The Elder I Hold Dear

During this four-hour workshop, participants will spend time alone developing lists, notes, narratives, and simple mental sketches that might help them discover noteworthy legacies linking them to close elder relatives who have died, be it a grandmother, grandfather, godmother, or godfather, among others. All materials generated on-site will serve to bring awareness to the ways others express themselves and continue to manifest themselves past their time on Earth using language, gestures, and postures as performed by those who hold them dear in the here and now. 

Participants are invited to use original or new objects representative or reminiscent of the relatives whose contributions the participant is seeking to discover. Emphasis will be placed on performance as a channel for enacting, rehearsing, remembering, healing, forgiving and, most importantly, honoring a departed elder. 

The Elder I Hold Dear expands from the solitary to the collective exploration of one’s departed elder with the whole group. The Elder I Hold Dear relies on the potential for the performance of day-to-day life to expand one’s personal boundaries and reveal the many legacies constantly shaping one’s identity at any given time.