Author: JoAnne Tucker

Dancing with the Penguins

JoAnne Tucker / / Personal Life

Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration! I love the scene in Mary Poppins where Dick Van Dyke dances with four cartoon penguins. And no, Murray and I did not become transformed into Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but what we did do was go to an island where we could walk with and near the penguins.  A limited number of people each day are allowed to enter the island and walk within a few feet of the penguins.

We left Ushuaia, the southern most point in Argentina, by a minivan of 12–15 people, and after an hour or two of driving east along a scenic highway we came to Estancia Harberton where we had a bathroom option before we boarded a small zodiac-type boat to Martillo Island for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  I knew that we would see penguins but I had no idea how many, or that we would literally be waddling right beside them.

After getting off the boat on a sandy and pebbly beach we were greeted by mainly Magellanic penguins. From September to April this is their home and there are over 1000 nests.  There are also a few Gentoo Penguins who nest there.  Much to my surprise they did not move away from us but basically welcomed us as a natural part of their environment.

For an hour Murray and I quietly wandered among the penguins, mostly in silence, photographing and observing.  Later I would return home and make pastel paintings from several of Murray’s photographs.

Arriving on Martillo island. Photo by Murray Tucker
Two penguins along our walk. Photo by Murray Tucker
A pastel painting that I did several months later based on one of Murray’s photos.

On our return to Estancia Harberton we had time to wander the gardens and old buildings and enjoy lunch at the restaurant.  Murray was fascinated by this bent-over tree.

Photo by Murray Tucker

Three other excursions stand out: a visit to the national park, a cruise on the Beagle Channel and a ride up the ski lift close to town.

Getting to the National Park was an easy bus ride of just a few kilometers going west of town.  The park entrance is at the end of the National Highway and the other side of the park is the border with Chile.  We had a delightful walk along the main trail in a forest of beech and evergreen.  The trail borders the water and there are side trails which take you down to the water.  We enjoyed seeing the various waterfowl that were along the water’s edge.

Murray took this picture of me at the entrance to the park.

On another day we took the ski tow up to an alpine area and enjoyed wandering around and getting a different sight of the town below and the mountains above.  We walked back to town.

Finding the path to begin our walk back to town. Photo taken by Murray

And of course, no trip to Ushuaia would be complete without a cruise around the Beagle Channel.   This is a favorite picture of Murray and me aboard the boat and then another of the sea lions we passed by.

A close-up taken by Murray during the cruise on the Beagle Channel.

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Argentina – Spanish School for Murray and Painting for JoAnne – Part I

JoAnne Tucker / / Personal Life

The 10 weeks we spent in Argentina during the winter of 2006 were filled with different unique experiences somewhat representative of the natural diversity of the country that extends from a subtropical north to a sub-Antarctic south.  Considering that Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world, we were able to enjoy and explore the country a lot by flying from place to place.  We found in our early research that if we flew into Buenos Aires internationally on Argentina’s national airline, Aerolineas, then there were discounted fares for flying between places within the country. From our homebase in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, it wasn’t easy to connect to Aerolineas in the US so we flew to Santiago, Chile,  I think on Delta.  We didn’t have to go through immigration and easily connected to an Aerolineas flight into Buenos Aires.  Now we qualified for the discounted fares which made a significant difference in cost and time so we could see more of Argentina!

Our trip was framed by a few days in Buenos Aires at both the beginning and the end.  We loved wandering the streets, sampling the excellent food, attending a tango show and visiting Eva Peron’s grave.  While it was lots of fun it wasn’t very different from the excellent experiences we had had visiting other major cities.

Picture taken by Murray when we visited the cemetery.
Picture taken by Murray when we visited the cemetery.

What was very unique was the month we spent in Ushuaia.  Ushuaia is sometimes referred to as the “end of the world” as it is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina.  It is the “gateway” for Antarctica cruises. It is located on the Beagle Channel with the Martial Mountains behind. I have very vivid memories of seeing both the Beagle Channel and the mountains behind as our plane landed at the airport.

We had a wonderful hostess for the month.  She was a retired teacher who earned extra income by hosting students studying at the Spanish school.  A comfortable room, a good breakfast and dinner, and a drive to the school located up on a hill made it easy for us to quickly settle in.  While Murray was in school in the morning I would usually set up somewhere close by on the sidewalk and just enjoy painting.  I got very comfortable with people looking over my shoulder but conversations were limited as I had so little Spanish, and that suited me very well.  Among my favorite paintings done on the street were paintings of the mountain peaks, the huge lupine flowers and the view into the channel.

View of the Beagle Channel. Pastel Painting by JoAnne Tucker.
Pastel painting of lupine flowers by JoAnne.
Mountain peaks with snow and clouds.  The days were often cloudy and grey yet still very beautiful. Pastel painting by JoAnne.

