The Dynamic Duo does DanceFest

By Marilyn Rosenthal
MILFORD — The dynamic duo of Johanna LjungQvist-Brinson and her look-alike daughter, Lovisa LjungQvist-Brinson, bring their passion for dance to Milford, where they are launching the first-ever DanceFest.
Starting the festival off is the opening night reception at the Hotel Fauchere on Friday, May 18. Throughout the weekend, the borough will be filled with dance performances by professional companies. (See chart for performance schedules and locations.)
Johanna has operated her own local school of dance, The Delaware Dancers, since 2006. It's located in Dingmans Ferry at the Damien Roche Fitness Center, where she teaches ballet, tap, and jazz for children, teens, and adults.
Johanna started the Hanna Q Dance Company in 2013. This is her performance dance company located in New York City, where she choreographs performances for her eight professional dancers (four male, four female). Johanna coined the name Hanna Q from a combination of her own name, JoHanna and the Q in LjungQvist.
Lovisa was practically born dancing, and has studied with her mother most of her life. She has been dancing since she was two and is now part of the Hanna Q Dance Company. Although she is a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburg, she continues her lessons with a local teacher — for the first time, it’s someone other than her mother.
The DanceFest offers four types of sessions: workshops, site-specific performances in various locales in Milford, an open forum discussion, and main stage performances on an actual stage at the Delaware Valley High School Auditorium (which Johanna distinguishes from the site-specific performances).
Sean Strub and Tamara Chant are advisors to the DanceFest.
Board Members are Patricia Honeycutt Cantor, Dr. Richard Cantor, Johanna LjungQvist-Brinson, and Max Brinson.
Tickets are $80 for the complete festival, including the opening night gala, and all performances. Tickets for the gala only is $50. It’s $40 for all performances on Saturday and Sunday combined. Tickets may be purchased at dancefestmilford.com.