Homeward — Dec 9, 10, 16 & 17
Intimate venue,
advance purchase suggested!
Dear SBDP Family,
Today and every day I am grateful for you — friends, family, artists, activists — who believe in the value of creativity and community. Thank you for all the ways you support me and this company of dancers and collaborators.
We are in the home stretch of preparations for our 10th Anniversary Season — Homeward, Dec 9, 10, 16 & 17 at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley.
I am thankful for the dancers, for all of their time in the studio rehearsing, creating, and dancing with furniture. Thankful for Shawl-Anderson Production Manager, Jessi and for Lighting Designer, Linda for their patience with me and my gazillion ideas for lights and sets and props and effects. And so thankful for Rose, Homeward’s Assistant Director, for handling everything from scheduling rehearsals to leading them, from generating ideas to wrangling mine.
I am thankful for the donations we receive that make it possible for me to create this show, to pay these professionals, to bring my values and visions to life and present them to the public.
I am thankful for the students in my group classes and private coaching sessions, it is a joy working with them toward their individual goals. Grateful to Natta at Studio Azul and Corey Action at New Style Motherlode for the spaces they maintain and communities they nurture.
What a beautiful Fall it’s been!
In October, Rose, Clarissa and I were joined by regular students from my technique classes to perform a piece at a heart-warming, talent-filled fundraising event which Corey organized at the Oakland Metro Operahouse to support hurricane recovery needs in Puerto Rico.
Julie, Clarissa and I got to do a second “This Land” workshop in conjunction with East Bay Regional Parks District, performing and leading site-specific movement and art-in-nature appreciation exercises for all ages as part of their series of “Multicultural Wellness Walks”.
I am thankful to be in the Bay Area with beautiful scenery and its bountiful arts culture. I have seen so many great shows this fall and am grateful to be part of such a prolific community of artists.
Last weekend I had the joy and honor to create and lead an interactive, multidisciplinary event with Berkeley Art Center’s Director, Ann Trinca. We ushered the audience, along with the exhibit’s visual artists, on a deep-dive into creative methods for viewing and connecting with art. Through performances, questions, discussion, writing, embodying and playing, we journeyed inside the art-making process. “Thread Heads” is an incredible exhibit of New Fiber Arts. Check it out before it ends this Sunday!
Such heart-filling community engagement activities we’ve participated in during our rehearsal period for our upcoming show — all these communities and spaces with which we get to build a sense of home.
The golden angle of the light, the turning of the leaves, the crispness in the days and the longer nights, the family gatherings, a sort of glowing of the world, invites in me, introspection. I am reflecting on home, how it shifts, how we lose and rebuild, what we are given, what we must leave, search for, work for, create. Maybe we are always headed homeward, a constant lean toward where we feel most at home.
This weekend, in whatever shape your family gatherings take, may you find with others and within yourself nourishing experiences of peace and joy, a sweet true sense of home.
With love and thanksgiving,
Sarah
Sarah Bush, Artistic Director
Sarah Bush Dance Project
Photo Lisa Harding
Sarah Bush Dance Project 