Welcome to the latest edition of our Earthdance newsletter! As you might have noticed, we've moved away from the longtime regular monthly schedule and these newsletters are now following a more organic rhythm as we accumulate stories and updates from Earthdance and share them with you once there is enough material to fill an edition. In parallel, a monthly 'upcoming programming' email continues the monthly rhythm in order to keep you updated in a more timely manner as to what's being offered at Earthdance. For those interested in what's happening more within community life, our ups and downs, updates from the garden and the forest, and the farewells and new editions that make up the ever-changing rollercoaster that is Earthdance, then we've got several reflections and updates from a variety of staff and community members for you to enjoy below. We invite you to take some time to enjoy these dispatches from Earthdance and would look forward to encountering you on the dance floor when you next visit us.

- Christos Galanis, Editor of The Score

THE END: IN WHICH OLIVE LOVINGLY DEPARTS FROM EARTHDANCE

The time has come. I didn’t know when it would happen, or how, but it is happening. After 3 years in my position as “Site Coordinator” I have decided to pursue further pastures and go back to school for my doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Western New England University in Springfield, MA.

“Occupational Therapy!?! What’s that? Why are you doing it?? Olive, don’t go!!”

These are some things I’ve heard in the past few months while telling people of my life plans. I hear you, and I love you. Here’s a little bit of an explanation:

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a job I’ve wanted to pursue since I was 15 years old. No, it doesn’t mean giving people therapy around how hard their jobs are, although Earthdance could have definitely prepared me for that. Being an OT, as I see it, can be a blend of an anatomical body nerd’s mind with a social worker’s heart. An OT supports someone in doing what’s meaningful to them while the landscape of that person’s own capabilities has shifted for whatever reason. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen was an OT while she was discovering BMC, and eventually left being an OT because her work was so cool and the world had to learn it. (Yay Bonnie, Thank you Bonnie!) I have cool work that I want to develop and share with the world as an OT, and my prayer is that this doctorate degree will help me do that. (Yay Olive, Thank you Olive!)

It’s a big, expensive, and scary move! Maybe I won’t make it through the program, maybe I’ll run out of money, maybe my tender creative heart will be crushed by stupid sterile bureaucratic institutional red tape and something internal and crucial to my life force dies…..anything could happen! (Please check in on me over the next three years!) AND I’m going for it anyways, because I have a dream and vision for meaningful work that I want to do in the world, and I feel so excited to go for it and see what happens next.

Everything I have experienced in my role at Earthdance is coming with me as I pursue this degree; my love of our messy humanness and the beautiful struggles we encounter, my passion for embodied movement that respects the limitations and creativity of our whole selves, all of the 50+ workshops I’ve attended, all of the final cleans I’ve exhaustedly led, and most importantly my feelings of belonging to a community! I am so blessed to have experienced this!! Like wind, rain and feet shaping the path between the farmhouse and the dorm, my path has been shaped by all of you. Thank you. Thank you a million times over again.

I have received a tremendous amount of support while in this role at Earthdance. It’s a very public position, where my decisions impact people that I care about and dance with, and I have received so much grace and support from you all while I figured out how to do this job. Thank you to my fellow staff members (past and present), thank you to each work exchanger that’s ever worked with me, thank you CICO and ASC teams, thank you ED residents, thank you Paul, thank you Lucy, thank you Parents, thank you Penny and Steven. This life I’ve gotten to live the past three years has been so rich, I am so blessed. I feel proud of the job I’ve done, and I’m excited to see where Earthdance grows from here.

- Olive Frank, Outgoing Site Coordinator

Note: You’re all invited to join us on Friday, August 22nd for Olive’s ‘Earthdance Graduation Party’ from 3pm ‘till Bedtime.

3-5 Arrival / 5-6 Song Sharing / 6-7 Potluck / 7:30-8 Performance / 8pm Party!!!

As one of the initiatives of the Earth Stewards Team here at Earthdance, we’ve chosen to offer some seasonal glimpses from the Land, providing a portal into some of the changes and happenings taking place as we transition through the cycles of the year. Bruce Hooke generously shares some of his encounters on the land:

A Report from the Earthdance Forest – August 6, 2025

The brilliant greens and glorious, frenetic energy of the spring forest have given way to deeper, calmer greens and the quieter energies of early August. Where once the steam here rushed and tumbled noisily through the forest, it now trickles, barely heard. The birds are quieter too. They no longer seek mates and many no longer have nesting territories to defend as the young have fledged. The chickadees, however, still seem happy to sing their joyful tune, as they do year ‘round. I heard my first “dog day” cicadas today, a reminder of the shifting seasons, but we are still in that loverly time when summer feels almost like it might never end.