Following our mornings in school we would wander down the hill and find a cozy restaurant for lunch.  Sometimes we were joined by some of the students at the school.  I remember one lunch at an informal pizza place with a couple in their 30’s from Germany.  They were taking a half year off to begin a bike trip from Argentina to Alaska and decided to begin by reviewing their Spanish.  Murray and I were both surprised and thrilled to hear about their plans and the trip.  What an amazing, ambitious undertaking.  We learned that others had actually done the trip and that they were going to do it in stages.  We did follow their blog at first and know that they made it the length of Argentina riding their bikes.  A quick Google search couldn’t find anything about their trip but I did find some blogs of people that actually completed the trip and I include them here for your reference.

https://www.redbull.com/int-en/theredbulletin/michael-strasser-ice2ice-pan-american-highway-ride-stats

http://www.scc2ush.com

https://3boondogglers.com/20-questions-pan-american-bicycle-tour/

After lunch we would sightsee downtown and walk along the harbor until we got to the street where we lived and then follow it, arriving home in time to relax before dinner.

We did have a few dinners out.  One related to the Super Bowl.  The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Seahawks on Sunday night, February 5, 2006.  Murray and I had both grown up in Pittsburgh and Murray’s dad was Joe Tucker, the very first sports announcer for the Steelers. He began broadcasting on radio in 1936 and his last game was on television in 1968.  Murray never missed a game and usually I was right there with him so it was only natural that we would find a place in Ushuaia to watch the Super Bowl.  The week before, we visited several places that had TV’s and sport events on and did find one place that promised that they could get the game and we could have dinner and watch it there.  We did and it was great fun to see the Steelers win, 21 -10 over the Seahawks.

Our other very memorable dinner out was at an elegant restaurant that prepared a five-course meal, each course served with a special wine.  Our hostess told us that whenever a major cruise ship was in town, the captain of the ship usually dined there.  It lived up to its reputation.

Picture taken by Murray when we arrived in Ushuaia. It was either taken during a cruise on the Beagle Channel or from the airport right after we arrived.
Picture taken by Murray of a typical lupine garden in Ushuaia

The next blog will share some of the special sightseeing that we did while in Ushuaia.

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Finding just the right music for a film

JoAnne Tucker / / Film, Music

We’ve got the right script for a film and it has been edited.  Now we need to add some music.  Solving the problem of just the right accompaniment has been nearly a sixty-year challenge for me.  I can remember spending hours in the Juilliard library listening to music to find the right piece for a work I was creating for Louie Horst’s choreography class on Group Forms. More recently I have been challenged to find music to go with the films that Healing Voices – Personal Stories has made, related to domestic violence.  Often, the music has been the final step in the filmmaking process, and that was the case with our most recent film, One in 7, which we completed in December 2021.

The earlier films for Healing Voices were focused on women, but this new one was focused on the fact the one in seven men also are victims of domestic violence.  As I watched the early drafts of the film I thought that it might be a good idea to ask my friend and colleague Newman Taylor Baker to create some music for the film using the washboard.  Newman is a percussionist whom I have worked with since 1990, when I directed The Avodah Dance Ensemble.  He provided the accompaniment or an original score for a number of the dance pieces in the company.  I thought this might be a project for him and discussed it with my co-director and co-producers.  They all liked the idea, and my co-director David Lindblom had a good suggestion that Newman also film his hands while he was playing.

Newman was enthusiastic.  We sent him a draft of the film so he could get an idea of what we might use in the opening and then in the credits at the end.  That was where we thought we needed music.  When Newman got the short film of 7:14 minutes he decided to improvise and create a score for the whole film.  He was about to go on a trip to Poland and thought he knew some people in Poland who could film him playing in a studio there.  David and I said sure.  We imagined that we could find sections to use for our original idea, and we were curious what Newman’s music would sound like for the full film.

Then we got his score, and what an amazing surprise it was that we liked the music throughout the film.  It gave a rhythm and intensity that fit perfectly and in fact greatly enhanced the impact of the film.  It was a challenge for David who was doing the film’s editing to sync everything correctly, and I am so grateful that he took his time and worked on it until he felt it was just right.  It was important to balance the level of the washboard with the voices of the speakers in the film too. David also used visuals of Newman playing in different places, and the image of Newman’s fingers inside bullet cases playing on the washboard added another dimension to a story focused on the three men describing violence they had experienced.

The whole experience reminded me again of the importance of how the arts complement each other.  Filmmaking — like theatre, opera and dance — is bringing together more than one art form.  Yes… it may be driven by a script, or choreography, but it is the blending of other art forms with the primary one that makes the work complete, taking the viewer on a total journey.  Newman’s creativity and fascination in experimenting with accompanying the film from beginning to end made a huge difference.  David’s vision of not just hearing Newman but making sure we had a visual of him playing was essential for the final result.

I come away from this project celebrating collaboration and keenly aware of how the right musical accompaniment can drive a work whether it be in dance or in film. A special thank you to Newman Taylor Baker, David Lindblom, The Family Place in Dallas, TX, and the three men who bravely shared some of their story with us.  Here is a link to watch the film.

A screen shot from the film of Newman’s hands playing the washboard!

