6 Hillcrest Rd: A choreographer's homecoming

I read blogs of my friends exploring the world in places I have never been: Africa, the Dominican Republic, and soon there will be a farmer in Italy. I live vicariously through their blog posts and imagine myself teaching in Lesotho with Sara, taking pictures of children or dancing in the rain in the DR with Aislinn, or writing music in Alaska with Amy. I am intrigued by these foreign places, but at the same time, am often touched by the similar experiences I share with these folks exploring art with a diversity of people in attempt to understand that which keeps us disconnected and that which connects us. My own entry into the world of blogging is to share my experiences as an arts believer and builder in an unlikely place: Springfield, Vermont, an old mill town supporting around 9,000 residents as well as boasting the title "Home of the Simpsons."

I find myself nestled in a small, one-story home that cradled me for the first three years of my life, working in a studio with a woman who opened me to dance, and a high school that challenged me so much that my only choice was to return. This is not my hometown, Cavendish, a much smaller town 25 minutes up the road, but a community that taught me about art without acknowledging its impact on me. So I return with a sense of commitment and purpose - to learn from the place that so supported me even in its challenges and to be part of that for a new generation.