The Gala and Online Auction
The Gala is Saturday, December 13th, 2025, 5:00 – midnight
The Online Auction
Showcase your skills, experiences, or unique offerings while supporting Earthdance. This is a great way to promote your business, help raise funds, and spread the word about Earthdance to our global creative community.
The 2nd annual online auction is now live!
Place your bids or BUY NOW until December 13th at 6pm.
The Gala
Join us for a night of swanky celebration to honor our beloved Earthdance community and raise funds for its growth. This holiday season, let’s show some love to the space that nurtures connection, exploration, healing, and creativity.
You will get to enjoy the silent auction, a decadent multi-course meal created by our loving Earthdance chefs, group singing and blessing of our shared feast, special performance, photo options, awards and of course DANCING! It will be an evening that promises a full heart and belly. Dress to impress, and let’s end the year with community, charm, and goodwill!
Evening Schedule
- Arrival: 5pm
- Peruse Silent Auction and Photo Option: 5:30-6:15
- Singing and Blessing of the Meal: 6:15-6:30
- Feast of Recognition & Achievement: 6:30pm-8:00pm
- DJ Showdown and Dance Off: 8:00 – till we can’t twirl anymore
Pricing
- Financially Wealthy – $1000
- Financially Abundant – $500
- Financially Stable – $300
- Financially Coping – $160
- Financially Strained – $85
- Pay from the heart – $35
- Work Exchange – Contact fundraising@earthdance.net
Stay Overnight – Add $75
If you wish to continue the celebration or you are traveling from far away, consider staying overnight for Bruce’s famous sourdough pancake brunch (Sunday). Stay at the Gratitude Lodge in a dorm bed (sheets and towels included) or bring your tent and camp. Includes access to the sauna.
The Voices of the Gala: Masters of Ceremonies Lex and Murry
Jupiter Ariel aka “Lex Grotesque” is an artist, activist, & witch from Western Massachusetts. Jupiter works as a transformative muse and co-founder of The House of Grotesque. They specialize in producing and directing innovative performances and offer teaching in movement and character development. Through interactive theatre and dance, Jupiter cultivates creativity and expression, inspiring countless individuals in the arts community. Jupiter shares a deep love for the land and people who flow through Earthdance. They are excited to host this years Gala!
Marie “Murry” Echo’s (fae/they/she) primary partnership is with the meandering magic of the Muse. Living in devotion to this waking dream, fae shapeshifts between and beyond archetypal roles of boundless bard, dream druid, death doula, cosmic clown creature, harmonic healer. Their offerings are a convergence of creativity, connectivity, sensuality & ritual. For many years fae has been performing with the Grotesque Burlesque and recently put on an original play called “Witchpunk the Musical.” Earthdance is a second home for the Murry and she loves the creatures here dearly,
Stay tuned for the fairy next album coming out soon! Follow them for more community & one-on-one offerings: @musemundiThanks ba
Performance by Artist in Residence Charles Peoples
Charles Peoples III is a sonic changemaker residing at the intersection of performance art and experimental music theater. He focuses on the convergence of sound, movement, technology, and spirituality, while creating multidisciplinary experiences that awaken dormant senses. For media and more information, visit www.CharlesPeoplesIII.com.
Description from the Artist for the Gala Performance:
During my residency at Earthdance, I will continue to build the movement vocabulary of my ‘sonic changemaking’ practice. Both the voice and the body are essential to my practice, so I will share both at the Gala.
A Night of Music & Magic with DJ TintedDreams
Langston aka DJ TintedDreams is a Western Mass local hailing from the Pioneer Valley. He discovered Ecstatic dance and Contact Improv back in 2018, quickly falling in love with the freedom and nourishment these modalities brought to his soul. After many years of learning, healing, and growth facilitated by these spaces, it was his desire to give back. He aspires to facilitate a sonic space where dancers can explore their sense of self and expression through movement. By blending downtempo, electronica, world, and alternative soul music, He aims to take the dancer on a journey in which the boundaries between the material and immaterial soften.
The 2025 Gala Honorees
Robyn O’brien
Robyn first came to Earthdance in 2004, and from the start, it felt like home. She once said she felt so high after dancing, she’d get lost on the three-turn drive back to Vermont! She served on the board, helped shape its early governance, and has nurtured TEN Earthdance babies as a doula! After 34 years managing a food co-op in Putney, Vermont, she joined the 9 Mountain team just before Covid, bridging the connection between our two communities with deep love and purpose. Describing Earthdance, she once said “here if you drop a pebble, the ripples are felt and that is huge”. Oh—and if you’ve ever been lucky enough to eat her homemade bread, you know: she feeds this community in every sense of the word.
Bruce Hooke
Bruce first found out about Earthdance when a dance friend in Providence mentioned it. He looked it up and came for the winter offering weekend. He then continued to come for lots of work weekends starting in 2006 eventually this spread to other events and in 2013 he saw a fallen down for sale sign at the building next-door. He talked with Sarah Young the director at the time, about offering space for work exchangers, she loved the idea and he closed on the property that summer. He housed many work exchangers and staff for the next seven years until Covid. He has tirelessly volunteered and built the website, maintaining it through many years and also oversaw the new well installation. He is known for his beautiful photographs and art that are displayed throughout 9 Mountain and Earthdance. He has used his building skills to transform the square barn into a winter wonderland for many New Year’s jams complete with the most magical unicorn. He is also known for his delicious sourdough pancakes.
Rick Cernak
Rick Cernak began his involvement with Earthdance in October 2013 after receiving permission to collect minerals on the property. Later David Sharp, the Building and Grounds person at the time suggested he meet Bruce. They became close friends with a shared passion for mineral collecting. At the time, Earthdance was bringing in only $300–$500 annually from mineral collecting, with few restrictions and low fees. Recognizing the potential, Rick helped implement new systems—raising rates to $20 for individuals and $10 for clubs—leading to a dramatic increase in revenue to $7,000–$8,000 annually.
Rick’s connection to the area runs deep: his mother grew up and married in Plainfield, and he was raised in East Hampton as one of five siblings. In 2012, while accompanying his mother on a visit to the area, he stopped by Earthdance and was warmly welcomed. He still remembers walking into the farmhouse and seeing a massive mound of broccoli—one of his favorite vegetables—which made him feel instantly at home. Ali invited him to stay for dinner marking the beginning of his enduring relationship with the land and community.
