Cultural Creation & Recreation
David Earle
A Handbook for Ecstatic Survival
2nd paperback edition in production
"A Handbook for Ecstatic Survival"
“… an unusual and utterly engaging book … I kept picking it up, putting it down and picking it up to delve in again. When I’d made my way to the end through the abundant photographs, handwritten notes and deeply moving memories, it was clear that the book is a window to the soul of an extraordinary artist.”
James Reid, Susan Marie Turner
A selection of original images and writings by David Earle, choreographer and master teacher, founder of Toronto Dance Theatre and Member of the Order of Canada. Edited and designed by Michael R. Caplan, and co-produced with Dancetheatre David Earle, the book is divided into fourteen sections based on themes from David’s journals: Ecstasy, Me, Life, Love, Eros, the Sacred, Dance, Dancers, Teaching, Creation, Martha Graham, Watchers (the audience), Music, and Art.
The 100-page full-colour book was originally released in hardcover and paperback in December, 2017, and is now going into its second paperback printing.
Following humbly in the sandaled footsteps of the Chinese Ming authors, this Handbook is really a scrapbook – words and images on subjects that challenge and reward me. In the nature of a handbook or a scrapbook, one can enter anywhere or begin at the beginning and see how far you get.
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When I first envisioned the book, I imagined having some broad, general advice. But you cannot write a “how to” book about an art form. So I intend it for those who don’t dance and for those whose fate it is to be an artist in dance – for the curious, the hungry, for those wishing for another window on this Life’s possibilities.
David Earle
This project was made possible with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Awards Fellowship.