ABOUT MILL TOWN
Mill Town is a multi-year, multi-dimensional project to celebrate the depth
and breadth of Maynard MA – community engagement, diverse groups, immigration,
and the myriad of ways residents congregate and communicate.
Mill Town Trilogy
Mill Town Trilogy is a multi-media production based on the stories of Maynard residents, past and present. The performance includes three original sections, RIVER SPIRITS (past), FREE FLOW (present) and MAYNARD ALIVE IN FLUX (moving into the future), that combine to celebrate the richness of Maynard's people and the beauty of our natural landscapes. This multi-year, multi-media performance weaves together stories through movement, sound, visual art and spoken word. This project was conceived and created by Maynard resident Pam Newton. It is partially funded by the Maynard Cultural Council through the Massachusetts Cultural Council and also made possible by the fiscal sponsorship of the Boston Dance Alliance.
• River Spirits (past)
River Sparks opens the performance with a poem. “Beginnings” then evokes the pre-history of the settlement using sounds of nature, Native American Nipmuc language, rhythms and vibrations of the early settlers constructing the world of the mill and its surroundings. This section required extensive research and reconstruction. It also includes an overlay of movement, song, and video. (Maynard Cultural Committee.)
• Free Flow – Stories, Songs, and Dances (present)
This performance used audience participation, live art, and set creative responses to the environment and individuals who live in this town. River Spirits and Free Flow will be performed as a continuous piece in Maynard’s new Sanctuary performance space on May 31, June 1 & 2, 2019.
• Maynard Alive in Flux (moving into the future)
This section will be based on extensive interviews of Maynard residents, including different age, class, ethnic, economic, religious, and career groups, both long-time residents and those just moving into the area or working in the town.
Mill Town Compilation
Mill Town Compilation will be designed and rehearsed to flow together with building intensity and fun. The final production will combine the first three sections while adding humor, ethnic flavors, costuming, sculptural forms, recognizable town sounds, video, light and the unexpected. Performance dates TBA.
This program is made possible, in part, by the Maynard Cultural Council through the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and through the fiscal sponsorship of the Boston Dance Alliance.