin Nichols
Brackish Water..........Dahra
Sea Water..........Lorian Cortez
Mexican Biologist..........Matal Stotland
American Ecologist...........Brian Beret
Mexican Planner..........Irene Brandt
American Politican.........Todd Cooper
San Diego-Area Developer.........Natalie Good
Baja California Resident.........Christina Grammatika
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