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Improvising into 2022

JoAnne Tucker / / Arts in Education, Movement Workshops

I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions, but somehow as I step into this new year I sense a need to have a philosophy or an approach to handle the continuing challenges of the time we are living in.  As I pondered what this approach could be, what came to mind was the important role improvisation has played in my work with the dance company and in the many workshops I have led in so many different situations. When an improvisation works it transcends the moment, connecting the participants together in a new and unique way.  Somehow each participant has let go of their individual agenda and given themselves fully to the moment and to each other.  Over the years I have experienced this in a variety of different places, and the feeling of connecting deeply was sometimes surprising and always very fulfilling.  I have observed it when the Avodah Dance Ensemble nailed an improvisation of a particular Torah portion.  Once when I was leading a group of students in a Doctor of Divinity Program it happened as we responded to a line of text in movement, and after the beautiful movement improvisation of about 10 minutes we quietly sat together, not sure what words to use to describe the experience, and just remained quiet, taking in what had happened.

So we are living at a time when it is important to let go of being fully committed to plans. We just don’t know what’s around the corner related to COVID… will there be a new variant that will close things down?  How do we interact with people, even if we have gotten the vaccines and booster?  This is all very new, and I find I am reminding myself of what I know from years of improvisation and even from the more informal creative movements I learned as a child:  having fun and committing myself to the moment and finding the way to respond.

Recently Rabbi Lisa Greene emailed me and asked me if I would speak to a student of hers who was a dancer preparing for her Bat Mitzvah.  I agreed and did, and then Lisa and I enjoyed emailing back and forth.  Lisa shared a link with me about Viola Spolin, Spolin’s son Paul Sills and Second City Improv Company.  It was a program created by the PBS station in Chicago and the description about the program is as follows:

Chicago’s greatest cultural export just might be improvised theater, which was born at Jane Addams’ Hull House during the Great Depression and carried out into the world by the likes of Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Stephen Colbert.  But while to most people improv might seem synonymous with comedy, the art form was devised by a woman named Viola Spolin who wasn’t out for laughs.

I knew Viola Spolin’s name well and even took a workshop with her in the 60’s in Chicago, probably knowing of her through the graduate work I was doing in theatre either at the University of Pittsburgh or University of Wisconsin in Madison.  And I had both her book Improvisation for the Theater and a wonderful box filled with all kinds of cards for games to use in teaching movement improvisation.  Her book came out in 1963 and is still available on Kindle or through a website devoted to her work.  I highly recommend checking out the website.

Viola Spolin was born in 1906 to Russian Jewish immigrants.  In the 1930’s, as a social worker, she began experimenting with theatre games.  To learn more about her amazing life, the number of actors and teachers she has directly influenced (along with countless others through them) and why she is called the “mother of improvisation” please check out her biography  at:  https://www.violaspolin.org/bio

Spolin died in 1994.  Her son Paul Sills continued her work during her lifetime and after and there is lots about him in the PBS YouTube link.  Her granddaughter Aretha Sills is continuing to lead workshops and has a series online.  I just boldly signed up for a workshop beginning March 3rd, meeting once a week for 2 ½ hours, for six weeks.  I am very curious to see how she will be leading it online and I definitely want to refresh myself on how an improvisational way of thinking might help to handle the challenges of 2022!

Before I close this blog I want to share a few specific reasons why improvisation can be a guide for 2022.  These come from two websites that cite Spolin’s work and express it clearly:

  1. Live in the moment, responding to what is happening
  2. “Yes and,” not “No but”! Be positive
  3. Listen
  4. Meet the needs of your partner, team or situation rather than your ego
  5. Do your best and learn from your mistakes
  6. Don’t have an agenda
  7. Don’t be afraid to fail

Here’s the link to the two websites that talk about how improvising can contribute to a more positive creative life.    https://www.nextavenue.org/mprov-way-through-life/

https://greenglobaltravel.com/how-to-be-happier-5-secrets-to-improvising-your-life/

I look forward to taking the online workshop and most certainly will write a blog about it!  SO here is to a new year navigating with flexibility and improvising as we go!

Both images are from the ViolaSpolin.org website.  Although it turned out that I didn’t need permission to use the images (as they have the website on the posters), I did check and was pleased to get a speedy positive response from Aretha Sills.

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Dr. Barbara McIntyre – “An Inspiration and Mentor to Generations of Students”

JoAnne Tucker / / Arts in Education, Personal Life

I am one of those students and the above quote is from an obituary of Barbara McIntyre.   When I returned to Pittsburgh in 1962 and became a theatre major at the University of Pittsburgh following two years at Juilliard, one of the courses I took was Dr. McIntyre’s class on Creative Dramatics.  It was for both education and theatre students and gave us a good grounding in how to teach creative dramatics to children.  When I completed my undergraduate work and we stayed in Pittsburgh another year so my husband Murray could finish his Ph.D., I became Barbara’s teaching assistant as I worked towards a master’s degree in theatre.

Barbara had a wonderful way of encouraging creative potential in young children as well as in those who studied with her at the undergraduate or graduate level. While I was her teaching assistant she encouraged me to integrate creative movement into creative dramatic classes and suggested writing an article for teachers about how to use movement in creative dramatics.  It was an excellent assignment and experience for me as I researched and thought about movement and how best to express it for teachers. It gave me a fundamental understanding that served me well for the next thirty years. It did result in a publication, and the next year when we had moved to Madison, Wisconsin and I began graduate work for a Ph.D. in theatre, the University did not require me to finish my master’s since my work had been published.  I was allowed instead to enter the doctorate program directly.  I also became a teaching assistant in the theatre department, but those experiences will be for a later blog.

