At a coffee shop in 2019, Alisa Dworsky overheard two ensemble members talking about The Quarry Project and asked how she could be involved. When she reached out to me, we were preparing for a dress rehearsal and looking for people who would try out various questions we had for an audience

For those of you who saw The Quarry Project, you were familiar with Leslie Anderson’s talent as an accomplished costume designer. Once the performances in 2022 were done, she went into her studio and began to paint what she remembered.

It is snow-covered and rainy outside, but as I work on The Quarry Project Echoes installation, all I see and remember is warmth, sun, water, reflections, the intrigue of the quarry, the faces of those I love, the joyful sounds, and a movement language that is universal.

Over the years, I have organized and curated exhibits of the work of the visual artists within the projects I create as a way to highlight their artistry and offer a deeper perspective of the larger project. The Waterfront, The Neighborhood and The Bus Barns Projects all had exhibits following the performances.

Often, when I have completed a site piece, we mount an exhibit of the work of all the artists involved. The Quarry Project Re-Imagined installation will be in June 2024 at the Kent Museum and will feature the work of Leslie Anderson, Julia Barstow, Alisa Dworsky, Lukas Huffman, Andreas John, Henry John, Marcy Kass, Howard Norman, Michael Kovner and Michael Wisniewski.

Last Thursday, Tai Nixa Peterson, Emily Boedecker and I drove to Quebec City at the invitation of Polycor CEO Patrick Perus to screen the film for 35 Polycor employees.  Patrick not only gave permission to create the dance/theatre piece on the waters of the Wells Lamson but was supportive in so many ways.

It has been a year since our last performance of this epic project and the memory of the experience is still fresh ….  the sunlight, the feeling of the water, the breeze, the heat, surrounding us as the piece unfolded, day after day.

The screenings of the Quarry Project film 2022 are complete for now and we are waiting on responses from festival submissions before distributing the film more widely.

This is a reminder that our final screening of the film of our performances in 2022 is in four days at the Old Town Hall in Brookfield, just south of Montpelier, Thursday, June 29th at 7pm.

A year ago, we were in the Capitol City Grange, putting together what we called The Big Dance, the final ensemble dance of the piece.

April showers
Birds returning north
Snow almost gone from the forest floor
Early spring flowers blooming
Every year….

March is such a pivotal month, dominated by the sound of dripping.  I can see the creases in the field of snow as melting begins, the chickadees have changed their song, and the sun is stronger.

For whatever the reason, I have been thinking about the above choreographic concept we experimented with during the summer of 2021 when we first came together in the quarry after our COVID hiatus.

Here in Vermont, we are deep into winter. Where I live it is lightly snowing and blowing. As soon as it gets dark, I am reading for hours most evenings. As physical activity is curtailed, internal explorations expand.

This photograph of the House women stepping across the water onto their stage is a moment in the performance that always touched me, perhaps because they were the first to separate from the group, or perhaps because of that gap of water that encapsulated the unknown, the element of chance that was always present, where anything could happen.

Today, those of us in Vermont woke to snow. August seems a long way away with its heat, warm water and bare skin. These images of the performance help keep my spirits up and remind me that in order to have that, we have this, where grey is a dominant color.

The ensemble casts off for the final performance. So much care and love amongst us all.

We now have The Quarry Project books, postcards and notecards available to order online. Here is the link to The Shop. These images of Julia's hold such lovely memories!

As I listen to Emily’s narrative and watch the footage taken on Tuesday the 16th, I am once again deeply moved to have been part of this project, to experience the magic of the space, the way that art can thin the membrane between the world we know and the worlds we don’t, thus expanding our imagination and understanding.

We have been in the quarry over the past 6 weeks creating the theatre in preparation for our three dress rehearsals, which we just completed with full houses. I watched from a different location each evening, delighted at how the piece has shaped up and how skillful the ensemble and crew are at problem-solving on the fly.