The one heartbreaking note is the beeches. For years now, beset by something called “beech bark rust,” their lovely, smooth bark has become rough and bumpy, and many trees, weakened by this, have fallen, but many hang on. Now a new beech leaf disease has swept across the eastern forests, causing the leaves to turn brown and wrinkly, and then die and fall to the ground, ultimately killing the trees. Sadly, in a few years, the beeches will probably be as absent from our forests as the once-common chestnuts. It will be left to the human old-timers to tell about the beautiful beech trees with their smooth bark that looked like skin over mammalian muscles.

But today’s young people do have something to look forward to here when they are old. By then, if the forest here continues to grow, 150-year-old grandmother and grandfather oaks, birches, maples and white pines should be quietly growing ever more ancient and wonderful year by year. Most of us alive now will not live to see this but it heartens me to know that future generations may see this forest as it should be, with towering, gnarled old giants amidst middle age trees, with saplings springing up where a giant has fallen. The forest runs on its own time. I hope you’ll come to visit it sometime, to soak up a bit of its wisdom.

NEAL AND SHOSHI'S GARDEN UPDATE

Our garden season at Earthdance has been yet another wonderful one. Only our third season here and year three of an initial 5-year plan to renew a vision of the Garden having a central place in Earthdance’s mission! Our plans expand beyond phase one of our present annual food production toward a vision of more edible perennials, including tree, shrub and vine fruits, enjoyable for Earthdance’s years to come.

During this season, we finished moving the Farmhouse food garden off the leach field, enclosed the new area with a protective deer fence, and have continued planning the potting shed completion and anticipated attached greenhouse. Our chefs have been eagerly incorporating fresh garden goodies into their meal plans during retreats. In our continued effort to increase onsite food production, we have opened new ground in the orchard between 9 Mountain and the farmhouse and are finishing erecting another protective deer fence for this second garden. We continue to compost all of the kitchen food waste and incorporate its richness into the two gardens as their primary fertility input.

With all intentions as they are, we are seeking an eager full season garden apprentice for the 2026 season and anticipating a variety of upcoming garden-centered programming. We imagine program ideas ranging from garden to table community summer events to classes in sustainable horticulture/permaculture.

These times beg for those of us who are able and willing to engage in lives which examine what living creatively looks and feels like and how we might express that through our bodies and open hearts. For us, the garden is our way!

UPDATE ON OUR PROJECT TO CREATE MORE HOUSING

In this and the following piece, our director Daniel Hayes provides updates on our WEXer housing project and a follow-up to Earthdance negotiating our ethical commitments to our community regarding the East Coast Tantra Festival:

As you might remember, during our end of the year fundraiser with our super cool community driven auction and sweet Gala we raised more than 30K in donations. Our intention was to spend this money on increasing and improving our onsite housing opportunities for those that live or spend time on our lands. The exact strategy of how best to do that has been a matter of much debate and has also had to contend with a number of concerns and objections from our town’s and State’s institutions. Despite this uncertainty and these bureaucratic hurdles we have made some tangible progress. We currently have three Tiny Houses and a very cute little camper van parked on our land providing additional shelter to folks. We also just finished up our first ever collaboration with Permatours, a charity that supports other non-profits with sustainable building needs. Together with them and through a weekend-long participatory workshop we’ve largely completed the construction of two brand new wooden A-frames that can house one or two people for the short or medium term. Finally we’ve also now heard back from our town that at least from a Health and Safety perspective we would be allowed to build up to three additional cabins. We will now evaluate how and if this still makes sense from a cost benefit analysis or if the purchase of a small number of additional second-hand tiny houses is a better solution. We are also welcoming community members to consider bringing their own Tiny Houses and parking them on our lands for a small rental fee.

ON MORALS AND MONEY: PART TWO

If you read our earlier piece around our painful process with the East Coast Tantra Festival I’m excited to share a short update. After Camp Timber Trails also decided against hosting ECTF, and after further discussions with Eugene Heglund’s collaborators, a number of them decided to cut ties with him. Amanda Ananda, a well known and respected Tantra teacher, who was one of them, has now decided to create an event of her own called Divine Rebellion. We are honoured and excited that she asked to host this brand new creation at Earthdance and now have a beautiful event to fill the gap that was left in our calendar by the cancelling of the ECTF. At the moment it’s looking like the gathering has over 120 participants registered! So if you’re looking for a sweet way to dive into the world of conscious relating and Tantra you’re warmly invited to join what we hope will become a well known festival of its own over the coming years.

THE CONNECTION I’VE CRAVED

Our Marketing Coordinator, Jenn Rahner, was one of the Intensive teachers at last month’s Touch & Play gathering here at Earthdance, and she shares some reflections on her time there and how it connects her to Earthdance, the community, and the Land:

Touch & Play is not just a huge part of my Earthdance story, it marked the start of it.

