Journeys Before Waking

Journeys Before Waking brings together artists from HSU, College of the Redwoods and the North Coast community to create a performance that uses song, spoken poetry, projected photos, scenic design and costuming as well as dance to explore meaning in the landscape of dreams.

“The idea comes from a poem by Walt Whitman, called ‘The Sleepers,’ explains Sharon Butcher, Assistant Professor in the HSU Department of Theatre, Film and Dance and one of the show’s choreographers. “In the poem, the narrator enters into the dreamworlds of other people and gains greater perception and awareness of the human condition.”

In the HSU performance, principal dancer and choreographer, Jandy Bergmann, is the narrator who enters the dreams of others and interacts with the dreams, eventually changing the dreamers. “It’s about a journey into darkness that results in greater understanding and compassion,” she said.