Midsummer Moon -- Dancing Through Time and Space, Celebrating Thomas Berry’s Life with a new Dance!

Sometimes the creative life is a grind, sometimes it is grand.  Recently one of those grand things happened that gives me a big thrill just to have my songs included.  Here’s the story:

photo from Hubble Telescope, lyric Fireball by JJRouse

The words and works of the late Thomas Berry have long been an inspiration for my musical work. I was fortunate to meet and speak with him on several occasions, including leading some singing for several of his 94th birthday celebrations (yes, there were multiple parties sponsored by the city of Greensboro, NC). 

This year many of his friends, followers, colleagues and students have been planning special events to commemorate the 100th year of his birth.  Nelson Stover’s beautiful poem Midsummer Moon, based on Berry’s telling of the Universe Story, is the setting for a new Modern Dance program highlighting eight songs from the Earth Mama Music catalog.  The songs include:

• Fireball (Under the Rainbow)
• Standing on the Shoulders (Love Large)
• Away (Grass Roots!)
• Grass Roots!
• Earth Pledge
• Every Day is Earth Day (Around the World with Earth Mama)
• We are One (Love Large)
• Friend of the Earth (Love Large)

I’ve always had two left feet, so it will be a joy to see real, professional dancers moving to my songs and set to the lovely narrative of Midsummer Moon!

Please come join us for one of the two premier performances in Greensboro, NC.  Note they are in two different locations.
 
Saturday, November 1, 7:30-8:30 pm


Midsummer Moon: Dancing through Time and Space

Place: Caldcleugh Multicultural Arts Center
Presented by: Emerging Ecology
We Are One performing arts ensemble presents Midsummer Moon. The scenes tell the universe story from the primal flaring forth through the emergence of humans. They highlight oppor­tunities for contributing to the enhancement of all species.
For additional details visit our website. If you plan to attend and would like updates on the program, Like Us on Facebook.

Saturday, November 8, 7:30-8:30 pm


Midsummer Moon: Dancing through Time and Space
Place: Greensboro Historical Museum
Presented by:  Emerging Ecology
We Are One performing arts ensemble presents Midsummer Moon. The scenes tell the universe story from the primal flaring forth through the emergence of humans. They highlight oppor­tunities for contributing to the enhancement of all species.
For additional details visit our website.  If you plan to attend and would like updates on the program, Like Us on Facebook.

Good Reading

GOOD READS: This is the best time of year to curl up with a good book, and my stack has been piling up with volumes I can’t wait to read. Right now I am enjoying Judy Cannato’s Field of Compassion—How the New Cosmology is Transforming Spiritual Life. Judy is a brilliant, brave and amazing woman who understands things like quantum physics better than anyone I know and combines that interest with deep spirituality and the New Universe Story. I feel honored that she often uses my music in her workshops and presentation. I am inspired to write new songs as I read her work. She is a recent recipient of the Sacred Universe Award, and reminds me with every page of the hope, promise and love of the Universe!

I am big fans of journalist Amy Goodman’s work— her radio and TV broadcasts “Democracy NOW,” (www.democracynow.org) her books and interviews, and her courageous investigative journalism into war crimes, big media, food safety and more. I happened to be on the same “running-very-late” train as Ms. Goodman, to Washington DC to hear her speak at a recent Green Festival. So I got to help! For an hour or more I was Amy Goodman’s road assistant, carrying, researching the morning papers, dashing from train to cab, running thru the convention center where she took off her coat and brushed her hair as she stepped to the podium to speak extemporaneously for an hour. Brilliantly. Touching on every pressing issue of the day, reminding us constantly that each cholera victim in Haiti, each victim of torture detailed in the Wiki-leaks documents, and each citizen denied healthcare coverage based on a pre-existing condition is a PERSON, not a statistic.
I am reading her newest book Breaking the Sound Barrier and I am reminded why Bill Moyers, Willie Nelson, Arianna Huffington and so many others tout her work. She gives me courage.