To kick of 2024 we have a guest contribution from Volker Eschmann, reflecting on Earthdance old and new, and announcing an exciting and big new offering coming is January 2025:
It's been 25 years since I was last in Earthdance. My hunger for more knowledge and experiences drew me here. It made a lasting impression on me, helped shape my life-vision at an important moment and set me on the path to a new way of life. Since then I have produced over 200 festivals, gatherings, trainings and workshops in the field of Contact Improvisation. My time in Earthdance 1998 has played a significant role in my life.
I recently spontaneously answered the call of the new director Daniel Hayes and came back here out of curiosity as to how Earthdance would feel to me today. It has grown since then; new buildings, more history, completely new faces and new concepts - the world has moved on since then and you can feel that here too. The Earthdance spirit as I remember it - of trying things out, improvising and above all the joie de vivre that goes with it - is still very much alive. It seems to exist independently in the old wooden farmhouse with its winding rooms and floors.
My body begins to move on its own in the studios, remembering movements and feelings of a forgotten time. The trees sway majestically in the frosty winter wind, the fields around the house are covered in a wooly-white of freshly fallen snow. Everything inside me says HOME, loud and clear. At one point I went to the community Jam in Northampton. To be honest, I went there with a slightly queasy feeling in my stomach as I put on my newly purchased Earthdance hoodie. I knew that I would meet my old teachers from my Body Mind Centering training in Amherst, my heroines from back then. And it was like a rush, again the dance floor carried me, the air moved me and the open faces, arms and legs and bellies danced me through effortlessly. Again, everything in me clearly says HOME. And what is someone like me thinking at this moment? A thoroughbred producer and incorrigible contact addict: “Wow, it would be fantastic to celebrate a special moment of dance here for a month with the best teachers of our time and all the embodied knowledge in this truly remarkable place.“
In a few evenings full of inspiration, old and new stories, and blissful moments, we came up with the idea of an Earthdance Professional CI Training for incorrigible contact enthusiasts of the future. And here we are again, a brilliant idea that excites me so much that I take on the load of work and effort without complaining. And before I know it, we're headfirst into the action. Typical Earthdance, I think! Looks like the dream of this place will carry me for years to come.
- Volker |