This experiential performance can be set up outdoors, in a theatre, or other space.  An “audience” of up to three people can enter in half-hour increments. The “audience” are the participants. Three participants enter the experience at a time and proceed from the first stage (egg) to the second (caterpillar), third (chrysalis), and final (butterfly). It takes about 25-30 minutes for each person to travel through the entire experience. Participants will each be led by a guide through the stages, each as one of three different butterfly species, Monarch, Blue Morpho, or Wester Tiger Swallowtail. Participants will move along from one stage of development to the next and be costumed for each stage and guided through a moving embodiment and thoughtful reflection of the transformation. Others who are not participating can watch this “performance.” However, the intended “audience” for whom this entire experience is designed is the people actively going through the stages. Being observed may change the experience for the participants. 

An egg, a caterpillar, chrysalis, and a butterfly are all created of the same matter yet are capable of remarkable change from one iteration to the next. This performance experience is designed to impress upon participants that they have within them all that they need to be the change they yearn for right now. For homo sapiens who seek to transition from the current status quo to a radically different one that is equitable, survivable, and thrive-able, humbly tracing the steps of a butterfly’s transformation can guide this co-becoming. Material explorations can be a way to think through the body as a process of interspecies exchange. This is not an attempt to mimic or impersonate these various butterfly species, but rather an assertion of our unity as part of the same natural world in need of transformation for continued survival. It is an opening to the wisdom and guidance of species beyond our own. This performance experience is designed to be a contemplative and immersive invitation to reflect, dream, and imagine.