PROJECT WEBSITE

September 13, 2022

The vision came to me, of the potential, to shape the festival for 2013, in such a way, that there would be a built in tour for participating artists. My New York collaborator, Trina Mannino,  managed the NYC PR, and facilitated that end of things. It was amazing, for some artists to share work not only in New York, but in Los Angeles, and also in Santa Barbara. Ultimately, I realized through this process, that Western Dance is largely ego driven. One needs their ego in order to manifest things, I suppose, but, I was really hungering for a different way of being. Of working in community, to support each other, to share resources, and I found, there were very few in the field who had similar inclinations. 

At the conclusion of the project, the director of another local dance company wanted to work with us to produce the Festival.  We decided it would be a blessing to simply walk away from Festival production, and allow this individual to take that role on. While, it wasnʻt in the same style, it filled the space we created, and this individual has the skillset (a degree in marketing) and business saavy to make it work, so in the end, I think the community was much better off.

As I look at the design of the project website, I cringe. It is just a place that collates the memories, and reflects the crude tools of the time, and my limited design abilities. Then again, as I explored the links, I was met with a flood of amazing images, and a sense of, wow, we did that?

It was very much a we thing.

Yes, the vision came out of my creative body, from wherever visions came from, but there were ALOT of people who brought the dream to life.

With gratitude, I let go. 

As I write, I wonder, how did I manage this career, a full time job, and also, have an active life as a visual artist, and time here and there for poetry, singing/songwriting. How? How did I manage? It was the fire in the furnace of healing, and the healing was massive, and support came from the guides and guardians I wasnʻt aware of. Support from known, and unknown sources, it comes, is what emerges as an answer.