Barn Owls Dance at Trillium Arts

 MARS HILL, NC – On Saturday, July 27, 2024, 4:00-7:00pm, Trillium Arts hosts Taking Flight, an afternoon and evening of new choreography, film and a guest appearance by Orion - a barn owl. The public event will take place at The Red Barn Studio at Odonata Farm, 5640 Paint Fork Rd, Mars Hill, NC 28754.

Taking Flight is the culminating public event for Trillium Arts’ 2024 ACE (Asheville/Chicago Exchange) Fellowship in Dance with Xavier Núñez (choreographer and dancer with the Joffrey Ballet Chicago), Tim Whalen (Mates for Live film director) and two Joffrey Ballet dancers.

During their Trillium residency, the creative team will begin work on the second in a series of dance films titled Mates For Life. The first was inspired by whopping cranes. The next iteration is motivated by barn owls, which, as do whooping cranes, mate for life. The intimate interpretation inspired by birds’ movement will engage both supporters of dance and conservation, resulting in heightened awareness and support for both causes.

Guests at Taking Flight will experience an open rehearsal of Núñez’s new barn owl choreography; view a film screening of Whalen’s Mates For Life: Whooping Crane; and meet Orion, a barn owl under the care of Carolina Mountain Naturalists’ Carlton S. Burke. Appetizers and beverages will be provided.

Tickets: $30, available at www.trilliumartsnc.org/events.

Space is limited. Advance purchase is advised.

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The shapes and motions of birds have inspired one of human’s earliest forms of expression – dance. Mates For Life aims to create unique dance films motivated by the natural phenomenon of species that mate for life.

Xavier Núñez and Tim Whalen’s intention during their residency at Trillium Arts is to start work on a dance film titled Mates For Life: Barn Owl, which will be the second film in a series about animal species that mate for life. The first in the series, Mates For Life: Whooping Crane, was released in 2023 and has been screened at national and international film festivals.

Núñez is specifically interested in choreographing at Trillium because its dance studio is housed in an eighty-year-old tobacco and hay barn: https://www.trilliumartsnc.org/the-red-barn-studio. There could be no more authentic, inspiring space to begin creating choreography for a dance film about barn owls.

The project will highlight the barn owl, which inhabits every continent on earth except Antarctica. The species, tyto alba, first started appearing in the fossil record during the Pleistocene (0.01-1.6 million years ago). Barn owls are fierce predators with an intensely acute sense of hearing. They fly silently through the night and can detect the sound of a mouse’s heartbeat under three feet of snow. While fairly abundant worldwide, barn owls are quite rare in Western North Carolina, largely due to habitat reduction. Raising awareness about conservation and habitat protection is a primary objective of Mates for Life.

In a ballet paus de deux two dancers come together. Sometimes those dancers partner for long portions of their careers. According to Núñez, “What we do as dancers and choreographers is to try to imitate life as a way for people to connect. Two people come together, or in this case birds, and choose to stay together. It can be hard to stay committed to another when things get tough. That challenge interests me very much.”

“Barn owls are an important part of the ecosystem,” says Whalen. “Their major role is regulating small mammal populations. While not endangered, their habitats need our preservation. Open prairies were once the majority in North America, but only slivers are left due to agriculture. Preserving and rebuilding these habitats not only benefits the barn owl, but all species in their ecosystem.”

Núñez continues, “Some people never have exposure to classical ballet. Other people live in cities and are rarely in nature. Mates For Life is a unique intersection of art and nature, with the ability to reach a broader audience and spark conversations about specific conservation issues. The films also bring awareness to dance, one of humans’ oldest forms of artistic expression and one that can inspire creativity among audiences across the world.”

