Welcome

I’m a writer and theatermaker
and educator and meditator.

This website encompasses my creative, educational and meditative practices.

The thread running through it all is the search for “a form that accommodates the mess,” as my beloved Samuel Beckett said. So welcome to the glorious mess that I am, that we are, that each creative project might become along the meandering road.

Juanita Rockwell

About

I’m a writer and director with over a hundred works of theatre, opera, radio, multimedia, puppetry, music theater, dance theater, and site-specific projects presented on five continents.

Projects

My work explores impermanence and change: in our individual lives, in society, and in the natural world. I’m interested in moments of fragility and loss, and the connections that create a space where something new can emerge. 

Between Trains Juanita Rockwell

Meanders

The Word Meander

The word Meander comes from the name of a river in what is now Turkey, a river of many tributaries that twists and turns, wandering toward and away from the seas on its meandering journey. There’s also Mæander the river god, but I don’t know who came first, the god or the river.

I Think of a Meander as Taking the Scenic Route.

On family trips in the station wagon, the scenic routes were always a lot more fun than the highway. They often followed the windings of a river that invited a picnic, or revealed a mom and pop ice cream joint, or a pick-your-own farm stand, each of which were little trips of their own.

So it is with story, as far as I’m concerned.

Read My Own Written Meanders

This is where you’ll find my own written Meanders – modeled on those winding and forking and twisting paths. They will likely have some connection to writing or meditation or performance or music or creativity. But who knows where we might find ourselves.

meander

TEACHING

I offer workshops and classes through various organizations and in various forms.

Writing

Some are writing classes or workshops, often focused specifically on writing texts for performance (aka playwriting). Other writing workshops are more broadly applicable to all forms of writing. They all tend to emphasize alternative narrative and structural strategies in writing, reflecting my conviction that form and content are inseparable, and that the way we tell the story IS the story. 

Meditation

Some are meditation classes or workshops, all of which feature practices from The 3 Doors, an international contemplative educational organization inspired by the teachings of Tibetan Bön Buddhist meditation master Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

Combined

Many workshops combine both writing and meditation practice, reflecting my conviction that the stories we habitually tell ourselves are related to the stories that we are taught by society, which in turn are manifest in the stories we tell in our creative expression. By becoming more aware of our habitual thinking through contemplative practice, we can become more attentive to the agenda of society’s narrative, and find more choice, joy and juice in our creative expression.

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