Essence
a year-long nature-based storytelling journey for women
December 7-8, January 12, February 9
March 15-16, April 6, May 4
June 7-8, July 13, August 3
September 14, October 18-19, November 2
Healing, Connecting, Belonging
You are made up of stories.
Your stories make you uniquely you.
You have a story to tell– a story that needs to be told...
Come. Gather with women in the forest to tell your story.
Circle around the fire.
Listen. Move. Dance. Sing. Play. Create.
When we say women we include those of both cisgender and transgender experience, non-binary trans femme, intersex and gender-expansive people.
Root. Rewild. Re-enchant
“In these times it’s not enough to awaken ourselves, to find our community: the world is in need of restoration, and each one of us is challenged to do the work of collective change. The Journey we need now…is a journey of collective re-enchantment- a re-animation of the Earth. It’s time to become native to our places again. If there is to be change, it will come from us. Right here, where we stand. Women were always the story-givers, the memory-keepers, the dreamers. Listen now to the land’s long dreaming. Do you see what it’s dreaming? It’s dreaming you.”
~Sharon Blackie, If Women Rose Rooted
Program Description
Essence is a year-long performing arts experience immersed in the forest and aligned with the seasonal rhythms. We will work together to uncover personal stories that we feel need to be told and shared to continue on our journeys to wholeness. We will dive into our most vulnerable selves with the hope of emerging stronger, more courageous, more compassionate, and more deeply connected to each other, the earth and our authentic beings.
We will gather once a month, three times each season. As we spiral through the year, we will ground each session in one of three overarching themes: building community with each other, connecting to the natural world and engaging in self-discovery. During our journey together, we will engage in a multitude of activities which may include but aren’t limited to: making hand-made journals, guided meditations, storytelling, improv theatre games, role playing, circle sharing, cooking and making herbal teas over a fire, forest wanders, singing, movement, nature-based art, saunas, seasonal rituals, wild bathing and journaling.
The program will culminate with a collaborative, experimental performance piece that explores the essence of what it means to be human. Through the sharing of our own stories with and being witnessed by our intimate community, we aim to gain a greater sense of meaning and purpose in our own lives as well as reveal how we are all connected by a shared human experience.
If this program is calling to you, please do not shy away because you don’t consider yourself an “actor” or “performer”. We understand that the performing aspect may be an edge for some. Everyone will be encouraged to explore their growth edges- and we recognize that those edges are different for each one of us. Each participant will have autonomy over how to participate in the performance aspect of the program. At its heart, Essence is a unique soul-growth experience.
Facilitators
Nika Fotopulos, Amber Paris and Trish Roberts.
Nika
From a young age, Nika has been seeking a deeper connection to source…journeying to many lands, communities, circles…learning songs, rituals, the medicines of plants, ways to be in prayer, to move her body, to take nourishment and honor Mother Earth. She has assisted primal therapy and earth honoring workshops and intensives, and has come alive in sacred dancing fire circles. Recently, as a co-founder of Guilford Folk, she has facilitated events and gatherings centered on awakening our gifts and connecting with our neighbors. Nika’s family business, Dickinson’s Reach Yurts, runs wooden yurt building workshops empowering all to learn the craft of building. As a growing human and a mother of 2 homeschooled daughters, she has woven ritual and rites of passage into the fabric of their lives, honoring transitions, losses and growth in the fold of community. She is most excited to be a weaver of ritual, movement, song and safe emotional space in the Essence tapestry.
Amber
Amber is a visual and social practice artist. She has initiated and facilitated several community-wide projects that dig into the heart of what it means to thrive in a community. Her visual art often takes the shape of installation work in nature and examines her relationship with both herself and the wider world. She is deeply nourished by both personal and communal story exploration and the forested landscape. Her journey is also inspired by mothering and growing alongside three children and a partner. Amber is looking forward to the deep listening and connection that will unfold within Essence, the playful and creative opportunities that will emerge and the community we will build together.
Trish
Trish has been passionate about theatre since she can remember and has woven theatre into her life over the years- as a student, as a teaching artist and as a homeschooling mother. She began her own nature-connection journey over a decade ago when she was awakened to the wonder and enchantment of the natural world through the eyes of her children. Inspired to blend her love of theatre with her need to be in wild places, she founded Wildbrook Forest Theatre in 2022 as a youth performing arts program through which she has been practicing the art of oral storytelling. In the fall of 2023, she first envisioned a forest theatre program for women and has been nourished by the year-long Essence co-creation process. She is overjoyed to share this magical wild place, her home forest, and this unique storytelling journey with others.
“Our shared vulnerability creates lights
in normally dark places.”
~Brené Brown
Winter ~ Hibernate
December 7-8, 9am Saturday to 11am Sunday
Sunday January 12, 9am-7pm
Sunday February 9, 9am-7pm
Earth & Myths
We will descend into the depths of darkness to begin the search for our essence. We welcome the quiet and solitude of winter as we connect to the natural element of earth, and seek inspiration in ancient myths. As we enter the dark cave and descend into the underworld, we will begin to excavate our own stories.
