Bouquets of thanks to Stephanie Hodde, artistic director for the Spectacle, for the vision, energy, and talent that brought A Wild Notion into being. In case you missed the performance, here’s Stephanie’s vision statement from the program notes.
A Spectacle is a community flourishing. Working, talking, making, together, we play at the many possible what if’s to create something new, while paying attention to what exists all around us.
A Wild Notion happened because many generations came together to laugh, dance, persuade, grumble, devise, tinker, and imagine a performance where the young lead if we set a stage for them. It’s important that I also acknowledge all the adults, too many to name, who set that stage, and the young who inspire us every day to teach and learn with them.
The idea of A Wild Notion came to me from a favorite children’s book, but then the story took on its own life – a story of three teens from Rockbridge County who have forgotten how to dream and who reconnect with their wildness in a neighboring forest.
The possibility came from the place I’ve known for 20 years as Boxerwood. A life-affirming, magical garden brimming with trees and people who know how to set things in motion. We hadn’t done a Spectacle since 2010 (Bones of Boxerwood) and as my Spectacle producer and Boxerwood educator Jess Sullivan said, “it’s time.”
Photos By Stephanie Blevins of The News-Gazette