Seeding The 'Earth' In Earthdance
Dear Earthdancers, I hope our April Score finds you rested and joyful with the bubbling and budding of new life. The last few editions of our newsletter I asked a number of people who’ve had an impact on our community to write a few lines for us. This month I would like to use the opportunity to share a few thoughts of my own. Without knowing the exact ideas of the original Earthdance founders, I’ve always imagined that they chose the name they did because they wanted to emphasize both their connections to Dance and Contact Improvisation on the one hand, and to the Land and the Earth on the other. We can all testify to our continued connection to CI and to dance in general by looking at our ongoing programming. Our connection to this land and our planet is less visible and clear. While most of us have good intentions to live sustainably and to act as good stewards of the lands on which we reside, what are the actions that we are taking that are actually making this so? Here at Earthdance we have not had any real productive gardens since before COVID and while some things are sourced directly from local producers, much of our food comes from further away through intermediaries. We heat our old and drafty buildings with propane and don’t generate any renewable energy. Neither do we provide much land and earth-based programming focussing on sustainability, renewable energy, permaculture, animism, or other areas that might highlight our commitment to good stewardship and education in these fields.
This is why I would like us to collectively start putting a little extra Earth into Earthdance. To get us started and in case you missed it, if all goes well, later this year we'll be installing a 32KW solar system through our $160,000 Cultural Facilities Fund Matching grant. This will be enough to cancel out all of our electrical emissions and put us on a path towards more energetic and financial sustainability. We are further very excited to be entering into a brand new collaboration with the Massachusetts Conservation Corps and will be hosting a group of up to 18 volunteers in the basement of the Gratitude Lodge. They will be out in the nearby state forests and nature reserves doing trail and forestry work. We are planning at least a few days of communal labor in collaboration with them to work on cleaning up our own forests and perhaps marking some new trails, and we hope you’ll join us.
The last step - and this is where I’m calling in the creativity of our community - is to help us fill our calendar with workshops, seminars, and courses that can highlight our continued commitment to this land and beyond. We’d love to host a yearly permaculture design certification course, host week or month-long bio-construction workshops to build extra cabins out in the woods, or hold animistic/pagan rites to mark the seasons and connect on a deeper level with all that sustains us. Please write to me with any ideas or contacts that might pop into your head, and together we can explore what all is possible! With Earth and Dance,
Daniel |
