“Medicine Wheel: Opening & Closing Full Circle”: Come open and close our Full Circle weekend by building a Medicine Wheel with stones, edging it with flower petals and consecrating with words of life and season is a vision full of joy. The Medicine Wheel will actas a touchstone throughout the weekend, serve as a place to celebrate the mystery and magic of the Full Circle gathering, and be a way to honor the invisible and the sacred. In the end, everything but the stones will just blow away. Making medicine wheels is an ancient practice indigenous to North America to celebrate the cycles of life. The medicine wheel is a powerfulway to look at the human life cycle and the strengths that appear at each stage of the journey.While details of the practice vary, use of the wheel to connect people to the directions, cycles of seasons, day and night, and plant and animal life is universal. Led by Alicia Daniels and two Native American elders.
An exhibit of decorated wooden hands will adorn the walls at August First Bakery for the month of April as part of Full Circle and also as a fundraiser for HANDS, a local nonprofit which strives to provide food for older Vermonters.
A series of gigantic acrylic portraits by Seattle artist Kate Tesch that deals with the universal human condition of aging. This is the first east coast show of her work. Opens April 4th at Gallery, Main Street Landing.
Sculpture exhibit by Melinda White-Bronson depicting human figures at different stages of life. From the 10 foot tall “We Are the Angels: We Are the Mortal People” created from paper mache, leaves, wood and burlap to the series of tiny “Bronze Babies”, this exhibit brings archetypal images alive.
This installation by artist Maggie Cahoon depicts four archetypical phases of a woman’s life. Each free-standing altar, with a 3-dimensional figure emerging from the surface of the piece, embodies a particular stage of a woman’s beauty. Constructed from fabric, polymer.
Welcome Address by Susan Wehry, Commissioner of Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.
The Community of Vermont Elders (COVE) presents a series of short educational skits about healthcare fraud, investment fraud, drug diversion, medication management, and other aging issues dealing with exploitation and abuse.
Writing workshop facilitated by Sarah W. Bartlett of Women Writing for (a) Change - Vermont. We don’t so much find ourselves as create ourselves. Today, many of us feel compelled to re-invent ourselves in response to changes in the world, our work or family. When we share our stories of re-creation with one another, we unlock doors to better understanding and communication and see new possibilities for ourselves, one another and our communities. This workshop explores the theme of re-inventing self at different stages of life. Simple writing prompts will guide us to explore how place, time, and context impact our choices; and how the roles we choose (or discard!) shape us. We will share our writing and discuss themes that arise within the group.
“Technology for Tomorrow”: Do you have questions about how to use FaceBook or Skype to keep up with family and friends? Are there aspects of technology you find confusing or frustrating? Learn more about how to use computer technology for fun, communication and creativity in your life. Twenty students from Tech4Tomorrow will provide free sessions (on laptops provided) to answer questions, improve your computer skills, and increase your pleasure connecting online. Have fun learning from the experts!
Cabot Cheese / King Arthur Flour Cooking Demo
In “Aliceheimer’s,” a series of multimedia works, Dana Walrath tells the story of life with her mother, Alice, before and during dementia. Capturing the parallel realities characteristic of life with dementia, these pieces find healing, laughter, and magic in their changing relationship.
A large canvas painted over the course of several months by patients and staff at Full Circle sponsor Burlington Health & Rehab.
Before I Die I Want To…
What do you want to do before you die? Finish that novel? Say “I love you” more often? Travel the world?
“Before I die” is a global art project started by New Orleans artist Candy Chang. Massive chalkboards are appearing all over the world, asking the simple question, “What do you want to do before you die?” The Wake Up to Dying Project and Burlington City Arts are bringing this project to Burlington for the first time, and we want to hear from you! Join us on April 12 and 13 at Burlington City Arts, 135 Church Street, and share your aspirations!
www.wakeuptodyingproject.org
“Sharing Stories Through Simple Self-Portrait Puppets”: Recommended for: Grandparents, Parents and Children (ages 4-12). Join teaching artist Jude Bond (The Project Lady) in a creatively stimulating and supportive environment for an easy and fun activity. Create a selfportrait puppet and use your whimsical creation to share a story about your life with your workshop partner (an intergenerational family member).
GOOD FOR FAMILIES w/CHILDREN
Limit: 16
This art installation by Kali Quinn asks, “What things do you associate with being your age?” The collection of festival-goers’ responses to this question creates the journey and invites further participation from each new audience. GOOD FOR FAMILIES w/CHILDREN
“Finding Center”, Talk and slide show by artist Deidre Scherer. Her exhibit “Finding Center:Paper and Fabric Work by Deidre Scherer” opens at the SEABA Gallery on Friday, April 4th and runs through April 30th.
