We are closing in on our time in the quarry where we will put together what was created in separate rehearsals off-site, choreographing the whole to see The Quarry Project come to life.
Starting this week, the infrastructure for the project will be assembled. The components of the stages will be constructed and painted, the rigging and cabling in the quarry will take place, and the stage sections from last year will be moved from my place to the quarry to be re-painted.
The weekend of August 9, 10, 11 will see all the stages installed and floated, ready for set elements the following week and the ensemble’s arrival on the 18th. I am both excited and very nervous about the many untried factors. Thankfully, all the people who are assisting are accomplished in these areas and committed to the project’s success.
Getting to know people through the making of an art project is a joyous experience, and the feeling of everyone pulling together is deeply gratifying. You can join in this effort with a donation. Click here.
Let me introduce two of the dancers, Paul Besaw and Avi Waring. Both were in Dear Pina and Threads and Thresholds and love dancing together. Here is a short clip from last summer of them goofing around at the end of their exploration session in the quarry. Their photographs were taken by Emily Boedecker.
Paul is Chair of the Dance Department at UVM where, thanks to his vision and persistence, there is now a major in Dance, housed in a re-purposed Elementary school. In this setting, students can dig deep into the study and real-life application of this art form. As a dance artist, Paul has created and collaborated on dances that have been seen in theaters, dance studios, art galleries, town halls, bars, barns, fields, forests, Korean city parks, empty power plants, and around a water fountain in Inner Mongolia, China.
Avi is a native Vermonter who has danced in barns, quarries, horse corrals, in the snow, rain and sunshine and has loved every minute of it! She received her early dance training from the Vermont Ballet Theatre School, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and Tulane University in New Orleans and she studied and performed improvisational dance and sketch comedy with the Heretica Dance Company of Zendik Arts. Avi teaches at Moving Light Dance and Ballet Wolcott. She is a co-founder of the Montpelier Movement Collective and is in demand throughout the state as a freelance dancer.
It is my intention to send out an August newsletter. Meanwhile, thank you for your interest in the arts. Support for The Quarry Project comes from the Vermont Community Foundation – Arts Endowment Fund, the Vermont Arts Council, the Oakland Foundation, the Amy Tarrant Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, Polycor, the FlynnCenter, and many generous individuals.
With deep gratitude, always,