I’d moved to western Massachusetts in early 2023, and spent the next year and a half settling in. I always forget how difficult it is to move to a brand new place; in addition to the unpacking there’s finding new providers for everything from healthcare to haircare, and in between all that you’re trying to discover your places, you know, the place you like for pizza or bagels. On top of that, both my partner and myself had to establish our practices from scratch, too, so that meant a great deal of networking. He’s a therapist, and I’m a sexologist.

As I found my way around the Pioneer Valley and beyond, finding my people, I kept hearing about Earthdance here and there. I’d looked at the website at least a few times but I was unfamiliar with contact improv, so nothing tempted me to engage in a workshop. Nothing, that is, until I found out about Touch & Play. A fellow sexuality professional told me I really must attend, even as she had a difficult time telling me what it was all about. I trusted her, so I took the leap and attended in July 2024.

From nearly the moment I pulled onto the property, I fell in love - and that didn’t have very much to do with Touch & Play at all. Earthdance - the land it sits on, the people who are attracted there to live in community - there is something about it, something that makes you want to keep coming back again, and again. So when I saw the poster calling for a part-time Marketing Coordinator, I couldn’t help but apply. No, it’s not my current career, but it was a previous one, and those of us that work for ourselves know we often have to piece our income together using all the skills we possess. I was thrilled to be offered and accept the position just about a year ago to the date because it gives me very good reason to visit frequently.

Fast forward to earlier this year, and I took a leap and applied to teach at the recent Touch & Play, themed Essence & Edge. While I teach on a number of sexuality and relationship topics, my time thus far as part of Earthdance’s staff inspired me to reach into my somatics experience and craft a workshop that I thought would appeal to the kind of person who is drawn to Touch & Play Massachusetts - someone who is curious about the inherent sensuality of bodies moving together and what happens when you allow yourself to follow your desire.

To be clear, I’m absolutely aware that in most CI spaces we should not follow those urges. I don’t see this as much different from matching our behavior to the situation in the many public spheres we all move in. ‘Read the room’ is sage advice in most situations; better yet, follow whatever guidelines are provided in the spaces you frequent. In the sex-positive spaces where I often find myself, consent is taught early and often, and practiced. I’m not attempting to make a case for bringing sexuality into other CI venues; what I am saying is that Touch & Play creates a really wonderful container for that kind of exploration for those who are intrigued.

Although I’m newer to both the Earthdance and Touch & Play communities, it was easy to see that the organizer, Murry, attracted a very special group of individuals for the team. People who have been in these communities far longer than I have, and I felt honored to be included among them. Together, we created a magical space that allowed participants to feel held in their exploration, grief, joy, fear, and in their dance.

Recalling when my friend first mentioned Touch & Play to me, and how she had trouble describing the experience, I have to chuckle. It is rather hard to describe! But I’d like to leave you with some snippets of what I witnessed and experienced this year. I hope it will urge those of you curious about attending, but haven’t yet found the courage, to join us next year.

Participating in a grief ritual that honored the land and our ancestors, and provided permission to dig deep inside ourselves to express emotions we may not have yet acknowledged to even ourselves. The sight of intensive participants being guided through the garden, blindfolded, to experience the land with their senses. A blindfolded movement exercise accompanied by live piano where participants were invited to express their desires without fear of being judged, inspired by themes of control and surrender and what it means to them. Laughter - so much laughter - during free time when impromptu play fighting, sunbathing, and dancing in a thunderstorm ensued. Impromptu hugs and cuddles oozing love and care. One participant having their expressed wish come true when other participants planned behind the scenes to make it happen - and their gratitude at the healing it brought them. A gong and violin sound bath that helped me release some stagnant emotion I’ve been holding onto like a security blanket.
A final morning ecstatic dance party where the air was charged with all of the emotions we were feeling as this time was ending, melancholy and sweet.

I was moved to write on our final morning. Have you ever had that feeling where you feel like the words are writing you rather than the other way around, pouring out so fast you can barely make your pen keep up? That’s how I wrote this piece that I’ll leave with you as an ending..

How do you go back
To your every day?

When your nerves have been scraped raw
The wounds lovingly tended over and over and over again with each energetic connection

Your well emptied completely
Then filled up again to overflowing
Flowing out and out and out
Soothing your aching heart

How do you settle back into monotony?

You don’t.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATES

We’ve had some turnover on our Board Of Directors the past few months, with Carlos Ruano stepping down and Christopher Collins coming on board. Earthdance would like to express our sincere gratitude for the work and service Carlos did for our organisation over the last few years, and to welcome Christopher aboard and wish him much inspiration and fulfilment for his term. This leaves our board membership currently standing at four members, which is on the smaller side, so we are open to new candidates from the community reaching out who might have interest in serving. For board-related inquiries and to communicate your interest in joining our organization, contact board@earthdance.net.

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