Carnival de Resistance brings earth-friendly performances, art, parade to Harrisonburg

Chris Edwards — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:23:26 +0000

Bicycles generated the necessary power, with a gently audible rhythm, for the sound system at gatherings of the recent . Volunteers, including �� students, took turns pedaling for the electricity.

The energetic Carnival troupe began its two-city tour with 10 days in Harrisonburg, camping on ’s lawn while promoting “creation care” through performance, artwork and service both there and at ��. Carnival de Resistance is a new venture, with artist-members from around the U.S. and Mexico, says member Sarah Thompson, who holds an MDiv from and is outreach coordinator for . Four main shows addressed themes of earth, air, fire and water.

At ��’s Thomas Plaza in front of the Campus Center Wednesday, more than 100 experienced the air-themed show, titled “Out of the Whirlwind.” Featuring its creators, Jay Beck and Tevyn East as Raven and Dove, it began serendipitously as a full harvest moon emerged from clouds:

Addressing human neglect of earth

Dove (East), a wordless dancer in white robes, cradles an egg. Hatchling Raven (Beck) appears, clad in black rags. Raven’s first word is “death.” His narrative – angry, mournful, sometimes humorous – attacks humanity’s neglect of Earth:

“For the earth to stay alive, your way will have to die.”

Raven and Dove briefly dance on a biblical-type ark, but Dove gets confined to a cage. “We can scarcely fly in this soup of chemicals,” shouts Raven, who warns of angering Gaia, envisioned as the mother of Earth.

“The concepts were thought-provoking,” said ’08, an �� staffer who brought a church youth group to the show.

At an earlier chapel service, the troupe led a Cherokee chant to “the great spirit,” along with the adaptation of a familiar spiritual’s words “When I die, hallelujah, by and by,” to “When we live, hallelujah, how we live.”

On the Carnival’s , inspiration is attributed to an array of influences, including First Nation and African earth-centered spirituality and activist theologians Ched Myers and William Stringfellow.

Resonating with students of sustainability

�� biology professor observed that the Carnival “links oppressed people with the oppressed earth.” The radicalism, he said, may reach some who ignore conventional messages.

Troupe members visited Yoder’s classes all week. They have committed to making no purchases while touring, relying on kindnesses when needed. The Carnival is supported both by grants and hospitality.

�� junior Chris Lehman, an environmental sustainability major, served as one of many sound-powering bikers and directed parking. Everett Brubaker, a classmate in the same major, participated as co-president of the campus . This major has been attracting increasing numbers of students, with 30 now in the program.

Junior Erin Rheinheimer, an environmental sustainability minor and Earthkeepers member, helped make sunflower signs for a parade and enjoyed a Carnival “skill-share show.”

Lehman, who enjoyed the air show most, is considering a career in conservation or wildlife biology. Brubaker, who especially liked the Carnival parade, hopes to work in advocacy.

Gifting a mural to Cedarwood

The second-floor mural in began with images by Carnival troupe member and nomadic painter Dimitri Kadiev. These were selected by art professor from his previous works, and the two worked collaboratively on shaping the overall result.

On part of the mural, between a laundry-room window and custodial closet door, a figure with outstretched arms smiles joyfully. A river seems to flow from the figure’s heart. Nearby, a quetzal (Guatemala’s national bird) displays its tail feathers.

Gusler and Kadiev started with a yellow background, which she notes, “glows through wherever there is open space.” Next, they filled in large shapes with solid colors – blue (river and shades of sky); green (landscape); purple (mountains).

Then, Gusler had all her students participate. At Kadiev’s suggestion, they created stenciled images of living things: an owl, poppy, hibiscus, egret and butterflies. Others subsequently dipped brushes in varying shades of green, instructed to “fill the shapes, and while you do, think about the earth.”

A passing student shows a spot to a companion, noting, “I did that shape.” Cedarwood resident director Micah Hurst points to the blue space his children, 4 and 8, helped paint.

Parading down Main Street

In Thursday’s Carnival parade, imaginatively retooled bicycles rolled alongside marchers from Harrisonburg’s North Main Street to Court Square. Motorists smiled at jugglers, banners, colorful costumes and percussionists with homemade instruments.

The local “Fossil Fuel Zombies,” wearing shredded black trash bags, called for burying fossil fuels with message-bearing signs, including “Oil, oil, watch Earth boil.”

“Are you really Jesus?” someone asked Kadiev, who had lettered the name atop his paint-splattered garb. “Only a stand-in,” Kadiev smiled.

The march ended with an hour-long “Power Down and Lift Up” rally at Court Square. Local groups represented by speakers included the for sustainability, the global-warming awareness movement, , , and .

Pastor Phil Kniss, who helped pedal the sound system, explained why his church installed 125 solar panels. When believers ask “Why worry about this world?” he responds, “Because God loves this world.”

At Trinity this weekend, the Carnival will offer children’s events and a “Water Show” before bicycling to Charlottesville for its final 2013 gig. Each day’s is posted on the Carnival’s website.

Students Take �� Back to Community-Centered Food Production

Kara and Bonnie Lofton — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 13:34:41 +0000

In a scene that would have been familiar to the farmers’ sons and daughters who populated this campus in the early 20^th century, college-aged adults can be seen planting, thinning, weeding, watering, harvesting and dispersing produce from five gardens at �� (��) May to September.

This summer, for the second year in a row, ��’s vegetable gardeners are growing beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, potatoes, onions, lettuce, herbs, peas, spinach, grapes, and more for a group of 15 committed purchasers in a system called “community-supported agriculture,” or CSA.

Each CSA shareholder invests $100 at the beginning of the summer, plus $100 in July (or the equivalent in labor), to receive 1/15^th of the freshly harvested food each week over the summer. Three of the 2013 shareholders are returnees from last year; the others responded to an ��-wide email sent by two university professors, and , inviting people to buy the remaining shares. All were snapped up within 24 hours.

“We started talking about having a CSA in the fall of 2011,” says Taylor Weidman, one of the original visionaries for the program. “We wanted to keep it small, though, so we could test it out and not be overwhelmed.”

�� has supported the initiative by allowing four summertime employees of the university’s physical plant – recent graduates Weidman and Aly Zimmerman and rising juniors Jeni Heishman and Chris Lehman – to spend part of their workdays on the gardens.

“Owning a share means there will be a basket of food waiting for you every Friday evening in conjunction with a simple, informal meal for anyone interested,” said the email inviting shareholders in early April.

, �� grounds supervisor, says that from the get-go the CSA has been led by students, emerging from their , with the support of faculty and staff. “Without the leadership of students like Louise Babikow and Taylor Weidman, the CSA wouldn’t be able to exist,” he says.

In its inaugural summer of 2012, only six shares were offered. This summer, that number has more than doubled to 15. “We might expand [next summer] to 20-25 shares,” says Weidman, “but we don’t really have the resources to go beyond that.”

Office manager ’08 is one of the shareholders: “I love that I can see where everything is grown when I walk around campus, and that it’s a walk or bike ride away from my house.” On one recent Friday, Hostetler received asparagus, arugula, chard, herbs, kale, lettuce and spinach. She looks forward to receiving tomatoes, beans, peppers, peas, onions, squash, garlic, potatoes, cabbage and beets in coming weeks.

In their email announcing the 2013 CSA, the Sustainable Initiative students explained that their vision goes far beyond growing vegetables. They view community-rooted food production and consumption as a means “to connect together to build a community dedicated to doing justice with how we grow and eat.”

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