Essence Pilot Program Dates
December 2024-November 2025
Summer ~ Grow
June 7-8, 9am Saturday to 11am Sunday
Sunday July 13, 9am-7pm
Sunday August 3, 9am-7pm
Fire & Ritual
As we create and peer through portals of our lives, we will nurture our essence and weave together the unifying threads of our deep connections to each other. Our personal narratives will undergo transformation by fire and ritual as our authentic selves begin to bloom.
Spring ~ Awaken
March 15-16, 9am Saturday - 11am Sunday
Sunday April 6, 9am-7pm
Sunday May 4, 9am-7pm
Air & Dreams
It is in a web of memories where we will begin to tune into our essence. As the earth warms, we sow the seeds of our stories. We will metaphorically take flight in the air to gain perspective on our narratives and we will work with our dreams to awaken our inner-knowing.
Autumn ~ Shine
Sunday September 14, 9am-7pm
October 18-19, 9am on Saturday to afternoon Sunday*
Sunday November 2, 9am-7pm**
Water & Courage
Our stories and our essence are ready to be shared. We will seek healing in being witnessed. Enveloped in water and held by our community, it is our time to shine.
*On Sunday October 19, we will be asking those dearest to us to witness the sharing of our collaborative performance piece. Afterward, we will gather for a potluck lunch to celebrate together.
**Sunday November 2 will be an opportunity to reflect, begin the process of integration and complete our year-long circle.
For your consideration
Essence is a yearlong commitment spanning through the seasons and a path for women searching to spiral deeper to the depths of their soul’s song, story and dance, as we play and connect to each other, weaving ourselves in community and the elements. We ask that you consider the weight of the year-long commitment required. Your full participation honors the circle and the work this journey is asking of you.
Essence is a playful and healing journey that calls your soul to join a circle of kindred seekers and players. Amber, Nika and Trish are not licensed therapists; Essence is not a container designed to hold and guide a person that is processing active trauma and in need of individualized care. However, Essence welcomes and engages the healing powers of story, song, ritual, play and circling around a fire in the forest to guide us on our personal and shared journeys toward greater health and knowing.
Pilot Program Cost
We will be running the 2024-2025 Essence journey as a reduced-cost pilot program offered on a sliding scale:
$550 / $700 / $850
The cost includes all materials.
There will be a maximum of 10 participants.
After the completion of the pilot program, we will determine how often we will run Essence and what the cost structure will be going forward.
At this time, it is our intention to run Essence yearly or every other year in the hope of growing a community of Essence women who will have opportunities to gather together over the years.
Registration Deadline
&
Deposit
Please register by November 9, 2024
A deposit of $200 is required at registration
If you are interested in this program but have questions or would like to connect before registering,
please reach out to Trish via email: trish.foresttheatre@gmail.com
Location
Wildbrook Farm, 157 Windmill Hill Rd S, Putney, VT
This program is inspired by nature in all of the ways it grounds us in a deep sense of belonging. The forest will be our primary gathering place all year long. During the colder months, we will make use of an indoor gathering space for certain activities and have the warmth of an outdoor fire, but be prepared for a large portion of most sessions to be outdoors.
To root in this wild place, to become of this place rather than a visitor to this place, there will be opportunities to intimately engage with natural elements such as mud, charcoal and water. Therefore, dress in clothing that can get wet or dirty, doesn’t limit your movement and will keep you warm and comfortable no matter what the temperature and weather.
Lodging
Once a month, the program includes spending the night together. We consider this time to be a core aspect of our journey together but if this presents an obstacle to your participation, let’s talk. Our indoor meeting space will double as our sleeping space- it is one large room that can accommodate all of us. Each participant is responsible for bringing what they need for a comfortable night’s sleep: a sleeping pad/mat or air mattress, sleeping bag/blankets and pillow. During the warmer months, there may be an opportunity to sleep outdoors if this experience is desired.
Food
Overnight Weekends (4 times during the year): Please arrive by 9am on Saturday morning having eaten breakfast and bring your own bagged lunch that can be easily eaten in the forest. We will have access to a kitchen on Saturday evening and Sunday morning to make a simple dinner and breakfast together. Participants and facilitators will share in the bringing of ingredients for those meals and we will prepare those meals together. We will be in communication with what ingredients will need to be provided.
Single Day Session (8 times during the year): Please arrive by 9am on Sunday morning having eaten breakfast and bring your own bagged lunch that can be easily eaten in the forest. On Sunday evening, we will share a one-pot meal together. This will need to be prepared ahead of time by a participant or facilitator. We will rotate this offering throughout the year so each person will most likely be providing this one-pot meal for all once during the year.
“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”
~Sue Monk Kidd