Lights, Hags, Action – the Wonders of May

What a wildly fabulous month this May has been, arriving like a creative firestorm.

“Bealtaine na mban” — May of the women — when the veil between the worlds is thin, when feminine power, spirit, and story move freely.

In Irish tradition, the month of May begins with Bealtaine, the great fire festival — a time of thresholds, when light returns in force — in the northern hemisphere, while here in the south, we welcome the dark, the cold, and the turning inward.

Looking back over May adventures, my practice felt like that. Three wildly different works sparked into being — a feminist digital sideshow, a ghosted film triptych, and a spoken word sprint on the intangible. Each lit up a different stage, with its own audience, energy, and kind of wonder. Full of joy, and not without chaos.

I’m deeply grateful to everyone who met me in that fire: the programmers who trusted the work, the techs who helped shape it into life, the artists and friends who kept the energy up by being there, and the audiences who turned up, leaned in, and sometimes twirled.

This next trio of posts is a way for me of gathering the embers — both documenting the work, and reflecting on what it felt like to show, speak, and spin it into the world.

Let’s begin with the hags in the following post, then the ghosts and finish up with an unusual spin.

“Go mbeannaí Dia dhuit ar an mBealtaine — blessings of fire, story, and turning seasons.”

IMAGE CREDIT: Dance by Erin M McCuskey