so i have always had this idea, that through multiple sources of creativity, i would like to help raise awareness of water issues throughout the world. My dream is to make some dance projects in connection with some of the places where the water is either in extreme need of care and repair, or has somehow remained pure. I am also interested in studies about water (emoto) and cultures/religions deeply connected with the water (dune; or in today's reality the hindu faith and their constant offering to and from the waters). I would love to open a dialogue about special places of water to make pilgrimage to, damaged rivers in need of support, our own emotional water, sweat, tears, acid rain....pour it on!!!! If you know of any organizations, peoples, projects, tales connected with the water, please share...

i will begin with a moment in Java, my first confrontation with purely muslim culture. I arrived there sick, coming to study dance with a very special artist Suprapto Suryodarmo. I look at his work as true shamanism (although he would probably not claim such a title), he dances purely with the elements...in witnessing him move next to a river, he is no longer seperate from it. However, i was more ill than graceful during my time there, and also curious to understand all I was feeling as the only visible foreigner (besides a very tall, older german buddhist nun whom i travelled with) in very impoverished muslim indonesia. Before coming to work with Prapto, I had a brief dream-like vision of dancing with him in the slow javanese style (like improvised tai-chi). We were dressed in silk kimonos. So while in the city of Solo, I decided to buy some silk. When i chose the material I wanted and came to pay, i found myself about 50 cents short. For most of us, that is nothing, but for most people in Java, it is significant. A muslim woman next to me insisted on paying for it. I left trying to hide the tears from my eyes, having touched for a moment the other, having accepted the generosity of this woman. And as I walked through the crooked city sidestreets, mangy green hair and weeping eyes, I found myself somehow in a deeper dialogue with the water inside.....