Great Marsh Artist Jessie Jeanne Stinnett newest work in The PLANTS Project is Interwoven, a collaboration with the artists of Boston Dance Theater (BDT) and sculptor Kim Radochia. This environmentally-focused dance series follows two years of successful ‘SURGE’ residencies with communities in East Boston and Martha’s Vineyard.
SURGE addresses climate change through the lens of sea level rise and PLANTS zooms in on the impacts of climate change to native plant life in the zones where ocean and land meets. PLANTS is a natural evolution of Jessie’s work which integrates dance, science, and climate activism. She engages coastal wetland communities – those living in areas that are most at risk of adverse climate change impacts on native plants.
Born from the artistic partnership between BDT Founder/Co-Artistic Director Jessie Jeanne Stinnett and Gloucester based visual/sculptural artist, Kim Radochia, Interwoven was inspired by Kim’s portfolio. Jessie also took a deep dive into 15+ books on plant emergence, and focused her research on wetlands. She absorbed scientific and Indigenous perspectives, bringing lessons she learned from plants in wetland zones into embodied and creative practices with the dance artists of BDT.
The first work created for The PLANTS Project was ‘Unfurling’ – a direct response to the inner-workings of meadow systems, brought to life with sculptural works created by Kim Radochia, in which the dance artists of Boston Dance Theater interact with Kim’s pieces over the course of a 25-minute movement score. This work was first shared with a small audience at Movement Arts Gloucester MA (MAGMA) in March, 2024, and again at the Greenbelt Studio Barn as part of ‘Trails & Sails’ in September 2024.
Jessie continued The PLANTS Project during a weeklong residency at Manship Artists Residency in September 2024. The artists of BDT spent every day at Kim Radochia’s property to research the Great Marsh and explore the possibilities of movement generation in response to this research. The week concluded with a showing of the new, interdisciplinary work-in-progress Interwoven which was experienced in-the-round, and included a conversation between artists and audience.
The above project description is Courtesy Boston Dance Theater. Great Marsh Artists is a collaboration between Manship Artists Residency and the Artists for the Great Marsh with funding from the Kathleen Van Demark Fund for Great Marsh Artists. To learn more, click here for the press release.
Interwoven video below by Taylor Hutchison