A talk by David Oldfield, Director of The Midway Center for Creative Imagination in Washington, DC, about the “thresholds” of life when profound transformation can realign our lives and allow our most creative potentialities to unfold.
How often loved ones have passed without transmitting their wisdom? Told Poetry is a gentle practice for turning talk into text and connection, for gathering rich language that would otherwise be lost. In this relaxed two-hour workshop, participants will create a safe space to explore their own poetic imagery. They will read examples, walk through the steps with Verandah, then take turns as narrator and scribe. No experience necessary and no way to do it wrong!
Documentary, 63 minutes, 2011, Produced and Directed by Stu Maddux
Gen Silent chronicles the lives of six LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) seniors as they struggle to survive a care system hostile to their lifestyles. Afraid to ask for help and lacking people in their lives to care for them, many die prematurely. Gen Silent brings these issues into the open for the first time. As we journey through the challenges these men and women face, we discover reasons for hope as a small but growing group of impassioned professionals attempt to wake up the long-term healthcare industries to their plight.
This screening will be followed by discussion led by Jean Sienkewicz, Coordinator/ Program Advocate from RU12?
Full Circle is a group of five friends who have been making music together, in various combinations, since 1978. The women of Full Circle make music with recorders, hammered dulcimer, harp, guitar, percussion and voices. Their extensive repertoire includes Celtic songs and dances, folk music from around the world, and music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Poetry and Prose of Naomi Shihab Nye, Carol Blattspieler, Christine Moriarty, David Oldfield, Verandah Porche, Joan Price, Deidre Scherer & Dana Walrath
“Celebrating Sharing Family Stories”
Sharing family stories is a powerful, valuable communication and teaching tool. Join Recille Hamrell, storyteller/educator, assisted by DennisMcSorley, actor/storyteller, as they lead you on a journey to learn the benefits of sharing yourown family stories. You’ll be entertained, instructed on how to frame a story for telling, and will walk away with your own personal family story that will captivate and engage. In this participatory workshop, Recille will provide story prompts, guidelines for creating a narrativeto share aloud, and a list of resources. Come to this workshop to laugh and learn.
“Long Gone” intricately blends dance and storytelling to celebrate heartfelt, funny and irreverent memories of those long gone. Weaving movement and spoken word, choreographers Lida Winfield and Ellen Smith Ahern explore how our dead continue to live and evolve through memory and imagination. Passionate about making dance an open dialogue between performers and audiences, Ellen and Lida’s work finds beauty and humor in this challenging topic that connects us all.
Fear and early life experiences can manifest in blocks to our creativity. Join author, life coach and therapist Pam Blair as she takes you through fun and inspiring exercises designed to release and expand your creativity no matter your age, fears or resistance!
A Vermont jazz vocal trio that delivers a highly entertaining and tuneful romp through a variety of genres. Singers Juliet McVicker, Taryn Noelle, and Amber deLaurentis are accompanied by Vermont jazz legend Tom Cleary on the piano. Their repertoire shimmers with dead-on three part harmonies straight out of the American jazz, country and rock songbook.
Documentary, 30 minutes, 1981, Produced and Directed by Nigel Noble
Close Harmony won an Academy Award in 1981 for Documentary Short Subject. This superb and moving film follows the story of a senior citizen chorus and an elementary school chorus who practice for a combined concert, and in the process, dissolve many stereotypes about each other, and form a bond that results in a memorable performance.
Workshop led by Fran Weinbaum. What does the natural world have to teach us about being Elder Women? In this workshop we will listen to stories of women who have taken their greatest hopes and deepest fears "to the mountain" in a wilderness quest offered and supported by other women in the community -- and who returned with gifts of the heart for their families, community, work in the world, and the Earth.
Presenters will invite participants to practice asking for and listening to the wisdom of nature. Ideas about how to begin a similar Circle in your community will be shared. Fran will be joined by other Central Vermont women who have been participants, guides, sisters and supporters for women's wilderness quests.
Documentary, 87 minutes, 2009, Produced & Directed By Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly
A deeply moving film about life and how to live it. Beginning as an idiosyncratic story about three troop greeters - senior citizens who gather daily at a small airport to thank American soldiers departing and returning from Iraq - the film quickly turns into an unsettling and compassionate story about aging, loneliness, war and mortality. The film carefully builds stories of heartbreak and redemption, reminding us how our culture casts our elders, and too often our soldiers, aside. Regardless of our politics, "The Way We Get By" celebrates three unsung heroes who share their love with strangers who need and deserve it.
