Suite Earth

Suite Earth is a performance collaboration based upon a moving address given by Alice Walker to the Midwives Alliance of North America. In her talk, Alice Walker asks us to look deeply at what it means to be human and to reclaim our relationship to the world in the face of violence, hatred, and war. This stunning modern dance/trapeze/live music performance presents the audience with a timely and spectacular show that will leave them spellbound, awed, and contemplative. Dancers and musicians appear together on the stage, creating a charged space into which the audience can easily step and soar!

Suite Earth is an evening-length work consisting of dance sections, text pieces, giant puppets and music-only interludes. Themes include birth, the effects of disease, militarism, war and violence upon communities and upon the human psyche, and a redemptive “Prescription for Earth” exhorting us to reconciliation, activism, and the calling forth of our best selves.

The presentation of Suite Earth offers rural and urban audiences the opportunity to experience live dance, music, and poetry and provides an introduction to aerial dance for some. The work is entertaining, intense, and thought provoking and may also offer a jumping-off point for individuals to consider their own response to current human events as well as the opportunity to strengthen their own communities and connections with others in the process.

Global Homestead is interested in offering companion workshops to the performance such as “Introduction to Low-Flying Trapeze” and a reading of Alice Walker’s talk “Sent by Earth: a message from the Grandmother Spirit after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon”.

Updraft will provide our own aerial apparatus and standard rigging hardware. Prior to booking, we arrange a site visit to assess the faciliy’s capability for aerial work. Minimum specifications include an attachment height of at least 15 feet (higher is better) capable of withstanding 1,500 pounds of dynamic weight (I-beams, catwalks or reinforced steel pipes work best). Videotapes of the work will be provided upon request.