TREE

"Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life." –Hermann Hesse

Tree is a sited durational butoh performance work for twelve dancers scored to unfold over a two-hour period on the sidewalks, hills, and parks surrounding the Davis Square area of Somerville, Massachusetts. Developed during several months of rehearsals on site, TREE evolved through the exploration of the physical and energetic qualities of an individual tree or grove of trees. Imagery was developed using butoh-fu, a choreographic method that utilizes imagery as content for somatic exploration in butoh dance. Each mover and her tree work with unique images to embody a different aspect of worlding, described by German philosopher Martin Heidegger as a gerundive and generative process of world-making, world-becoming, and world "bringing-near."