presentations
introduction
To work at restoring my house in Greece stone-by-stone, to lay down colors on my printing plate with a brayer, to write—all these are deeply engaging activities that satisfy my need for connection. But to interact with an audience is animating, and ever since I entered the classroom more than 40 years ago to teach high school biology and, eventually, cultural anthropology, I have welcomed opportunities to perform: reading from the books I have authored, presenting a dramatic monologue based on one of my titles (Dancing Girl), working independently as a small-group travel guide in Greece, reading to the elementary grades at a Waldorf school.Whether I present readings from my books, a gallery talk, a keynote address, a lecture with slides and audience interaction, a symposium, or a combination of the above, the following themes will be implied, if not stated:
- the life-sustaining value of creative self-expression
- the validity of intuition as a way of knowing
- the knowledge that womanhood is not a culturally determined role; it is a freedom to be individually achieved
- the understanding that a formidable undertaking, broken into steps, looses its ability to intimidate
- the belief that credentials are not necessarily as important as intention, commitment, and action
- the knowledge that regrets do not come from risks taken and failed; they come from risks not taken
My presentations offer glimpses into my dream-like reality; these glimpses may well re-awaken your dreams.
—Thordis Simonsen
programs
dance of the great hunger: an artist’s story
After a weeklong session process painting—that is, painting without judgment or analysis—at the Taos Institute of Art, Thordis visited the Great Kiva at Chaco Canyon. There, safe in the confines of an ancient wall, she danced. When her hand-clapping and foot-stomping had ended, Thordis wondered whether she had expressed, first in painting and then in movement, what the African Bushman would call the great hunger—a hunger that life on earth cannot nourish. Call it what you may, some of Thordis’ paintings have the intensity of such a hunger; others verge on ecstasy. Her imagery, and the dance she calls life, spring from the mysterious fathomless place where intuition and imagination abide—the wellspring of creativity.In an anecdotal and visual presentation including readings from her book Dances in Two Worlds: A Writer-Artist’s Backstory, Thordis will bring an artist’s story to life.
a stonemason’s daybook
On the eve of her departure from a village in Greece where she had lived for two years, Thordis bought a roofless dwelling occupied in the previous seventy years only by sheep. Small-framed and inexperienced, Thordis seemed no match for the Herculean task of restoring the house. Village men asked, “Can you accomplish it?” Village women admonished, “Men’s work!” Seven years later, Thordis occupied the house. “How did you learn?” the former owner asked. “You accomplished it,” a once-skeptical neighbor sang out.In an anecdotal and visual presentation including readings from her book Dancing Girl: Themes and Improvisations in a Greek Village Setting, Thordis will bring a stonemason’s experience to life.
accolades
Thordis' beautiful presentation was the grand finale of our Women’s History Month. She has given us a new way of looking at composing our lives.—Judith Helfer, Cuninggim Women's Center, Vanderbilt University
Thordis Simonsen has learned about the world by participating in it. We have much to learn from her and from the people she cares so deeply about.
—Alex Harris, Center for Documentary Photography, Duke University
Thordis Simonsen’s presentation was entertaining, symbolic, and
inspiring.
—Andrea Enright, member, Colorado Women’s Chamber of
Commerce
symposium
an odyssey of your own
Like the hero of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey, each of us is a traveler. Although Odysseus was determined to sail home to his beautiful wife Penelope, like all of us, he sometimes lost sight of his dream. An Odyssey of Your Own—a symposium*—offers you an opportunity to define or re-define your dreams and to map a course of action. Like the great poet himself, each of us is a storyteller. Using my stories and your own as springboards, and employing dialogues, writing, and creative visualization, we will explore the following themes:- celebrating your accomplishments
- acknowledging your fears
- honoring your intuition
- acting on your unfulfilled dreams
Like all travel, the outcome of each symposium promises to be highly
personal and unpredictable—
and
illuminating.
—Thordis Simonsen
*A symposium is a collection of information and opinions shared by a group of individuals on a given subject. In ancient Greek, a symposium was a party, usually following a dinner, for drinking and conversation. Greek=drinking [po] together [sym]
accolades
This symposium opened up the possibility of adventures on a global scale.—J. Livingston, Salina, Kansas
This symposium was a clarifying, simplifying, and refreshing
experience for me.
—D. Coulter, Boulder, Colorado
The symposium opened up possibilities that I had not previously
dared to dream.
—S. Swartz, Denver, Colorado
about thordis simonsen
Like Odysseus, your program guide is a traveler. Her Greek village odyssey began in earnest in 1982 when the Cabot Trust awarded her a grant for documentary work in the Greek village, Elika, because she expressed “bravery” and “venturesomeness” when she diverged from teaching high school biology to design and teach a course in cultural anthropology and to edit the oral history, You May Plow Here (Norton, 1986). Thordis continues to live in the once roofless and abandoned village house that she purchased and has single-handedly restored. Since 1995, Thordis has shared her love for travel and her passion for Greece by taking small groups on Excursions & Sojourns in Greece. In 2009, she introduced Astra Writing in Greece, a program for women writers who like to travel. Guided all the while by carefully chosen mentors representing the world of Jungian and art therapy and neuro-linguistic patterning, Thordis “travels the path home.”
Like Homer, Thordis is a storyteller. She recorded villagers’ stories and her own in her book Dancing Girl (Fundamental Note, 1991), and she became a storyteller in the traditional sense with her dramatic monologue performances of "Dancing Girl: An American Woman’s Greek Village Odyssey" (2005-06). Her most recent book, Dances in Two Worlds (Fundamental Note, 2011) combines personal essays with evocative paintings.
resumé of program venues
Thordis Simonsen has engaged a wide range of audiences: museums and galleries including the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (2 engagements), Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Mather Gallery of Case Western Reserve University; associations including the National Women’s Studies Association, Phi Beta Kappa Association, Hellenic-American Educators’ Association, Hellenic Preservation Society of Northeastern Ohio; institutions of higher education including Berea College, Colorado State University (3 engagements), University of Colorado, Rogaland University and College of Education (Stavanger, Norway), S.U.N.Y.-Buffalo, Vanderbilt University (2 engagements), Wesleyan University, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology; secondary schools including Colorado Academy in Denver, Colorado and Laurel School, University School, and Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio; public libraries including Douglas Public Library District staff day (2 consecutive years), Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Santa Fe, Seattle.request information
Thordis Simonsen is available to speak at a range of venues including museums, associations, corporations, women’s organizations, libraries, colleges, universities, secondary schools, Hellenic organizations, bookstores and travel stores, and book clubs. Thordis would also be delighted to provide entertainment related to Greece or the writer-artist at the salon you host.For more information about content, prices, and availability, or to book one of Thordis’ presentations or symposia, please contact her at astragreece inc.