Barbara was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1916 and according to an interview by Ruth Beall Heinig, Ph.D., a former student, she wasn’t much of a student growing up.  She began to find her talents in theatre and voice especially when she went to Normal School which she attended after high school and where she was in a teacher training program. Upon graduating from the program she taught in a small rural school near Moose Jaw. That teaching experience with 11 students ranging in grades 1 to 9 instilled in her a love for children and teaching. In fact, her obituary (June 2005) mentions that “Barbara fell in love with children and with teaching did everything in her power to bring learning alive in her classroom. Early on Barbara incorporated drama into her classes and learned how powerful a force it could be in children’s learning.” (https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/timescolonist/name/barbara-mcintyre-obituary?n=barbara-mcintyre&pid=14252934)

In researching for this blog there was much I learned about Barbara’s life, including her earning her M.A. at the University of Minnesota in 1950 and then moving to Pittsburgh a few years later, first with a shared job between the University of Pittsburgh and the Children’s Theatre of Pittsburgh. The Arizona State University Library, Child Drama Collection, where Barbara’s papers from 1948-1991 are housed, provided an excellent write up of her time at Pitt.

As a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Barbara shared a job with the Children’s Theater of Pittsburgh and the Pitt Speech Department. This enabled her to develop a teacher education program where the college students could be involved with children from the first week of classes. When the Speech Department started sending children with hearing and speech problems to her classes, she realized the therapeutic value of creative drama. Her chairman encouraged her to go back to school and get a doctorate degree in speech and hearing. She studied with Eleanor Irwin, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine, who promoted the use of creative drama in drama therapy. McIntyre received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. The title of her dissertation was, The Effect of a Program of Creative Activities Upon the Consonant Articulation Skills of Adolescent and Pre-Adolescent Children with Speech Disorders.  (http://azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/mcintyre.xml;query=;brand=default)

Besides the excellent experience of learning how to analyze and incorporate movement into creative dramatics, there were some other very important things I learned from Barbara.  First of all, she introduced me to literature on children’s theatre and creative dramatics and particularly Winifred Ward’s Stories to Dramatize. I am not sure if Caps for Sale was a part of this collection but this became one of my favorite stories that I used often in creative movement classes.  It is about a peddler who falls asleep under a tree and monkeys come down from the tree and steal all of his hats from his bag.  When he wakes up and sees what has happened he finds a clever way of tricking the monkeys to get his caps back.  Under Barbara’s guidance I learned how to use these stories to captivate a group of children and to engage them so that they could act or dance the stories.  And I learned how to ask questions following their acting/dancing so that the group could both see what worked and what might be improved upon in a positive and healthy way.

One of my responsibilities as Barbara’s teaching assistant was to observe (via a one-way mirror) children with speech and hearing problems working in creative dramatics, and to take notes about the sessions.  Both my observations with Barbara and my mother’s work with the visually handicapped encouraged me to see and sometimes work with children or adults with disabilities.

I am also very grateful for the seeds that were planted in working with Barbara of how dance and theatre can reinforce academics — and not just with young children.  Two of the projects of Avodah (the dance company I founded and directed), made good use of this.  “Let My People Go” received a number of grants that enabled us to go into the New York area public schools and present concerts and workshops with students which reinforced curriculum related to American history, slavery in the United States and figures like Harriet Tubman.  We also developed programs around the Holocaust and again received grants to bring them to students.

And of course, the roots of how I incorporated dance midrash into the Jewish educational classroom, especially for children, goes back to this time. As I reflect back on the different role models and mentors I had it is like looking at a good recipe with lots of different ingredients.  I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to study and work with Barbara McIntyre.

I especially want to thank Dr. Eleanor Irwin and Dr. Ruth Heinig for their help in “remembering Barbara.”  Both of them stayed very close to Barbara after she left Pittsburgh.

Picture from the personal collection of Eleanor Irwin, Ph.D.  Barbara is on the left, with her sister, niece and nephew.

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Celebrating Two Recent Dance Virtual Events

JoAnne Tucker / / Current Dance Events, Dance History

While we are all so eager to be at live events, I am so grateful to have been able to participate in two virtual Zoom gatherings from my home in Costa Rica. Without this option I would not have been able to be a part of either of them.  On Monday night, November 22nd, The Martha Hill Dance Fund’s Celebration honoring two dancers started with a film and panel discussion via Vimeo, followed by a social gathering via Zoom. On Saturday afternoon, November 20th, The Sacred Dance Guild had a panel discussion on Dance as Healing, and I was pleased to be one of the five panelists.  It is exciting to see how well events can now be organized and technically handled online.

Let me begin by sharing the first event, “A Panel Discussion on Healing,” which is part of a larger series called “Is This Sacred Dance?”  Back in the late 80’s and into the 90’s I was a member of the Sacred Dance Guild and occasionally led workshops at their conferences.  As Artistic Director of the Avodah Dance Ensemble I was often invited to represent a Jewish perspective, as the majority of the members were Christian.  I was really surprised to be contacted by the current President, Wendy Morrell, this past spring. She was reaching out to explore the possibility of my participating in one of their quarterly events featuring a panel. My name had come up at an organizational meeting, and they were able to find me via a Google search and my postings on this blog.  Wendy and I had a lively conversation and it was very interesting to hear how the organization was addressing the question “What is Sacred Dance?”  After hearing about my recent work with domestic violence survivors and my work in prisons she thought I would be an excellent fit for the fall panel on healing.

