A month in Maine...

We're on the downhill slope of Summer and as the season begs to change, I have the great fortune of writing about my recent travels to Maine for the Bates Dance Festival. The shortest description I can offer is this: a month of bliss on a small college campus surrounded by some of the best-of-the best in the dance and music worlds! My main purpose was to work with the Youth Arts Program (lovingly referred to as Y.A.P.). The real treat, however, was living in a funky little house with the 'Bates Boys' - a gathering of the finest musicians I've ever met...



Tucked away down the street where the faculty stays, in the last house on the left, is a three story house where the musicians live for the run of the festival. It's rather notorious, to say the least - it is literally THAT house! The house where everybody ends up, the house that is the loudest and the house that is up the latest.

It's the house where more impromptu magic happens, at such a high level, that those who are fortunate enough to be there for it are forever stamped by the memory.

It's the house whose porch has held court for more socializing than should be permitted by law. From the loud, rowdy and crowded nights of weekends and post-performance gatherings, to the long, slow, late and mellow hangs between friends old and new, this veranda is host to Joy, Laughter and Art.

It's the house where the complex rhythms of tabla float down the hall and the unexpected combination of reed flute and Indonesian gamelan drift out the window only to mix with the smoke from the grill out back.

It's the house where I thought I was going to sleep because I was exhausted, but I suddenly realize that there is a jam session in the basement with way more people than there really should be…so I have to grab a drum off the wall and go throw down a bit.

It's the house where, for me, friendships are made and deepened...where time itself blurs and the normal priorities I subscribe to distort for awhile and allow something else to bubble up that is good, kind and fun.

It's the house where I simply 'drink from a different cup'… one that warms my soul and gives nourishment to one who has been smitten by music and dance.

It's the house that I want to share with anyone I know who isn't there with me.

It's the house I really don't want to leave, but know I must…

It's the house that patiently waits for next year…

It's Webb House!


I returned home with many fantastic memories, some great new friends and new inspiration that I cannot express. I'm grateful to have had such a wonderful time with so many beautiful people and I'm excited to see where and when some of our paths will cross again. Until then, be well...enjoy yourself...sing, play and dance!

Peace,
J