A warm, humorous, and poignant one-person play that takesplace in a lecture hall of a small private college in the Midwest. Professor Emeritus HaroldMiller, back at the college for a brief visit, finds himself pressed into service as a last minutesubstitute for a lecture on Chaucer, a subject he has never taught. In this awkward situation, welearn nothing about Chaucer, but quite a bit about Harold . . . and ourselves. Q & A withTheodore Herstand after performance.
When you find yourself wondering “What’s next?”, Life Reimagined empowers you with guidance, tools, and connections to plan your next move. An introduction to this step-by-step approach that will help you discover possibilities, prepare for change, and make your goals real – whether focused on work, health, relationships, or finally pursuing your passion. Life Reimagined is for anyone who wants to make a positive change in their life. Participants engage in personal reflection and meaningful conversation.
What does a physical comedian do when he reaches the autumn of his life, sustains an injury and realizes the arthritis is here to stay?...He writes a show about it! Accident-prone and dangerously funny, Tom Murphy kicks the art of solo-performance into overdrive. His relentless brand of soul searching repartee and sublime slapstick captivates audiences and leaves them crying “uncle”. This is a fun show for children and the entire family!
“Honor an Age or Stage in 3D”: Which stage of life would you like to depict in a wire figure? Sculptor Melinda White-Bronson will lead a workshop in which each participant will create a small figurative sculpture. Open to anyone from 3 to 103 years old. Children under 8 years must be accompanied by an adult who is willing to assist or collaborate. GOOD FOR FAMILIES w/CHILDREN
Limit: 20 participants
“Simple & Shining: Maintaining Dialogue with Ourselves and One Another through Regular Writing”: Join keynote speaker Naomi Shihab Nye for a two hour writing workshop open to everyone, whether you have years of writing experience or only the mildest, gentle interest in the topic. “We are all beginners” Naomi says. “We are all word-users, walking the long path of babble, hungry for meaning. Please bring writing utensils and notebook. Expect an exchange ofpoems and thoughts relating to poems, accessible suggestions, hopeful considerations, a few anecdotes, and brief quiet time to write, as well as voluntary sharing from members of the group. No critiquing. You are welcome to bring a poem written by someone else or by yourself which has helped you on the way. We will feel much closer to many things we care about, and one another, at the end of this session than we did at beginning- that is my pledge.”
Senior Line Dancing: The Heineberg Highsteppers are a line dance troupe of women who have reached the elegant ages between early 60’s - late 80‘s. Come watch and also join in the fun, dancing to music from the 40’s through the present. Led by director Donna Zeo, steps are derived from ballroom and square dance -- with the motto: “Fun first, feet second!”
You’re ready to connect for dating, sex, love, companionship – but dating as a senior feels awkward and downright weird. What are the guidelines? How do you navigate online dating and avoid the pitfalls that send potential dates running in the other direction? When do you bring up safe sex, your personal sexual issues, or sex at all? Whether you’re widowed, divorced, or a longtime single, you’ll find this interactive workshop illuminating and fun, and you’ll get to find out how other single seniors meet and mate. All genders and orientations welcome; sense of humor helpful.
Documentary, 23 minutes, 2013, Produced & Directed By Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly.
Albert (Alby) Hurwit has heard music in his head all his life. But when he failed a piano sight-reading test in college, he believed his dream of doing anything musical was over. Instead he became a medical doctor. After almost five decades, he decided to retire from his successful practice, buy a roomful of computers and keyboards and teach himself to translate the music he heard inside. At the age of 70, Alby began composing a symphony. His music was the story of his Jewish family persecuted in Europe, fleeing to America in search of the American Dream -- an immigrant’s story of hope despite almost insurmountable obstacles. His music won the prestigious 2009 American Composer Competition. Now Alby is working on the next chapter of his life, proving you’re never too old to dream.
Join Greg Ghodsi, financial consultant with 360 Wealth Management. for this straight forward session will show you various ways to fund your full circle lifestyle. Over past five years, income levels have dropped 50% for many savers. Historically low interest rates have elevated the risk to all savers. After this session, you will be able to clearly understand the risks to your income stream and ways to protect your portfolio when interest rates rise.
Lila smokes, listens to Talking Heads and wants to be a violin rock star, until unwanted discoveries shove her toward the truth about her own birth. In this solo work, virtuosic performer Kali Quinn takes on the buried struggles of three generations of women in a suspenseful and inspiring journey.
Q & A with Kali after performance.
