Studio Bliss performs ‘Resolutio’

What: Resolutio: Seed Sounds for the World Mind
Where: The Carving Studio, 636 Marble Street, West Rutland
When: Debut performance is Sept. 14 @ 7:30 p.m.

The Vermont premiere of a multimedia project two years in the making is set for Friday night. “Resolutio: Seed Sounds for the World Mind,” blends sound, lighting, dance and poetry into a performance to be experienced first, incorporated into one’s being second.

The arts, be they performance, visual or culinary, are as healing as they are invigorating.

As part of the 20th anniversary of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, “Resolutio” will debut at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Main Studio Building at 636 Marble St. in West Rutland.

Cathy Salmons, director of Studio Bliss, worked with musician and composer Ann Hutchins, choreographer Erika Schmidt and musician Patino Vazquez, to pull the performance together. Hutchins wrote all of the show’s singing parts.

“Let yourself be guided by the words, the sounds, the dance, the groove. Let go: Anything worth hanging onto will still be waiting. Simply allow yourself to respond, and you will be changed,” a poster for the program reads.

“The program is meant to be participatory,” Salmons said.

Fear not. No one from the audience will be pulled on stage from his or her seat and thrust into the spotlight.

Few of us start each day with a minute-by-minute script for each physical and intellectual act.

“We’re all kind of improvising and anything can happen,” she said, so Friday night’s program can be adaptive.

Two earlier performances of “Resolutiô” took place in Florida and New York state. The program heads to Cambridge, Mass., for an October performance at the legendary folk music venue Club Passim.

From state to state, the performance has evolved a little, Salmons said.

Cultivating and harnessing the energy within each person’s body and soul and doing so to dance and music is the premise of the performance.

The energy of the seven chakras — spiritual and psychic energy within us — will be different for everyone watching or participating. “Resolutiô” will be understood differently by each person because no one person travels through life exactly the same as another person.

“It’s very rocking, lively,” Salmons said over coffee. “I hope it will be very interesting no matter where you’re coming from.”

Physical and emotional healing through dance, words, meditation and music brings similar outcomes.

“To me, there’s no difference; it’s the same people, it’s the same energy,” she said. “It’s the expression of all they’ve been working on for their own healing.”

Salmons and Julia Tarbell, who’s been involved with many Studio Bliss performances, agree “Resolutiô” is not a straightforward show. It is not a Thornton Wilder play. In that regard, “Resolutiô” is risky, Salmons said. It is not a linear story” It’s a hands-on, get involved, be moved by this,” Tarbell said.

Salmons, a Roanoke, Va., native, said the rehearsals for “Resolutiô” are as personally satisfying as the show itself.

A $1,000 grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts helped reduce production costs. Other artists are traveling from different parts of the country to Rutland to help stage the program. Costs for the program quickly reached $2,500. Salmons is thankful for the many in-kind donations of area merchants toward this artistic effort. Quickprint of Rutland is producing collage artist Gene Lakin’s poster for “Resolutiô.” Tickets can be purchased at face value, without a commission fee, at Book King.

Resolutio’s dancers are students of Salmons. They’ve volunteered their time and abilities for Friday night’s show.

“They are all adult learners who have reached this incredible place,” Salmons said.

“You create a good environment. It’s very accepting,” Tarbell said.

“Well, we try,” Salmons said with a smile.

By Lisa Connell Herald Staff

Contact Lisa Connell at lisa.connell@rutlandherald.com.