Pre-Gathering Activities

Friday Morning, November 12th
8:00 am - noon
Equine Labyrinths: New and Old Uses and Designs
Demonstrations by riders on horseback in different labyrinths and speakers’ presentations show how labyrinths are used to train horses and riders.   Re-construction of The Troy Town Ride by seven riders on horseback is historically interpreted.  Therapeutic benefits of riding horses in labyrinths to people with special needs are illustrated and discussed.  International uses and designs of equine labyrinths are presented.
 
Demonstrations  take place on the lawn to the west of the Athenaeum and can be viewed from the lawn or the balconies of the Athenaeum.   Presentations take place inside the Athenaeum lecture hall.

 
Friday Afternoon, November 12th
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Maypole Dancing in the Labyrinth: A modern tradition
Different versions of maypole ribbon dances are taught to sixteen dancers per dance.   Speakers demonstrate the 60-year old Crane Dance and then lead dances developed since 1978 in Denmark and now in the United States.  Speakers present the history connecting maypoles and labyrinths and recent developments in bringing an old tradition to the new world. 
 
Ole Jensen Owner of the labyrinth theme park Labyrinthia in Denmark. He got interested in labyrinths after visiting pioneering Stuart Landsborough’s wood panel maze in New Zealand in 1991 and even more while working with Danish labyrinth enthusiast Jorgen Thordrup from 1997 to 2008. Ole is keeping Jorgen’s labyrinth activities going such as maypole dances on labyrinths, which have been carried out in Denmark since 1978.
Cordelia Rose is a retired museum registrar who has moved from midtown Manhattan to the wilds of New Mexico and started a second life as a yoga teacher and labyrinth builder.  She holds workshops and events in the four labyrinths and  plan of a maze which make up Whitewater Mesa Labyrinths.  Influenced by the Danes, Cordelia has been dancing the maypole in her classic labyrinth since 2008.      
Jeff Saward Based in England, Jeff Saward was first captivated by the labyrinth in 1976 and is a world authority on the history and development of labyrinths and mazes, the author of Magical Paths and Labyrinths & Mazes, editor of Caerdroia – the Journal of Mazes and Labyrinths and co-founder and director of Labyrinthos: the Labyrinth Resource Centre, Photo Library and Archive.

Friday Morning November 12th 
9:00 am-noon
The  Historic Walking Tour of New Harmony
Offered by local historian, Janet Kahle, The Historic New Harmony walking tour will begin at the Atheneum/Visitors Center, designed by renowned architect Richard Meier.  The tour will continue throughout town visiting several 19th century buildings, and discussing the history of the New Harmony’s two communal societies, 200 years of architecture, and New Harmony in the 21st century. There is a discounted $5.00 charge for this optional activity.
(This tour will be offered again on Sunday afternoon)