“Family Drumming & Dancing with Jeh Kulu”: Bring your kids and grandkids and have some fun learning West African drumming and dancing with Jeh Kulu! GOOD FOR FAMILIES w/CHILDREN
NIA Demonstration: The certified Nia Instructors from South End Studio in Burlington will be leading a 30 minute interactive Nia demo for bodies of all ages! Nia is a sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts. It empowers people of all ages, shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Classes are taken barefoot to soul-stirring music. Through this joyful and playful movement practice, our bodies can reap immediate and profound benefits at any age and throughout the aging process. The practice of Nia fosters strong, flexible, agile, mobile and stable bodies and is easily adapted to individual needs and abilities. Step into your own joyful journey with Nia, and positively shape the way you feel, look, think and live. GOOD FOR FAMILIES w/CHILDREN
A stand up comedy workshop with Josie Leavitt, founder of the Vermont Comedy Divas. In this two hour workshop, participants will learn the basics of stand up, write their own material and present their work. A safe space allows for fun exploration of what makes a joke funny. Josie will consult with each participant to help edit material. Anyone who wants to share their writing can tell their jokes. This is a fun, fast-paced workshop guaranteed to make you laugh! LIMIT: 25 participants
Life Model
Documentary, 10 minutes, 2010, Directed by Lori Petchers
A poetic look into the world of an aging nude figure model and the beautiful artwork she inspires.
Let’s Face It: Women Explore Their Aging Faces
Documentary, 26 minutes, 2002, Filmmakers: Wendy Oser, Joan Levinson, and Beverley Spencer
A funny and poignant discussion among a group of women friends, ages 45 to 60, about aging, their features and the pressures of a society that tells them not to look their age. "Women have wrinkles, men have character lines," says one. Yet men are the fastest growing demographic seeking plastic surgery. The film won an award for “Most Inspiring Film” at the Santa Cruz Film Festival.
These two screenings will be followed by discussion led by Patricia Fontaine.
Drama Feature, 96 minutes, 2013, Directed by Charles Haines, Produced by Kimberly Dilts
When his grandmother Polly is found wandering outside one morning, Jack, a successful architect, must travel back to his tiny hometown in the mountains of West Virginia to deal with her worsening Alzheimer’s. But what was intended to be a quick, under-the-radar trip becomes complicated when no nursing home will take Polly. Torn between the career opportunity of a lifetime, caring for his last living relative and running from his own painful memories, Jack’s carefully constructed life begins to unravel and he struggles to hide his secret from them all. Set almost entirely in the small, historic logging town of Cass, WV, Angel’s Perch examines the delicate relationship between past and present, memory and loss.
Talk by Sarah Lemnah of Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. For many seniors the aging process is dictated by fear. Seniors are worried about their independence, safety, health, resources, loneliness, lack of voice, and changing relationships with their children. Learning to acknowledge and face these fears is a journey toward a successful aging process and quality of life. Sarah’s talk will be helpful to both elders and the generation assuming care for their parents.
Jenni Johnson and the Junketeers: Singing jazz, blues and funk, Jenni’s full, smooth voice offers an ideal format for the collection of American jazz classics, blues, swing and funk music for which she is known and loved throughout Vermont and beyond.
Documentary 30 minutes, 2011, Directed by Patricia Sommers
Dot Fisher- Smith is a mystical masterful artist, war resister, environmental activist, community presence, and jailbird.
"...brings back a huge time of the late 60s, protest, acid, back to the land, finding a spiritual path - so many millions did this same thing. It's exactly how I got here and have been happy since." - John Darling, Southern Oregon Journalist
Play by Maura Campbell, commissioned by the VNA. Memory, death,legacy and wrinkles are the themes in this story of three sisters who deal with their mother'ssenility and death. During the ten-year span of the story, they alternately laugh, cry, andcondemn each other, but ultimately they learn that phases of life are not endurance tests, butopportunities for deeper love and understanding.
Founder of the Vermont Comedy Divas, Josie Leavitt, and three members of the country's only all-female touring stand-up comedy troupe bring hilarity to our perspectives on aging in an evening comedy show!
“Dawn to Dusk”: World premiere of choreographer Lida Winfield’s intergenerational dance, commissioned especially for Full Circle. “Dawn to Dusk” explores the gifts, challenges and transition of aging with a sense of beauty, dignity, awkwardness and humor. Through dance, theater, music and story with performers who range in age from under two to mid seventies, we get to travel through time all the while catching glimpses of where we have been and where we are going. “Dawn to Dusk” will be accompanied by live music by Arthur Brooks and Ensemble V.
