Island dancer Abby Bender found her passion through an untraditional path.  

Known for the Built on Stilts Dance Festival that occurs annually in August, Ms. Bender discovered her love for dance through experimentation and freedom rather than traditional training and has always encouraged the idea that anybody can be a dancer.  

True to that philosophy, she is spearheading a performance filled with dance, song, comedy and visual elements at Pathways Arts titled Where Am I? Songs, Dances, Musings and Other Urgent Experiments. The event takes place Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Ms. Bender will also be in conversation with Laurel Redington at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on Saturday, March 8 at 5 p.m. speaking about her untraditional journey to becoming a dancer.

The prompt Where Am I? was chosen by Ms. Bender because she felt that it was vague enough for interpretation but will encourage meaningful conversation. The question was posed to 17 collaborators who composed their answers in movement, music, comedy, poetry and visuals.

“What I loved about it and why I gave it out to all the other artists is because it doesn’t need to be that specific,” she said. “It could be where are you personally, where are you and your emotional development? Where are you in your marriage? Where are you in your imagination? Everyone is taking it in a different direction, which is really fun.”     

The collaborative process between artists was healing, according to Ms. Bender, and she’s excited for audiences to experience the completed work.

“It’ll be nice for people to be surprised by some of the way the artists have interpreted the content,” she said. “It’s just all about that community holding each other as artists.”

For her conversation at the museum, she’s excited to share her journey with others.

“I’m really excited about people who don’t know me that are interested in my process coming to the museum,” she said. “I’m actually more interested in meeting the people who want to meet me than they are. So it’ll be nice to be in that more informal setting of a conversation.”

Later this month, Ms. Bender will also host Membership Down!, a live variety game show fundraiser on March 25 at the Portuguese American Club, where funds will be raised for the club’s parking lot.  

Where Am I? takes place at Pathway Arts on March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Pathway Arts. Abby Bender: The Accidental Dancer will be held at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on March 8 at 5 p.m.