From Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing, one of the Four Spirits is “direct experimentation on the nature of interdependent origination through meditation, appropriateness, and skillful means.”  Everything is interconnected to everything else; without the cloud there is no rain, without the rain there is no tree, without the tree there is no paper.  There is a recognition of responsibility when understanding the interconnectedness between self and all other plant, animal and person. When we recognize that what we do and even what we think has an impact outside of ourselves, that peace is not something to achieve but a way of life, the choices we make have potential for change.  

From the touch of a plant to the sharing of trust, this Paseo Festival performance will challenge our willingness to be a support for each other.  

The music for this performance will be co-created by audience, plant and instrument. Plants are connected to music software, and the audience will have the opportunity to orchestrate the music for the performance merely through the touch to the leaves and stems of the plant.  Each plant will trigger a different music sample, and together participants will design the soundscape.  

The performance consists of five dancers, intertwined in red elastic ropes, in a slow, trusting give and take of weight and pressure, signifying the responsibility requested of this fragile balance that holds our lives together.  Through reciprocity we are all rewarded in this mutual symbiotic dance.  

About the artist: 

1. Creative expression

2. Connection (spiritual awakening)

3. Health and Healing

MovementLab offers education and exploration in the creative arts, primarily dance/movement classes, yoga, Butoh, dance making, conscious listening, retreat, performances, sustainable architecture, the sharing and evolving of ideas. The Lab’s effort is in supporting a mindful artistic approach to daily interaction with self, others and environment. Using a variety of movement conversations and inspirations, we explore the connection of the conscious soma and intuitive body to the environment to promote health and healing both individually and as a community.    Sharing as performance artists we combine performance and community movement events to share our work and to expand the communal interest in a life of creative expression.