I’ve just returned from a 10 day residency at White Oak Plantation in Northern Florida. White Oak was the brainchild of Howard Gilman and is home to an extensive animal conservancy, over 7000 acres of land and a large studio space, all set along the St. Mary’s river, dividing Florida from Georgia.

 

I arrived with the intention to create a specific solo I had preconceived in my head. The space and environment were inspiring, the people warm, welcoming and genuinely present.

 

I spent quite a bit of time alone outdoors. There was a pagoda in the center of a small lake with a narrow boardwalk connecting it to the shore. Here I practiced yoga and meditated as an alligator slowly swam around the periphery of the lake. I hiked in the woods with deer, snakes, the largest crickets I've ever seen and frogs that created a cacophonous melody. I swam in a swift moving river that challenged me to stay in the same place. And I began to see images in the clouds, in the bark on the trees, in the dirt. And I didn't work at all on what I had intended. Instead, and somehow, I birthed three new solos into the world within these ten days. You can see one of these at the Estrogenius Women in Motion Festival on September 29.

 

Thank you White Oak and The Howard Gilman Foundation!

Lynn