The Guild Dancers: July 2007

Sunday, July 1, 2007

JOINING THE GUILD FAMILY

For information about joining

the Guild Dancers,

call the studio, aka, "the Barn" at

978 582-6302

The Guild Dancers, Inc.,

located in Lunenburg,

is a nonprofit center for dance.

We maintain a small family feeling

of about 80 students.

Our coed classes range from

second grade through adult.

Since 1981, the Guild has been

celebrating arts in community.

Artistic Directors:

Martha Lane Browne and Curt Ahokas

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History of the Guild Dancers

“And everything comes to One

As we dance on, and on, and on.”

~ Theodore Roethke ~

The Guild was born in January, 1981. “Modern Dance” was not exactly a household phrase. Martha Lane Browne, a native of Fitchburg, had been teaching and choreographing on the East Coast, West Coast and Deep South. Settled in Lunenburg, and the mother of a newborn, she wished to limit her teaching to a class

or two each week. Her husband, Dr. Fred Browne, renovated a former church space

in Lunenburg center. In hopeful anticipation of just a handful of dancers, “the stage was set”. Amazingly, thirty-nine students materialized. By spring, these co-eds of all ages were eager to share their newfound passion with family and friends.

This first “performance” was humble indeed: the space’s occupancy limit was 126;

the stage was a tiny platform of rough plywood; mice and mosquitoes far outnumbered the audience…

During the next four years, the Guild was a gypsy – moving from space to space, and collecting dancers, volunteers, and audiences from many surrounding schools and communities. Determined to keep a sense of “family”, the Guild decided to limit its company to about seventy-five students. By the mid eighties, the Guild was producing three annual performances at the Lunenburg High School Auditorium and, committed to community outreach, began offering free assemblies throughout the Lunenburg school system.

In the fall of 1988, the Guild realized two dreams: nonprofit status and a home.

Becoming nonprofit formally established the Guild’s dedication to its art. “Home” was a barn, complete with horse, goat, and chickens. Through the love, sweat, and tears of

Dr. Browne and a plethora of community volunteers, “The Barn” (as the students still call it) was transformed into a world of wood, light, and inspiration. In 1991, Dr. Browne died. With enormous support of the Guild family, his legacy continued.

In 1996, Ms. Browne married Curtis

Ahokas, a local artist. Together, they share the directing, teaching, and choreographing for the Guild Dancers.

With nonprofit status, the Guild needed a Board of Directors. The Guild’s Board supports Guild activities by handling finances, fundraisers, and general management guided by Guild traditions.

Since 1981, the Guild has dedicated itself to technical and creative growth of its dancers, to performances of professional excellence, and to art in community.

The vision of the Guild is that of spirit sharing – soul to soul – through the art of dance.

More broadly, we embrace the power of all art to enlighten, to impassion, and to connect us as One.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

The Guild Dancers

Inch by Inch

Guild Information

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