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Xavier Núñez - Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Xavier Núñez embarked on his dance journey at age ten at the Hartt Community Dance Division in Hartford, Connecticut, becoming the first dancer in his family. He continued his training at the International Ballet Academy in Cary, NC, under Miguel Campaneria in 2010. In 2012, he earned the silver medal at the World Ballet Competition, propelling him to join the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company under the guidance of Kevin McKenzie and Franco De Vita. There he performed in international galas in Italy and France, performing George Balanchine’s Tarantella and Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval Des Animaux. Xavier’s path led him to The Tulsa Ballet in 2013, where he performed in productions including The Sleeping Beauty, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Cinderella. In 2017, Xavier took part in the Concours de Opera National de Paris, earning him the 6^th place and a contract for the 2017-2018 season with the Paris Opera Ballet. In 2018, Xavier proudly became a member of the Joffrey Ballet, a momentous step in his career. Since then, he has been privileged to grace the stage in lead roles, performing in acclaimed productions such as Yuri Possokhov’s Anna Karenina, John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, and more. Xavier's recent choreographic achievements include the creation of a new ballet for the Joffrey's "Winning Works" program, and Cosmic Rhythms at Chicago's Adler Planetarium. Beyond his onstage achievements, Xavier Núñez’s entrepreneurial drive led him to co-found a media production company, Action Lines, with talented peers Dylan Gutierrez and Eric Grant. He creatively directs and choreographs, aiming to fuse dance, education and entertainment with a fresh perspective.

Tim Whalen – Tim Whalen is a commercial director and short form documentary filmmaker. He is engaged with many non-profits, using video to further mission and extend their reach through storytelling. He has worked for several years with Chicago performing arts organizations such as Lyric Opera of Chicago and The Joffrey Ballet, as well as conservation organizations including The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever. He has told stories for major corporate brands and organizations including Nestlé Purina, The University of Michigan and Gerber as well as small businesses in the craft beverage industry. Tim is a native of Michigan and a current resident of Chicago, IL where he owns a small production company, Big Foot Media.

Carlton S. Burke - Carlton S. Burke is a naturalist and educator who resides in Mills River, NC. He took an early retirement in 2005 from the Western North Carolina Nature Center where he had been on staff for over 25 years, serving most of that time as the Curator of Exhibits. Carlton operates Carolina Mountain Naturalists, an educational service which offers live wildlife and nature programs to various organizations such as schools and camps. He also serves as a field instructor with Muddy Sneakers, a non-profit educational organization based in Brevard, NC, which partners with public schools to help teach fifth-grade science curricula to students on day-long learning expeditions to nearby natural areas in national forests and state parks. Carlton teaches classes for the Blue Ridge Naturalist Certificate Program based at the NC Arboretum and is a NC State and Federally Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator. Carlton is the co-host of the weekly radio program NATURE NEWS on WTZQ 1600 AM and Hendersonville, NC’s 95.3 FM. In 2023, Carlton was named Naturalist of the Year by the Blue Ridge Naturalist Network.

 Orion – Orion is thought to be a three-year-old male barn owl. After being rescued from a church parking lot in Ellenboro, NC with a broken wing joint which prevents him from flying, Orion now resides under the care of Carlton S. Burke at Carolina Mountain Naturalists, which is licensed by the North Carolina and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to rehabilitate and care for injured animals. Orion, with Carlton, enjoys visiting schools, summer camps and other educational settings to build awareness and knowledge about his remarkable species.

Trillium Arts - Trillium Arts is an artist residency center in Mars Hill, NC where creativity flourishes at the confluence of art, community and ecology. Co-founded by arts professionals Heather Hartley and Phil Reynolds, Trillium offers residency opportunities for regional, national and international artists working in various disciplines. Resident artists find time and space to create their best new work and connect their artistry to local communities. Trillium’s residencies are research-and-development labs for artists exploring new ideas - not as a luxury, not as a leisure activity, but as a vital and necessary force in society.

 Sponsors:2024 ACE Fellowship in Dance: Patti S. Eylar & Charlie Gardner, Hallie Rehwaldt.

Taking Flight: Madison County Tourism Development Authority.