There would be five panelists and each of us would be given five minutes to introduce ourselves and the kind of work we did.  Then the moderator would ask three questions before opening it to any questions that had been submitted via “chat.”  I enjoyed preparing and refreshing my presenting skills.  Zoom is easy because you can have notes or read what you have prepared, with the camera still seeing your face and not what you are reading unless you do a screen share.  We were also asked to have a closing movement gesture.

When the day arrived I was prepared and ready to go.  And of course, the electricity went off 10 minutes before the program was to begin.  Losing electricity happens often in Costa Rica.  As my house is closest to the guard house in our community, I have a small generator to keep my internet and the guard house internet working during a blackout.  Wow, was I glad to have that!  So I let the moderator know that I didn’t think it would be a problem and she decided that I should go first just in case it was.  And so I presented mainly about my work in prisons and in making films with domestic violence survivors.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing each of the other four presenters, and I liked the variety of approaches that were shared.  Each of the presenters has a unique background, and presentations were well organized.  I strongly recommend going to this link to learn about the presenters: Alexia Jones, Priya Lakhi, Ilene Serlin and Carla Walter.  https://sacreddanceguild.org/event-details/?event=651

Screenshot of the publicity for the program

The recording of the event has now been posted along with two earlier panels.  Here’s a link to YouTube if you want to watch the program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zlJsV44uHo&list=PL-1ZesdI7wMeVx_P2Gae9zGTOlYGVP78M&index=3

On Monday night, the Martha Hill Dance Fund honored Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Heidi Latsky.  The presentation on Vimeo began with film clips that I think are from the documentary made about Martha Hill.  What a wonderful way to open the evening, seeing Miss Hill and other dancers reminding us of the roots of modern dance!.  (I just discovered that Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter is available to rent or buy at iTunes and I look forward to getting it very soon.) Next were two short films summarizing each of the honorees.

I was particularly thrilled that Jawole was being honored.  I knew Jawole from the time she was a graduate student at Florida State University in Tallahassee in the late 1970’s when I was living there and often attending dance classes at FSU.  I have a very vivid memory of seeing an early piece of hers in an evening concert of student works and thinking, “Wow… that woman has something important to say.”  It stood out and stayed in my memory to this very day. Perhaps that piece for women provided a beginning for what has become one of her most well-known pieces, Shelter.  Shelter officially premiered in 1988 and is set for 6 women. It was first performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1992 and then revised in 2017.   The Ailey website describes it as “a passionate statement about the physical and emotional deprivation of homeless people . . .  the compelling message that the poverty of individuals will inevitably lead to the destitution of all humanity.”  It has been performed by both an all-female and all-male cast.

The other honoree was Heidi Latsky.  I was not familiar with her work at all and look forward to knowing more about her.  What was very fascinating was the video section showing her work with bilateral amputee Lisa Bufano.  She began doing this work in 2006 and refers to this time as an intensive period of creation.  To learn more about Heidi and Jawole I suggest going to the Martha Hill Dance Fund site that tells about the evening and gives full bios:  https://www.marthahilldance.org/martha-hill-virtual-celebration-2021

Danni Gee led an excellent discussion with Heidi and Jawole.   Then, in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Jose Limon Dance Company, the Vimeo portion ended with a section from There is A Time, choreographed by Jose Limon in 1956.

Following the formal presentation, many of the 80 attendees from the Vimeo section stayed to visit with each other via Zoom.  There were four breakout rooms, and once one figured out the technology it was possible to move from room to room.  It was great fun to see faces that I haven’t seen for years and say a quick hello!  The main topic of conversation was about what live dance events people had attended.  The occasion was a delightful event in the true spirit of The Martha Hill Dance Fund, which was founded to honor, perpetuate and reward Martha Hill’s commitment to dance education and performance internationally.

Screen shot of invitation to the event.

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Second Spanish School – A Month in Antigua, Guatemala

JoAnne Tucker / / Art, Personal Life

Six of us to share one bathroom and two of them were teenage girls.  Murray and I looked at each other and wondered how this was going to work out.  It certainly was a lot different than the experience we’d had with our host family in Costa Rica just a few days before, where we had our own private bath.  OK, we thought, let’s give it a try.  However, after a very sparse dinner and hardly a breakfast the next morning, when Murray was asked by his Spanish school about our host family, he had no hesitation in asking if we could be switched, as he didn’t think it would work out.  By the end of the morning class session, during which time I was enjoying painting in the school garden, the school administrator had arranged new housing for us.   Soon we were settling into a totally different situation with our lovely hostess, Lucretia, who had several bedrooms that opened to a beautiful atrium.  There was already another student there and while we didn’t have a private bathroom in our room there was one nearby which no one else was sharing at the time.  Dinner that evening was very lovely.  This was an excellent situation and we were so glad we had said something after just the first night in the other situation.

