Daniel J. Hayes
Executive Director
Daniel was born in Baltimore in 1977 and moved to the Netherlands when he was a year old. This is where he spent most of his childhood and also where he graduated from Medical school in Amsterdam in 2005. He later completed his PhD in Tropical Medicine and Epidemiology in the UK after multiple stints living in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi. He then moved to Catalonia, Spain, where he lived for ten years in Can Masdeu, an anarchist collective on the outskirts of Barcelona. Together with Lina, his partner and mother of their two children, Vitai and Osh, they started the Vidalia eco-village an hour outside of Barcelona. His life path shifted after he was introduced to Contact Improvisation in 2000 while living in Barcelona. Through his questioning and research of this form and its community he started the Touch&Play Movement in 2010 in Berlin and continues to explore the intricacies of the Relational Body as it’s founder, and as the coordinator of the different T&P events taking place in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He is a committed peace builder and hopes to bring Earthdance back to life by strengthening the community spirit and ownership of Earthdance, as well as diversifying its activities and supporting the building of alliances with others who do good in the world.
Brett Roche
Chef
Brett. Breath. Breton. “Inhabitant of Northern France.” Trickled down through Ireland, to Newfoundland, to Boston, to Plainfield Land. Ancestral seepage. Fishermen and farmers beget the wayward bardic eclectic. Dance, clown, and grumble out the blues. Youthful golem clutching eating anxieties sloop from the primordial soup to become: line cook, baron of co-op comestibles, kitchen house daddy, and eventual Earthdance Chef. Pauses to say: how did I get here? Are you? I am! Am I? You are! Jack of hearts. Oft salty of liver. (Speak and the opposite is evoked). Nothing beats soup. Bread, butter, a pinch of salt. Spend twenty minutes eating your next grape. But really: what’s the best music for the kitchen?
Victor Mistretta
Building & Grounds
Victor arrived at Earthdance for the first time to attend the Falling Leaves Jam in November 2009. Since then he has been a residential staff member mainly supporting the facilities and grounds maintenance teams. Prior to this he experienced an international travelers education including numerous years closely involved with Kientalerhof Center for Wellbeing and Creativity in Switserland. With creative expression and community as a bridge between people and places, it was very natural landing at Earthdance. He is genuinely grateful for the privilege of knowing, feeling and directly experiencing the heartfelt support of so many of the original founding community members as well as so very many people to the present day. Along with the history and spirit of the land, we all are Earthdance.
Olive Frank
Site Coordinator
Olive first heard of Earthdance while traveling through Northern India. “You’re from upstate New York, you love contact improvisation, you prefer living in the woods, and you’ve never been to Earthdance?!?”remarked her dance partners. “You need to check out Earthdance.”
So, she did! In the Winter of 2019-2020, Olive moved to Earthdance as a Volunteer and felt right at home. She had a sense of “ah… this is the place.” Now as the site coordinator, she is pleased to be supporting a community and a dance form that she has grown to hold so dear. You can often find Olive piecing out harmonies in song circles, answering logistical questions, and jumping around during jams.
Emily Cavin
Bookkeeper
Emily Cavin became a non-resident visitor/member of Earthdance in the Intentional Community days in 1989, and was a resident member from 1990 to 1992. She contributed to the community by working on bookkeeping, among other tasks, including playing a small role in helping to build what is now 9 Mountain Retreat Center. In the interim, she has stayed connected through her passion for joining in whenever Penny Schultz holds a Community Sing, and as a nearby neighbor, and even occasionally by participating in a workshop. She studied performing arts in a conservatory program long ago in her college days, (very long ago!) and is currently a Hilltown Resident, Singer, Dancer as she is able, Gardener, and an Earth-Centered Spiritualist and Ritualist. She also designs, creates, and sometimes even sells, unique Sterling Silver Jewelry. She has supported herself in all these endeavors by holding “day jobs” as a bookkeeper, and as of April 2017, brings those skills back to Earthdance…..because, Hey! – someone’s gotta do it!! And it is a good place to be!
finance@earthdance.net
Christos Galanis
Programming/Marketing
Christos was first called to Earthdance in the summer of 2006, leaving his then home of Montreal to join the staff in the role of Office Manager/Registrar and living on-site for almost two years. During that time, he fell deeply in love with the local stone walls, Plainfield Pond, walking the Summit Street loop year-round, fireflies in July, and of course — the community.
Since then he has led a fairly nomadic life, making homes in Santa Fe NM, Edinburgh, Totnes (England), Williamsburg MA, and Port Townsend WA among others. But throughout his journeys, he keeps being called back to Earthdance over and over again, filling whatever roles are needed at the time while continuing to rejoice among friends new and old. Christos currently works part-time remotely for Earthdance, providing support mainly on the programming and marketing side of things while also editing the monthly Score newsletter.
He’s passionate about sustaining Earthdance as a site for dancing, art-making, and playing, and in collaborating on relational approaches to issues that need addressing within the community. If you have ideas for events or workshops you would be interested in bringing to Earthdance, please email me at christos@earthdance.net and let’s connect!