Willow's Apothecary

Acclaimed poet Arisa White and choreographer Laurel Jenkins direct Willow’s Apothecary, featuring The Dance Company of Middlebury College with live electronic music by McLean Macionis and cello by Robin Lane.

Inspired by the rich mythological world of White’s , Willow’s Apothecary blends poetry, text, and movement to conjure the medicine needed to evoke intergenerational healing.

Co-presented by Indigo Arts Alliance and Mechanics' Hall, in partnership with Middlebury College and Colby College.

Saturday, January 25th, 2025 at 7:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM). The performance is approximately 60 minutes followed by a Q&A.

Pay-What-You-Can, $20 suggested donation.

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

Arisa White

“She approaches words as reference points, rather than endpoints. By reimagining language, she exerts control over her sense of self.”

Los Angeles Review of Books

By blending literary genres and artistic collaborations, acclaimed poet explores the possibilities of what a poem can be and do. In her practice, the poem becomes an opportunity to defamiliarize language, create new meanings, and use personal narratives as sites for somatic, cultural, and social inquiry. White is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Colby College and the author of several poetry collections, which were nominated for an NAACP Image Award, Lambda Literary Award, California Book Award, Wheatley Book Award, and won the Maine Literary Book Award, and Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal.

A member of PlayGround Writers Pool at Berkeley Repertory Theater from 2011-2013, Arisa was awarded an Emerging Playwrights Award in 2011. Commissioned by the Queer Cultural Center in San Francisco, Arisa co-produced three collaborative multidisciplinary performances for the National Queer Arts Festival. She received a 2013-14 Cultural Funding grant from the City of Oakland to create the libretto and score for Post Pardon: The Opera and a summer lab residency from The Ground Floor. Her poetic dramas are published by DelMonico Books and The New Press and were staged in the Annual Best of PlayGround Festival, One-Minute Play Festival, and FlashPlays! Festival, and LezWrites Festival.

As the creator of the Beautiful Things Project, Arisa curates poetic collaborations that are rooted in Black queer women’s ways of knowing. She is a Cave Canem fellow and serves on the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance Community Advisory Board. Currently in development with composer Jessica Jones, Arisa is working on Post Pardon: The Opera.

Laurel Jenkins

"Laurel Jenkins is a study in fluid energy."

Dance Magazine

is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and mother. Her choreography emerges from rigorous experimentation and interdisciplinary dialogues in contemporary dance, opera, music, and theater. LA Weekly writes that she creates “extraordinary movement/sound pieces in which the body becomes the most versatile of instruments, playing the music of an invisible dimension.” Through an ever-evolving choreographic process, Jenkins reimagines the contours of our collective experience by engaging themes of individual interiority, human relationships, and our connection with that which is beyond human. Jenkins’ work has been presented by Lincoln Center, Disney Hall, REDCAT, Automata, the Getty Center, Show Box LA, Danspace, Berlin’s Performing Presence Festival, Tokyo’s Sezane Gallery, and Paris’ Cité Internationale des Arts. She choreographed Bernstein’s MASS with the LA Phil and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. In addition, she has choreographed for LA Contemporary Dance Company, The Wooden Floor, and many universities, including UNL.

Jenkins was a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company from 2007-2012 and has danced in works by Vicky Shick and Sara Rudner. Jenkins performed in the opera Oedipus Rex/Symphony of Psalms by Peter Sellars and solos by Merce Cunningham in the Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event. Jenkins received a Vermont Arts Council Grant, an Asian Cultural Council Grant, and a French Institute Fellowship; she holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence, an MFA from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, and is certified to teach the Skinner Releasing Technique. She is an Associate Professor and Chair of Dance at Middlebury College in Vermont.

ABOUT INDIGO ARTS ALLIANCE

At the heart of mission is their Artist in Residency programs, which provide Black and Brown artists an environment for the production of artwork in all media across various disciplines. Indigo’s Residency aims to connect Black and Brown artists from across the globe to local artists of African descent. We activate our mission by creating opportunities for critical feedback, relationship building and increased awareness of creative opportunities and resources.

PARKING & TRANSPORTATION

Mechanics’ Hall is located at 519 Congress Street. Our main entrance is between Loquat Shop and the Art Mart. The Greater Portland Metro’s Congress & Casco Street Stop is directly in front of our building, served by .

Parking is available at the , which has entrances on Casco and Brown Street, with a rate of $5 per hour. Metered street parking is available on Congress, Casco, Cumberland, Free Street, and other nearby streets. Free hourly street parking is available between Parris and Alder Street.

ACCESSIBILITY

To enter our building, patrons will need to navigate a single step. There is a wheelchair-accessible elevator and a ramp available upon request.

If you have a wheelchair or need accessibility accommodations/questions please contact us at or 207-773-8396.

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Hall (Maine)