Elm Tree
Elm Tree
Latvia
Latvia
Ka Man Klajas
Ka Man Klajas
Ieva Akuratere
Ieva Akuratere
Choregrapher: Anastasia Geng
Choregrapher: Anastasia Geng
Joanna Macy – The Path into the Forest.
Joanna Macy – The Path into the Forest.
Elm Tree: This dance is about Resistance, Healing and Remembrance…And this is why.
Elm Tree: This dance is about Resistance, Healing and Remembrance…And this is why.
Music: Latvian.
Music: Latvian.
It became a song of the Cultural Resistance Movement against Soviet occupation and an unofficial Latvian National Anthem. The song follows the oral tradition of the Latvian language having double meanings.
It became a song of the Cultural Resistance Movement against Soviet occupation and an unofficial Latvian National Anthem. The song follows the oral tradition of the Latvian language having double meanings.
Choreography: Anastasia Geng, born in Berlin, had both German and Latvian ancestry. She created 38 dances to correspond to the Bach Flower Remedies created in the 1930”s.
Choreography: Anastasia Geng, born in Berlin, had both German and Latvian ancestry. She created 38 dances to correspond to the Bach Flower Remedies created in the 1930”s.
Bach was an English physician and homeopath who believed that the key to overall health was to care for the mind as well as the body. The dance evolved from its original form when it was brought to Novozybkov by Joanna and Fran Macy.
Bach was an English physician and homeopath who believed that the key to overall health was to care for the mind as well as the body. The dance evolved from its original form when it was brought to Novozybkov by Joanna and Fran Macy.
Fran Macy founded a major environmental group in Russia and when Chernobyl happened in 1986 all the activists he had been working with, came together to support the people impacted by that event. The toxic cloud was heading towards Moscow and so to save millions of people, the Government decided to seed the cloud over the countryside of the Bryansk region but they didn’t advise the population until months later. In the years following he would often work with the activists to identify what they could do to help these communities. Fran asked Joanna, the founder of “Work that Reconnects” to offer workshops in the region to help people in these communities.
Fran Macy founded a major environmental group in Russia and when Chernobyl happened in 1986 all the activists he had been working with, came together to support the people impacted by that event. The toxic cloud was heading towards Moscow and so to save millions of people, the Government decided to seed the cloud over the countryside of the Bryansk region but they didn’t advise the population until months later. In the years following he would often work with the activists to identify what they could do to help these communities. Fran asked Joanna, the founder of “Work that Reconnects” to offer workshops in the region to help people in these communities.
In Novozybkov she found the people unresponsive. They had been contaminated with the highest level of radiation. They could no longer go into their forest, which was a huge part of their Culture and livelihood. Their homes were gone due to contamination and been replaced with concrete block apartments, people were sick with leukaemia, some had lost their children, there were miscarriages and birth deformities. They had lost so much they had shut down and for days were not open to sharing their experiences.
In Novozybkov she found the people unresponsive. They had been contaminated with the highest level of radiation. They could no longer go into their forest, which was a huge part of their Culture and livelihood. Their homes were gone due to contamination and been replaced with concrete block apartments, people were sick with leukaemia, some had lost their children, there were miscarriages and birth deformities. They had lost so much they had shut down and for days were not open to sharing their experiences.
In an effort to engage them Joanna decided to teach them the dance. The Elm dance.
In an effort to engage them Joanna decided to teach them the dance. The Elm dance.
The Elm, one of Bach’s flower remedies, is the remedy for people suffering a temporary loss of confidence due to overwhelming amount of responsibility they have taken on. The remedy helps to dispel these feelings so that you can resume your lives without thought of failure. During the dance they started to hold their hands up to signify the trees swaying, which wasn’t part of the original dance and the next day they asked to do the dance again and again. And they started to talk, sharing their stories and talking about their grief.
The Elm, one of Bach’s flower remedies, is the remedy for people suffering a temporary loss of confidence due to overwhelming amount of responsibility they have taken on. The remedy helps to dispel these feelings so that you can resume your lives without thought of failure. During the dance they started to hold their hands up to signify the trees swaying, which wasn’t part of the original dance and the next day they asked to do the dance again and again. And they started to talk, sharing their stories and talking about their grief.
On the last day a woman named Anna, stood and said “how dare you have done this to us. You came here and incited us to talk about this, our grief is huge, you opened us up and you get to go back to America and we are left here and the world doesn’t know what happened". Joanna replied “I will dance this dance and I will tell your story and everybody I teach this dance to, I will ask to tell your story every time it’s danced".
On the last day a woman named Anna, stood and said “how dare you have done this to us. You came here and incited us to talk about this, our grief is huge, you opened us up and you get to go back to America and we are left here and the world doesn’t know what happened". Joanna replied “I will dance this dance and I will tell your story and everybody I teach this dance to, I will ask to tell your story every time it’s danced".