On one side of the atrium was a very large bird cage and quite a collection of tropical birds, and nearby was another large cage with several rabbits.  Occasionally I would stay at the house and just paint in the atrium.  I loved painting the birds and rabbits.

Pastel painting of Lucretia’s birds
Pastel painting of the three rabbits in the atrium with their lovely little blankets.

Antigua was a very different environment than the experience in Costa Rica had been.  While Antigua wasn’t very large it had a city feeling and we enjoyed walking in the streets and eating lunch out in the restaurants.  A large volcano was behind this colonial city and I love this picture Murray caught of a famous landmark with the volcano behind.

Photo by Murray Tucker

We were there during the month of Easter and learned a lot about how the holiday was celebrated.  Antigua is actually known for the beautiful floral carpets that adorn the street prior to Easter, and while I know Murray took pictures of them I haven’t been able to find them.  This article gives some pictures and explains how they are made! https://www.viaventure.com/easter-antigua-alfombra-carpet/

Among other highlights of our time in Guatemala was visiting one of our daughter’s friends, who was stationed there in the Peace Corps.  We visited her village and learned about the projects she was doing with the local community.

After Murray was finished with school we journeyed to Lake Atitlan and spent five relaxing days at a resort.  Sometimes we just hung out by the lake’s edge to watch local residents with their fishing boats or toured some of the towns surrounding the lake.  The best way to get around was by boat and one highlight was visiting the “hippie” town of San Marcos since many expats from the 60’s lived there.  There were a lot of yoga and meditation classes offered, although we didn’t take any.  Shopping in another village filled with local crafts was a lot of fun and we bought a large bed covering made up of woven ponchos sewn together.

Our first winter adventure of 2005, spending over two months in two Central America countries, was great fun and motivated us to begin planning for the next year.  Altogether we spent four winters in different places. Murray attended Spanish school for some of the time and I loved working in pastels.  Today quite a few of those paintings are on the walls in my home in Costa Rica.

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Spanish School in Costa Rica and a Time for me to Paint

JoAnne Tucker / / Art, Costa Rica, Personal Life

On the top of my husband Murray’s wish list when he retired from his job as an economist was to spend time in a Spanish-speaking country, living with a host family and studying Spanish in a school.  At that time I had no interest in learning Spanish, as I am not good at learning languages and had had some Spanish in college.  In fact, it was one of my languages for my Ph.D.  All that meant was that we read a book in our field and took it into a professor and he opened it to a page and we translated.  That wasn’t hard, as those of us in the theatre department passed around a book on theater history in Latin America.  Anyway, I liked the idea for a different reason.  While Murray was in school I could spend the time working in pastels.

After much research we selected two schools for what was to be the first of five winters spent in different Spanish-speaking countries.  For our first month of our first year, 2005, we selected a school in Costa Rica in the Monteverdi rainforest area.  Then for the second month we would travel to Antigua, Guatemala.

I carefully researched the best way to travel with pastels and purchased a box to carry them in that fit in my backpack.  I also cut paper the size that would fit in my medium-size suitcase along with enough glassine paper to protect my paintings and bring them home.

Our departure to San Jose did not go smoothly.  Leaving from Tucson, Arizona we were supposed to make a connection in Los Angeles. The plane was late but the United ticket agent thought we would still have a chance to make it.  We had to transfer from one terminal to another for the international flight. I remember a crazy mad dash with a porter across the airport and by the time we got to the counter the airplane doors were closed.  They decided the best option was to fly us to Chicago where we could then get a flight early the next morning to San Jose.  While it was a long trip going north to then go south it ended up being relaxing from that point on.

I remember a very bumpy ride from San Jose to our host family in the town of Santa Elena.  Our host was a teacher in the school and we would be provided with breakfast and dinner each day.  The school was a short car ride away or about a 20-minute walk.  It was a very comfortable house and a lovely family. Our room with its own bath was small with a typical Costa Rican matrimonial bed (a double bed), which was a bit of a surprise for us as we were used to sleeping in a king-size bed.  Our motivation was high to enjoy this experience so we made up our minds to make it work… which we did.  While many of the family members knew English, the goal was to speak only Spanish around us.  That was a big challenge for Murray and me but somehow we managed to communicate what we needed.  While they pushed Murray to use correct grammar they were very forgiving with me, and if I came up with the right infinitive of a verb it was accepted.

Each morning we rode with the teacher to school.  Murray would go off to class for the next several hours and I would have a wonderful time painting in the school’s garden.  They also arranged a place for me to leave my easel, pastels and paper so I didn’t have to carry them with me each day.  At lunchtime when Murray was finished, we would walk to a place to have lunch.  There were quite a few choices along what was then a dirt road into town.  There were also some fun places to sightsee nearby and one of our favorites was the Monteverdi Butterfly Garden.  Murray took some wonderful pictures and when I got home I did a painting from one of his pictures which is still one of my favorites.

Pastel Painting from a photograph that Murray took at the Butterfly Garden.

