Program note from Artistic Director, JoAnna Mendl Shaw

Thank you for joining us for this performance of Interspecies Listening: Lessons with a Master. Site-specific installation, interspecies dialogues, theatrically framed process, choreography created in real time, perhaps even a hint of environmental activism – this event that defies any single definition. Perhaps these program notes will provide informative context:

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I have been exploring the (perhaps naïve) notion of dancing with an equine partner since 1998. The first time I experienced a horse co-creating with me took me by surprise: It was in 2008, with Buca, a 4-year-old gelding in a small round pen in Maine. I had created a repeating behavior that seemed to fascinate this young horse. I held up a soft cotton shirt, let it drop, timing my speedy crouch with the falling fabric. Buca lowered his head, sniffed, the fabric, then took off into a gentle trot. Two circles. I backed up, he turned, faced me and halted. We repeated that sequence of events 4 times. On the 4th repeat Buca snatched up the shirt in his mouth, trotted twice around the round pen, shirt in mouth, turned towards me and halted. I was stunned. I was delighted. I no idea what to do next. Sustaining that dance was beyond my horsemanship abilities.

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My next series of truly memorable dances with an equine were with a mare named Roxy. Roxy lived at our training barn in southern New Jersey, where the Equus Projects did bi-monthly training under the watchful eye of a skilled and seasoned horsewoman. Roxy had lots of groundwork training. She was teaching me to be a more effective leader. In between serious training exercises, Roxy and I would improvise. Roxy loved a quirky high stepping prance I devised. We would prance in tandem and then, if asked, Roxy would circle around me once, face me and halt. 

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The Equus Projects began regular training in Natural Horsemanship in 2004. We worked with Linda Parelli and several masterful Parelli instructors, then a host of other natural horsemanship trainers. We spent hours in round pens, carrot stick in hand. We trained with horses that knew the language of drive and draw, move your shoulder, move your haunches.  There were always treats involved, rewarding a job well done. These felt like shared dances. 

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Then in 2022, we met Dan McCarthy. His horsemanship was not about domination. It was about co-creation. Dan is a lifetime horseman as well as a professional jazz musician. A skilled improviser, Dan brings creative adaptability into his horsemanship. He uses improvisation to acknowledge and empower the animal. He asks each horse for its opinion. He is suggesting, not dominating. He allows his choices to be shaped by the horse. In moments of resistance or explosive behavior, Dan quietly suggests an alternative. Watching Dan with a horse on line or at liberty is like watching a dance. Occasionally Dan brings a guitar into a round pen or pasture. Playing quietly, he is soliciting the horse’s curiosity and gently establishing trust. He is also co-regulating his energy to that of the animal. This is a quiet, slow process. Patience is called for. This performance is designed to frame the gorgeous subtleties of McCarthy’s horsemanship, and his complete commitment to an interspecies dialogue.

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 When we began devising this performance last October, we thought we would eventually be able to create small dances with our two equine-cast-mates, June and Douglas. Months of explorations proved us naïve. June and Douglas have minimal groundwork training. Co-created dances were not meant to be. This was a humbling wake-up call reminder of the true depth of horsemanship required to dance with an equine partner. So, we have very intentionally shaped this work as a series of Lessons with a Master. Each interlude is different: An exploration of skeletal movement, experiencing texture of touch, shaping space between, an energetic progression - each equine interaction suggests fragments of movement that are accumulated, developed and woven into choreography created in real time. 

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We invite you, the audience, to slip into horse time, notice the variegated details of energetic shifts and spatial interaction, witness a dancer learning to listen. Co-creating a dance is sacred business.