The Hatched Works of R.W. Berky
Work on the Reservation
Berky has been working with kids on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, touring various schools, meeting with tribal elders and administrators, and filming interactions for a documentation of the process. He is also collecting stories from the kids and elders for a book project.
The 54 truck has a new/used engine for the work and runs very well. It makes people smile and share stories of their past, a real generator of life and myth.
Work proceeds on the book The Little Book of Wonders. Chapter 7, first edit, finished late last night. Bob will be performing a few chapters in January here in Wyoming.
Onward.
Photo by Joan Haseltine
The Radio Island Project (Under the Radar)
During the first winter of the pandemic, GAC conducted interviews with young people all over the world, ages 6-13, asking how they and their families were doing, and what they were thinking, feeling, and experiencing in such unusual and strenuous times.
From these initial interviews, conducted on zoom, GAC has decided to expand the interview format to develop thoughts and stories of young people around the world and connect these groups to each other so they might not only share their thoughts and ideas, but develop deeper relationships and roads of communication between them. We have initially dubbed this process “The Radio Island Project.” The idea is to build international communications of storytelling between children. And have them share the power of each other.
We are in the process of setting up these interviews with indigenous communities in the United States, small town communities as well as city kids, in France, Albania, Kosovo, Peru, Bangladesh and elsewhere. As a projection of the work, we are utilizing old trucks to drive into these communities, collect interviews and develop the stories that groups of children can create among themselves for sharing as radio theatre pieces with each other. The trucks will act as a visual magnet for introduction, and as a generator of theatrical storytelling and imagination.
Our first truck will be a 1954 Chevy pickup, to be used for the establishment of an “island” at the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming in September, then traveling throughout France in the fall.
The goal of this project is multifaceted: to encourage creative expression, communication, and the value of true narrative, as well as weaving deeper lines of communication between young people to counteract misinformation, established prejudice, and the growing separation between peoples.
We’d like children to know and understand how other children in the world live, in communities and cultures so distant and different from their own. More importantly, to assist in creating a shared dialogue between them about what they have in common and what they do not, and in what ways and by what means they would like to see their communities, and the world, be a better place to live and grow in.
Much Ado About Nothing
Bob has just finished acting in and writing the music for a production of Much Ado About Nothing in Jackson Hole, that was produced outside in the magnificent mountain setting.
Little Book of Wonders and Hope
Bob has completed several chapters of this book which aspires to be a podcast and an audio book. Excerpts of these stories can be found here. Each story will have a specific and unique musical collaborator.
Dancer's Workshop
Dancer’s Workshop is a nationally recognized dance/performance school located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Bob has worked as a teacher and director with this organization for 20 years and continues to do so.
Teaching
Bob continues to teach at various universities and colleges. In 2020 he taught at Mt. Union University in Ohio, through the new world of Zoom.