Justice Dance Performance Project

Moving for Change Since 1989.

Dear friends of JDPP,

The dappled light, cool air, scent of leaf mold, and call of birds seem in contrast to the “ordinary” world. The trees stand as silent witnesses to the mysterious happenings of nature. and they are integrally part of its mystery.

During this time of pandemic I was gifted Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. In these books, I further learned of the forest’s power both in scientific and Native wisdom terms. The forest is trying to tell us something important by example, something that we desperately need to hear.

This time feels more critical and perilous than any I have experienced. A global rise in authoritarian populism, layered by two years of pandemic and decades of climate change, has led us to envision a future of crisis whose harbinger might be the horrifying war in Ukraine.

Trees, too, are subject to mindless clear cutting and disregard of their critical value to the earth’s survival.

I am now listening anew. I’m walking in the woods and now scouting locations for JDPP’s next site-specific dance theater production called, ‘In the Presence of Trees.’ I want everyone to understand that the interdependency of the forest can be a guide for saving our communities and ourselves.

Trees need and support each other, sharing resources and space and filling important nurturing and sentinel roles. We can, too. In fact, we must. We have no time to lose. And we must save the forests from ruination by our hands.

You will hear more about ‘In the Presence of Trees’ in the coming months. In the meantime, please think of yourself as part of the wonderful integrated forest of humankind and nature. What can you do today to help us all grow and thrive?

Wishing you peace,