With festival season upon us, Lucent Dossier Experience is making their rounds from festival to festival. For those who haven’t had the chance to experience this unique circus style performance, Lucent Dossier uses original music in conjunction with acrobatics, fire performance, aerials and circus arts to create a fully immersive, mind-blowing performance. The troupe maintains a strong presence on the Do Lab Stage every year at Coachella and has also been found in the past performing at Lightning in a Bottle, Symbiosis Gathering, BOOM Festival, Electric Picnic, Sonic Bloom, Shambhala and Burning Man.

In anticipation of their upcoming performance at Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo Valley, BC, The Nomadic Groove (NG) spoke with Dream Rockwell, the artistic director and a member of Lucent Dossier.

The Nomadic Groove (NG): For people who haven’t had the opportunity to experience Lucent Dossier, how would you describe the performances?

Dream Rockwell: We’re a permission slip to get wild, to free yourself. To create and live in beauty. We are acrobats, aerialists, dancers, singers, musicians and lovers of life. We are cracked wide open and proud of it. So you can crack yourself open and be proud open.

NG: What do you hope the audience feels and/ or takes away from the performances?

DR: That there is beauty in the cracks. That they are free to create and be who they want to be. Thank goodness for the cracked, for they let in the light.

NG: What is the troupe’s favourite festival to perform at and why?

DR: Wow. That’s a hard question. We love festival life. Big and small. Burning Man is our mother, Lightning in a Bottle our child, we love Electric Picnic in Ireland, BOOM in Portugal and our favourite Canadian festival is Shambhala.

NG: Does the troupe tailor performances based on where you are performing and who you are performing to?

DR: Yes we do. We really talk a lot about where we’re going and who will be attending. What type of stage we’re on. The environment. We love to reinvent ourselves and make new stuff.

NG: Where does the troupe get show ideas from and what does the creative process for creating a new routine entail?

DR: Everywhere, all of life. What we’re good at, what we’re inspired by, what we’re learning and what we want to share. Sometimes we’re just joking around with each other and something magical happens and we’re like… Oh we have to keep that. Sometimes someone makes a mistake and it’s so good we keep it.

NG: What is the dynamic between members?

DR: We’re a family. So it’s family style but with a twist of course. We know and have seen the very worst in each other but we hold in our hearts the very best of each other. We are all flawed and we are all perfect. We take care of each other. And we’re growing together. It’s not always easy but it’s a love affair for sure.

NG: What does the name Lucent Dossier mean and why did the troupe choose that?

DR: Lucent means ‘glowing light’ and dossier means ‘to collect or to keep a file of information.’ In this case, for us, it means we are collecting the most luminescent people in the world and keeping track of them, keeping them close. If you are with us, if you recognize us as your chosen family, then you are the light, you are lucent and we’re keeping you close.

Don’t forget to catch Lucent Dossier at Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo Valley, BC and again later this month at Burning Man for an awe-inspiring performance.