One weekend day we hired a guide to take us through the famous Monteverdi Cloud Forest Biological Preserve.  Of course the highlight was getting to see the Quetzals.  Our guide knew where there was a nest and sure enough we saw both the female and the amazing resplendent male!  What a treat.  While pictures didn’t come out too well as they were high up in a tree, my memory is very clear of seeing them.  Following our time with the guide we wandered on some paths and were awed by the abundance of trees and flowers, including a huge number of orchids.   While waiting for our taxi back, we sat in an outdoor patio area where there were many hummingbird feeders and the most hummingbirds I have ever seen in one place, with a unique jewel-like appearance.

Photo taken by Murray Tucker while waiting for a taxi and admiring the hummingbirds!

Another weekend we left on a Friday afternoon and went with a small group to the hot springs and Arenal Volcano area where we spent two nights.  Although it was fun, the ride was much too long and we were happy to just keep exploring locally after that!

View of Arenal Volcano. Picture taken by Murray Tucker

By the end of the month our love for the country of Costa Rica had grown.  We had visited once before in the 90’s spending a week at Rara Avis, one of the first eco tourism lodges, and loved it.  At that small resort with individual cottages and communal dining we had met mostly tourists from Europe.  The long tractor ride up a muddy trail and back down was particularly challenging to Murray although we were both glad to have had the experience.  I remember so well the beautiful blue butterflies at a waterfall!!  We also had our first experience with learning about how clever ants are, as we watched various parades of ants carrying leaves to the queen ant!  Following the week at Rara Avis we traveled south to the Osa Peninsula and stayed in a resort with a beautiful view of the ocean, where we enjoyed hiking down to the beach below and being amused by the various antics of the monkeys.  From a very positive impression of the country during that first trip and then again during the month in Monteverdi it is no wonder that when we decided to move from Santa Fe in 2019 and strongly considered moving out of the United States, Costa Rica was at the top of our list.  And move we did, at the end of January 2020, to Atenas in the Central Valley of Costa Rica.  And that is where I now call home.

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Reminiscing – A Trip to Tazacorte, La Palma

JoAnne Tucker / / Personal Life

In 2007 Murray (my husband who passed away in October 2020) and I spent a month in the small village of Tazacorte on La Palma Island, part of the Canary Islands.  In disbelief I have watched recent videos of the Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption which began on September 19.  The eruption continues and a recent BBC article describes what has happened:

Lava flowed down the mountain and through villages after the crack opened in the Cumbre Vieja volcano on 19 September, throwing jets of lava and ash into the air.

The red-hot liquid rock destroyed everything in its path – empty villages, schools and hundreds of homes – before reaching the sea 10 days later.

Farmers have been racing to save crops of bananas, avocados and grapes before the lava reaches plantations – which are rich with volcanic, fertile soil – on which many islanders depend for their livelihoods.

The Canary Islands Volcano Institute has suggested the eruption could last between 24 and 84 days.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58681233

It appears that over 1,100 buildings were destroyed and in the small village of Tazacorte, which we got to know and adore, a resident was quoted in one of the papers saying, “The lava ploughed through on its way to the sea, wrecking houses and farms.”

The black sand beach of Tazacorte makes a nice curve along the shoreline and along with the rocks, it let us know that volcanos created the island and eruptions had happened as recently as 1949 and  1971. We often walked alongside the beach which was really like walking three or four blocks in New York City and we would sit and watch the display of splashes as the waves hit the crop of rocks jutting out into the Atlantic. I don’t remember going swimming or even sitting on the sand nor seeing many people venture into the water.  It may have been because it was February or that it just wasn’t an ideal place to swim.  I do clearly remember many of us walking along  the beach.

We had rented a modestly furnished one-bedroom apartment in a bright blue three-story building about one block from the main street and just another block to the beach.  I spent a good deal of time doing pastel paintings while Murray reviewed Spanish for an upcoming few weeks in Spanish school in Granada.

Sometimes we would go sightseeing by picking up the nearby bus that made a circle of the island.  One time we took it to the overlook of the Cumbre Vieja volcano and wandered around the National Park before taking the bus back.  Another time we took the bus in the opposite direction and took a delightful hike that led us to a different bus stop for our return to Tazacorte.  (Before we had departed for what was becoming an annual two-and-a-half months spent in Spanish-speaking countries, I had discovered a wonderful book describing hikes on La Palma including how to begin and end using buses. It came in very handy!)

After reading about the recent volcanic eruption and deciding that I wanted to write a blog remembering our time on La Palma I wondered if I could find any of the pictures that Murray had taken while we were there.  Much to my delight when I went to a hard drive that he had prepared before leaving Santa Fe in January 2020, I discovered all of our trips neatly organized in folders with four folders featuring La Palma.  I also had kept one of the pastel paintings I did in the winter of 2007 and I just had it framed.  It is now hanging in one of the bedrooms here in Costa Rica.

As I end with photos I feel a deep gratitude for having shared this adventure with Murray, and appreciation that he so neatly organized the pictures so I could find them in just a few minutes.  And deep prayers to the citizens of La Palma and particularly Tazacorte that they may be able to rebuild their lives on this beautiful island.

