thorns & leaves

2021/22

“the thing i came for:

the wreck and not the story of the wreck” - adrienne rich

thorns & leaves is a work that begins at the end. it is a work about what the world looks like from the eyes of those who are grieving, about what happens when things come apart and splinter open. it is a work about crumbling + succumbing + repressing + hiding + disowning + concealing, about abrupt endings and the finality, the permanency of everything. it is a work about that pressure in the head. it is a work about tenderness. it is a work that takes place in the aftermath.

a group of eight performers come up against one another’s needs. they hold, carry, suppress, deny, and desire each other. they navigate their way through the fallout, floating through the bitter and the sweet.

Choreography: Heather Stewart in collaboration with the dancers

Dancers: Emily Jerant-Hendrickson, Alyx Henigman, Katie Lake, Isabel Ball, Nicole Bradbury, Michaela Esteban, Laila Franklin, Tyeri Morrison

Music: dull aka Marc Bartissol

Research & creation for thorns & leaves has been made possible with generous support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts, The Maine Arts Commission, Casco Bay Movers, and Movement Arts Gloucester