In just 15 days, the tickets will go on sale for Forest, so I encourage you to look at the Forest website to acquaint yourself with the dates, the Accessibility Services, and Know Before You Go so that when June 24th arrives, you are ready to purchase your ticket. 

Yesterday, I went to Lebanon NH to create a solo for Ellen Smith Ahern. With our dogs, we walked into the neighborhood forest, found a lovely site and began to make the ideas that will be at the heart of this solo. It is a pleasure and an honor to work with Ellen. 

Last September, Jude Domski filmed footage of the test run of Forest. You have seen clips, little teasers over the past several months. For this newsletter, I want to feature Jude’s ten-minute film.

It is snowing, big flakes, covering the bare ground. Winter lingers here at 1800'. The bird feeders are crowded with Evening Grosbeaks as well a whole host of others. Two ducks landed on the pond.

Yesterday, I spent a good portion of the day in the Lost Nation Theatre space at City Hall* in Montpelier preparing Forest's part of the tech for the Opening Celebration on Friday, March 13 from 5-7.

This lead photograph is of the Spotted Forest in September, a setting so mysterious. Today I walked by it, snow on the ground highlighting the lichen spots, white grey brown.

Here we are, in deep mid winter and I thought Julia’s black and white photograph of the Opening Scene, taken in September, very appropriate.

We had fun making and then presenting the in-progress scenes this past September. So much was learned. The weather was lovely, the sound of their feet on the leaves, then the quiet.

When artists make work, we start huge. I remember some of the early ideas for The Quarry Project involved zip lines, harnessed dancers walking down the face of the rock wall, frogmen propelling the stages through the water.

Early this month, the full ensemble of 10 dancers met in Hubbard Park for the day. Everyone got a costume to work in, learned 3 dances, engaged in ensemble training, then ran the three dances.

On September 13, we had a very successful test run of the development stage of Forest. 5 of the scenes, 4 dancers, and 22 witnesses for the morning and afternoon runs.

Things for Forest are moving along. Let me introduce you to the artistic partners: Costume & set designer, Leslie Anderson; photographer, Julia Barstow; poet, Judith Chalmer; filmmaker, Jude Domski; musician & composer, Matt LaRocca; writer Steve Long; my assistant, Jessie Owens; choreographic help from Ellen Smith Ahern and Chloe Schafer, and an ensemble of 20 dancers and musicians will illuminate the places in the forest.

Much to my surprise – and delight – a new site piece is emerging from my creative brain. Forest is a contemporary dance/theatre piece designed for four woodlands in east Central Vermont to be performed in 2026.

It has been a month since we packed up and left the Kent. Most of the installation components have found a new home. For instance, all the white chairs that were past being sat upon are now in my woods by the driveway, in a line, descending down the hill.

We are preparing for our final weekend of this exhibit and hope to see many of you at the Kent, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11-5pm with the closing reception on Sunday from 3-6pm.

We have had a wonderful start to the month-long exhibition with numerous pieces of art sold, many kudos and Pamela Polston’s excellent 7 Days review.

Tomorrow, we open the exhibit to all of you.

In ten days will be the opening of this exhibit of the artists who were involved in the performance aspect of The Quarry Project.

After many loads in our cars and two truckloads, we began to create the installation in the Kents Corner State Historic Site in Calais, VT. It was thrilling and emotional to see it begin to come together.

Marcy Kass had her hand in two aspects of the performances at the quarry: Three Red Response Books that audience members got to write in after viewing the piece; and on our utility shed, all 300+ hand-lettered names of the people who helped bring this piece to its finale. We called it The Great Wall of Thanks.