Tazacorte from above. We slowly hiked up this hill, some of it through a banana plantation. Photo by Murray Tucker.
Tazacorte from a boat trip we took. Photo by Murray Tucker.
Waves splashing on the rocks and beach. Photo by Murray Tucker.
Banana flower. Pastel painting done in 2007.
Pastel painting, 2007, recently framed and decorating a bedroom here in Costa Rica.

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Dance Therapy, Permission Workshops and More

JoAnne Tucker / / Movement Workshops, Personal Life

During the time I was in New York City in the early 60’s I welcomed the opportunity to explore a variety of ways that one could have a profession in dance.  Of course, most of my energy was focused on performing and choreographing, especially when I was at Juilliard and studying at the Martha Graham Studio.  But I was curious about two other possible options. One was related to reconstructing and preserving dance using Labanotation (a system of dance notation recording movements, directions, timing, etc.) which we were required to take at Juilliard, and the other was the new field of dance therapy.  Most likely I learned about dance therapy through attending an American Dance Guild conference at the 92ndStreet YM&YWHA in NYC.  I particularly remember a workshop led by Anna Halpern, and while I didn’t relate to it very well I was fascinated with the use of dance to bring people together.  I also have a vague memory of being introduced to the work of Marian Chace perhaps at the same conference.

Marian Chace is considered the founder of dance therapy in the United States.  She began her dance career as a dancer, performer, and choreographer.  She opened a school in Washington, DC and it was while teaching that she noticed the benefits to her students.

The reported feelings of wellbeing from her students began to attract the attention of the medical community, and some local doctors began sending patients to her classes. She was soon asked to work at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. once psychiatrists too realized the benefits their patients were receiving from attending Chace’s dance classes.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_therapy

She began working at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in 1942. She developed a program called “Dance for Communication,” and that was really the start of a new mental health profession called dance/movement therapy. In 1947 she was employed full time at St. Elizabeth’s as a dance therapist.  In 1966 she was one of the founding members of the American Dance Therapy Association which continues to play an active role with a strong membership of dance therapists.  Here’s a link for more information about her life:  https://www.adta.org/marian-chace-biography.

I remember reading a book and some articles Chace wrote, and being totally fascinated.  I was also aware of the American Dance Therapy Association that she founded in 1966.  In the 1970’s, living in Tallahassee, Florida I found myself in need of therapy and sought out both individual and group therapy in the then popular Transactional Analysis.  The therapists that I worked with also offered training in Transactional Analysis and soon I was attending workshops and training to be a Permission Educator using movement as the main tool.  Some of these workshops were held at the Creative Dance Center Studio that I build in the mid-70’s.  At some point I also began leading movement workshops in the psychiatrist floor of Tallahassee’s main hospital.  At the same time, The Avodah Dance Ensemble was growing, and I realized that being a choreographer and director of the dance company was much more satisfying, so I eventually stopped leading workshops and focused on just the dance company.

When we began working with women in prison, some 15 years later, some of the training in Transactional Analysis came in handy but mainly in an indirect way. The concept of a nurturing parent giving permission to the creative child was at the core of what I had learned and begun practicing when leading workshops. However, as a dance company, and as myself as director, I clearly did not view what we were doing as therapy in any kind of traditional sense.  Instead we had a clear agreement with the women participating that the goal was for them to join the dance company in a performance and to share what they had learned and experienced with other inmates.  Feedback from teachers and the participants themselves indicate that they had a great sense of pride and accomplishment that they had stayed with the week-long workshops and followed through in the performance.  For many of them that was a major achievement.

Later when I worked with women from a domestic violence shelter I found that there were two different ways I approached the work.   When I went into group sessions it was to give permission to express one’s feelings through movement and to relate to another person in a safe non-verbal way (i.e. mirroring with a partner).  Alternatively, we offered the option for some of the women to participate in a more intense way and become part of a film project using movement and meditation for healing.  Each participant was required to sign an agreement that they would attend a certain number of rehearsals and that they would be performing for an invited audience, and that both rehearsals and performances would be filmed.  Again there was feedback from the women expressing satisfaction and enthusiasm for having followed through. And when the film was accepted into film festivals, there was additional pleasure.

While working with a therapist in a private setting or as part of a group is important in growing, healing and recovery, for some people the participation in being part of a performing group, when led with the right approach, can be very beneficial!  This was clearly apparent to me and, based on feedback, to the participants too. Observations included gaining new skills in teamwork, completing an agreed on task, having fun and as one woman remarked, “getting high in a legal way.”

When directing a performance piece with a group of non-dancers, particularly when they have experienced physical abuse in their lives, I am glad that I had the Transactional Analysis training as it guides me in how I lead.  I am aware that I am giving the participants permission to use their body in a new way, to be creative, to be part of a team and to share what they are learning with others.  I also strive to help them do their very best.  In leading groups with the assistance of well trained dancers we are able to guide them in a short amount of time to reach a pleasing performance level.  I have found this very rewarding work.  I have a lot of respect for those who go into dance therapy and a keen awareness that while I was glad to have had the training that I had, I needed to follow a different path.

Nine women from Esperanza Shelter join four dancers in the finale of “Through the Door,” an example of building a team and sharing for an invited performance.  Photo by Judy Naumburg.  Here’s a link to view the film: (https://vimeo.com/259920776).

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