Objective:

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Mark the Cassandra Project's first year of official beginning. Establish our working vocabulary, our daily chores, and expectations for the day's schedule. Learn to live and work together in a non-hierarchical environment. Bring forward the source texts, classical and contemporary, establish the basis for interviewing each other on our personal Cassandra experiences and listen to the interviews collected by participants during the previous year. Establish a method of following our daily process and progress. Review the guiding principles of our work as established during the previous year. See Guiding Principles in the Structure and Guidelines chapter.

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Method:

Chores such as cooking, cleaning, and shopping were delegated to a team of two for each evening's meal on a rotating system. Finances were the responsibility of two people and communication with the Krishnamurti Centre was delegated to a single person. Each participant had specific tasks reflective of their assets and interest.

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The practice of Authentic Movement is our daily practice. Although the discipline has inherent guidelines, for the purposes of this project, we agree that we will on occasion test these guidelines in service to the creation work. It could provoke discomfort and disagreement but we agree to disagree. 'Necessary Speaking' as practiced in the discipline of DIALOGUE taught by David Bohm, becomes a daily modus operandi. Silence would teach us as much if not more than always speaking.

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Activities:

Daily early morning practice in the studio followed by breakfast. We gather in a circle to determine the day's schedule. We practice speaking what is only absolutely necessary and in service to the work. This in itself has provided us with the greatest tool to self witnessing our habits and behavior in group situations. We soon realize that although this project began as a creative endeavor it is also serving as a place to observe societal dynamics as they develop and dissolve in particular environments.

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Every day brings surprises, material in written form, images logged on video, gestures collected for the gesture bank, a story written on 100 feet of paper referred to as the Scroll. We choose specific passages in The Orestia text by Ted Hughes, Agamemnon and other texts such as the poetry of PK Page and "move" them in the space. This specific technique was developed for actors by Judith Koltai. See article: "Frames of Mind".

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Three guests are invited to speak to us about their personal experiences referred to as Cassandra Experiences. We vowed to confidentiality and cannot name them here. We are much inspired by their courage and incorporate some of their stories in our work. The shape of the Cassandra Project begins to manifest but is yet unknown. We plan the work for the months leading to our next meeting in 2004. During the year we find out that the Krishnamurti Centre will be closed for 2004. Need to find a new location for next year.

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Participants:

Judith Koltai, Treena Stubel, Sarah Hayward, Gayle Murphy, Joan Maclean, Val Campbell, Louise Walker, Gerry Trentham, Lisa Beley, Valerie Buhagiar, Leslie French, Cindy Block, Sharon Feder, Kathryn Weiler, Monique Léger.