Choreographies of the Arboreal

Choreographies of the Arboreal is a project conceived, directed and performed by Rosemary Candelario of Blackland Butoh Lab in the US and Nigel Stewart of Sap Dance in the UK. Informed by environmental dance, butoh, ecological performance, posthumanist studies, plant ecology, and forest bathing, the project as a whole explores the connections between human and other-than-human life, in particular between human bodies and tree communities. Although this will ultimately lead to a touring work with associated workshops and conference presentations, during the present pandemic, we have decided in the meantime to share exploratory films from our research in Joshua Tree National Park and Sequoia National Park as works in their own right, as an offering of beauty, solidarity, and collaboration during this time of isolation.

Funding for the research and development phrases of Choreographies of the Arboreal has been provided by the Creative Arts and Humanities Grant Program of Texas Woman’s University and the Research Fund of Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts at Lancaster University.