Under the Canopy

A multi-media dance performance at Boston University featuring performers from Newton and surrounding areas. Centered on the endurance of inspiration in the wake of pain, Under the Canopy weaves together stories of loss and resilience from members of the artistic community. Through film, original sound score, dance, physicality, and prose, Joanie Block creates a world of intimacy, trust, and the human capacity to love. Throughout this interdisciplinary evening, audiences are invited to reflect on their own experience of loss, and those who feel alone in their bereavement may externalize or enhance their healing process by witnessing this collection of works.

From the Director Joanie Block: “Before my husband Sandy died he made me promise to keep dancing. After he died I wanted to curl up and slip inside myself like a pair of socks. And for a while I did. But I promised him, so weeks later I went back to the studio. Along with the tears, the choreography poured out of me. My students and I danced my grief. Eventually I decided to create a performance piece about grief in honor of my beloved Sandy.”

Under the Canopy portrays seven stories of loss. Loss of homeland, identity and loss of a parent to dementia, among others. Personal in circumstance and universal in feeling. For who among us has not experienced loss? The tenderness of each story, from members of the Boston dance community, remind us that there is hope and light, even in the wake of grief.