What is your “Wake Up to Dying” moment? Come join us for an evening of first-person true stories told live on stage. Listen to eight local storytellers share their human experiences through tales that are practical, emotional, spiritual, funny, interesting, sweet, difficult, and curious. Hosted by Jen Dole and offered by The Wake Up to Dying Project. Live Better!
“Finding Center: Paper and Fabric Work by Deidre Scherer” focuses on the universal issues ofage and mortality - and on seeing these transitions as a natural part of life, worthy of reflection. Her work visually promotes an open dialogue about aging by circumventing verbal boundaries.
Opens April 4th at SEABA Gallery and runs through April 30th.
Before I Die I Want To…
What do you want to do before you die? Finish that novel? Say “I love you” more often? Travel the world?
“Before I die” is a global art project started by New Orleans artist Candy Chang. Massive chalkboards are appearing all over the world, asking the simple question, “What do you want to do before you die?” The Wake Up to Dying Project and Burlington City Arts are bringing this project to Burlington for the first time, and we want to hear from you! Join us on April 12 and 13 at Burlington City Arts, 135 Church Street, and share your aspirations!
World premiere: this footage has never been shown publicly.
On Sunday, September 9, 2001, world-renowned artist Richard Schmid painted a portrait of Senator James Jeffords before a live audience at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, Vermont. Both in their mid-sixties at the time, Schmid and Jeffords shared a lively conversation during the portrait process, talking with humor and hindsight about their lives and careers.
Documentary, 54 minutes, 2013, Directed by Christopher Rufo, Produced by Keith Ochwat
This award-winning documentary follows five competitors who sprint, leap, and swim for gold at the National Senior Olympics. The film follows a 100 year-old tennis champion, an 86 year-old pole-vaulter, and a team of rough-and-tumble basketball grandmothers as they discover the power of the human spirit and triumph over the limitations of age.This screening will be followed by discussion led by Vermont Senior Games.
Grandmother Council is a simple practice -- useful to both men and women -- for connecting with eight facets of mature wisdom. Any group can use this guided journey and the power of ritual to reflect on both personal & community concerns and receive guidance for our work in the world.
Documentary, 55 minutes, 2007, Produced by Michael Verde, Directed by Ted Kay
This groundbreaking documentary challenges conventional notions of people with Alzheimer's as "unreachable" and the disease as "the first of two deaths”. Hosted by Robert Pinsky, former U.S. Poet Laureate, There Is a Bridge offers a radically different perspective on Alzheimer's disease – that in the midst of all that is lost with dementia, much awaits to be found. The film explores the deep, complex nature of human solidarity by weaving together mental health, psychology, art, philosophy and education to highlight individuals and path- breaking programs for elders affected by Alzheimer's disease.This screening will be followed by discussion led by staff from the Vermont Alzheimer's Association.
We are three New Americans, who have come from widely disparate countries to make Vermont our home. Through words, pictures, and video, we’ll share the ways that each of our own imbedded traditions demonstrates respect for elders, describe the vital roles that elders play in our cultures, and tell you stories. We’ll describe how we bridge the cultural divide between the hard-won experience of our older generation and the quicker adjustment to the American way of our younger generation. From Bhutan, Burma, and Burundi, we’re honored to share the comfort of our age-old wisdom and the pulsating momentum of our eagerness to learn new ways.
Documentary 57 minutes, 2007, Produced and directed by Camilla Rockwell
In a powerful yet tender treatment of life’s final passage, Holding Our Own challenges our cultural denial of aging and dying. The film features the work of Full Circle artist Deidre Scherer and Brattleboro’s Hallowell hospice chorus who share their creative gifts with those nearing the end of life. Ira Byock, M.D., author of Dying Well, speaks directly to issues we all will face. The film’s gentle and even celebratory approach can be shared with family and friends of all ages.This screening will be followed by an introduction to the VNA’s hospice chorus, the Noyana Singers, who have been offering songs to the dying and their families throughout Chittenden & Grand Isle Counties since 2007.
“Medicine Wheel: Opening & Closing Full Circle”: Come open and close our Full Circle weekend by building a Medicine Wheel with stones, edging it with flower petals and consecrating with words of life and season is a vision full of joy. The Medicine Wheel will act as a touchstone throughout the weekend, serve as a place to celebrate the mystery and magic of the Full Circle gathering, and be a way to honor the invisible and the sacred. In the end, everything but the stones will just blow away. Making medicine wheels is an ancient practice indigenous to North America to celebrate the cycles of life. The medicine wheel is a powerful way to look at the human life cycle and the strengths that appear at each stage of the journey. While details of the practice vary, use of the wheel to connect people to the directions, cycles of seasons, day and night, and plant and animal life is universal. Led by Alicia Daniels and two Native American elders.