Terra Diddle Collective
 
 















































Terra Diddle Collective Creators


Kathryn Oliver, founder and co-director of Terra Diddle Collective, is a visual artist and playwright. Throughout her art, Kathryn strives to evoke a transformational storytelling possibility. Inspired to expand art beyond the walls of the home and into our shared communities, she creates vibrant visuals of large puppetry, painted stage sets and costumery, bringing a joy of story and art to Terra Diddle Collective’s workshops and performances. Kathryn is also a professional painter and sculptor showing her work throughout the Midcoast Maine area.

“As an artist, I seek to integrate art and community. I believe that art both strengthens a community and enlivens individuals. Through the universal language of myth, animated by visuals, music and dance we can awaken imagination and cultivate a place where miracles become ordinary; inspiring and transforming our everyday lives.”


Kristi Williamson is a transformational theater teacher, singer/songwriter, choreographer and performer with Terra Diddle Collective. Her passion for artistic expression, creative expansion and personal evolution provide the foundation for her teachings. Kristi has a B.F.A in Musical Theater from Syracuse University. She took a one year spiritual pilgrimage in India exploring music, dance and yoga. She is a certified Hatha and Kundalini Yoga teacher as well as a devotional music artist. Kristi recently completed a year long intensive studying expressive movement/art therapy with dance pioneer Anna Halprin at Tamalpa Institute in California.


“Transformational theater is a beautiful art of creative expression. The art, song, dance, melodies and sacred movement are all meant to evoke, joy, magic and celebration. Through connecting with the elements of earth, water, fire and air, we enable the children to experience the natural rhythms of creativity.”.


Shana Bloomstein is delighted to join the Terra Diddle Collective: The Earth Maiden this year and deeply touched by the children

and creative process of the Collective. She is a dancer/improvisational artist with studies in traditional Africandance; here in ME as a child, NYC and Senegal, West Africa. She studied/performed with Nia Love in NYC for 4 yrs. She produces the annual show:Women's Works in Belfast, ME. She works at Kno-wal-lin as a PTA and privately as an LMT. She teaches yoga, movement, and choreography and is inspired by all things that deepen the connection to our inner wisdom and support the creative growth of our communities. Her greatest joy is being with her two magical children and partner!  


Maho Hisakawa is a performer of dance and flute with Terra Diddle Collective. She loves movement and song and is grateful to be part of this production. She finds the process of little pieces coming together to create one story to be so touching and beautiful.



 



Robin Horty costume designer. Robin is a professional gardener, poet, wife, mother and grandmother to three wonderful little girls. She is creator of The Home Place Fairies and The Fairy School Workshops at Home Place Farm, a series of creative explorative workshops for children combining art with horticulture and fairy lore in a garden setting.

Seamstress to the fairies, Robin creates wearable gardens in the form of costumes that lend a magical touch to this year's Terra Diddle production of “The Earth Maiden.”


Jeffrey Densmore, percussionist for the Terra Collective, has studied drum set and hand drumming extensively in Maine, New York City, and Guinea, West Africa. He is a teacher of rhythm, working with adults and children in private and group settings. For the past 25 years he has performed with musical groups in the central Maine area in a variety of genres including rock, jazz, country, funk, swing, drum ensembles and vocal groups. This is Jeff’s second year adding his persuasive percussive sounds to “The Earth Maiden”



Kendall has had 13 years experience playing the violin.  She started learning classical violin when she was 8 years old, then moved more towards fiddle playing.  When she was in high school, she took 4 years of professional classical training and was involved in two orchestras.  She would often play for contra dances, go to fiddle work shops, and has attended the Maine Fiddle Camp.  Kendall now enjoys teaching classical and fiddle styles, and performs for various events in the Midcoast region. The Terradiddle Collective’s production of The Earth Maiden is her most recent performance.  Her preferred styles include: gypsy, folk, irish, and scottish.  However, she loves improvising pretty much anything and enjoys collaborating with local musicians in the area.  If you would like to take lessons from Kendall, please contact her either at: kenniefiddler@hotmail.com or by phone 207-380-5831



Thank you to our sponsors!




Harbor Square Gallery - Harbor Square Gallery 


Primo Restaurant :: 207.596.0770 :: Rockland Maine

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High Mountain Hall | Hall rental for weddings in Maine; yoga and fitness classes.

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Flight of the Hawk with Victoria Marina


Thank you to Douglass Mott, Amy Wilton, Robin Horty, David and Julie Lyman and Dan O’Connell for the photos used on this site.


 

Oliver calls on the spirit of myth as ideas and images form for a production. “The language of myth is universal,” she says. “We aim to awaken imagination and cultivate a place where miracles can become ordinary. And when the community participates in creating this for the stage or when they witness it as audience, the whole experience has the power to be transformative.” Oliver’s passion for nature is clear as many plays carry a theme of Earth as sacred.


Williamson gathers the images and ideas of Oliver’s story line and translates them to the stage through original music, narration and choreography. Her talent and ability to inspire the performance of children is one of the unique aspects of any Terra Diddle production. Their current production, The Earth Maiden, calls on a cast of over 40 players, including 30 children, ages 5-15, who participated in dance and song workshops for several months to create the piece.


Sharing the stage and lending to the magical atmosphere of each play are the visual spectacles of Oliver’s bigger than life-size puppets, some which require 2-3 people to operate. 


Each production draws on a range of local talent to contribute to costuming, sets and performance. “They’ve got the best artists, dancers and musicians in the mid-coast involved,” commented one recent audience member. “It’s totally unique, no one else is doing this.”




Terra Diddle Collective is a cooperation of artists, actors, dancers and musicians of all generations whose collaborative work produces original stage productions.  Led by visual artist and playwright, Kathryn Oliver and classically trained actor, dancer and musician, Kristi Williamson, the Collective integrates art and community, enlivening all those involved.

Upcoming Spring Theater Workshops For Children ages 5-15 years old

beginning in April


Terra Diddle Collective

“The Earth Maiden”

CD’s and DVD’s available


For more info contact: Kathryn 593-2677 or email kathryn@kathrynoliver.com




                               


 

Photos by Amy Wilton