Arts, Dining & Entertainment, Events & Activities

‘Dance-Theater for Collective Liberation’ to perform in White River Junction

Saturday, July 10 and 11, 6 p.m. ­— WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Vermont-based Loom Ensemble has gathered together local dancers and professional theatermakers to devise a dance-theater performance, to tour Vermont city parks this July, sponsored by Open Door Integrative Wellness of White River Junction. “Twenty Twenty / Twenty Twenty-One: Dance-Theater for Collective Liberation” invites Vermont audiences to collectively grieve the intersecting crises of 2020, and radically reimagine the more beautiful world to steer towards in 2021. Performances will take place in city parks this July, in White River Junction, Montpelier, and Brattleboro.

The powerhouse creative team includes Vermont theatermakers Kate Gamble (Open Door Integrative Wellness), Hanna Satterlee (Hanna Satterlee Productions), and Raphael Sacks (Sandglass), directed by Neva Cockrell (Piloblus), along with a team of New York City professionals and Upper River Valley community members. The performance features a racially diverse ensemble of performers, and BIPOC Vermonters are especially invited to attend this anti-racist event, with a special BIPOC ticket price of “pay-what-you-want” (including $0).

For more than a decade, Loom Ensemble has been devising interdisciplinary theater for culture shift, using their performances to open difficult conversations, and then facilitating community discussion to unpack the emotional vulnerability and cultural taboos of each show. In that shared space, the social value of art made from a place of deep integrity becomes clear: our actions matter, new ways of living are possible, together we can build a more loving world. As a direct response to broken patriarchy, lonely individualism, and shame-inducing capitalism, Loom’s performances call audiences home to themselves and their communities. Artistic Director Neva Cockrell said, “Our work is to reconnect with the earth, with emotional integrity, and with each other. Come, let art remind you of your inherent goodness and our collective ability to heal and create change.” For more information, visit loomensemble.com.

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