GOING UPRIVER: The Crosscurrents Concept

Speaking of contraries,

See how the brook in that white wave runs counter to itself.

It is from this in water we are from

Long, long before we were from any living creature. …

It is this backward motion toward the source, against the current,

That most we see ourselves in

The tribute of the current toward the source.

It is from this in nature we are from.

It is most us.

-- Robert Frost, West-Running Brook

The CROSSCURRENTS concert series was developed at Gros Morne, Terra Nova, and Kouchibouguac National Parks (Atlantic Canada) in the summers of 1986-87, with support from the Canadian Parks Service and QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment. Originally symbolizing the upwellings of water off Newfoundland's Grand Banks and the resulting flow of human migration, the title has come to stand for the crosscurrents of natural and cultural landscapes that is the focus of heritage conservation. Each program explores the "terrains of consciousness" expressed in music, literature, folklore, and historical narrative, to capture the heart of a region in the "spirit of place."

Each unique place or theme suggests its own program approach. Thus, CROSSCURRENTS illustrates traditional ballads with slides of the "Newfoundlandscape." L'ACADIE blends Acadian French songs into dramatic readings of Longfellow's Evangeline. WILD THINGS captivates young audiences with singalongs and animal stories to illustrate concepts in wildlife ecology; SWEET SEAS explores the Great Lakes with maps, nautical charts and shipwreck ballads; and the bilingual C'EST L'AVIRON animates the fur trade through the eyes of "Lisette Duval," a character drawn from historical accounts who draws her audience into dramatizations of French-Canadian songs and folktales. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently honored CROSSCURRENTS with its 1988 "Tree of Learning" Award.

Throughout each program runs the current of music, that river of sound flowing from past to future. By raising our voices together in song, we become participants in our common heritage, and creators of harmony. The songs and stories of CROSSCURRENTS are tributaries to the river of history: "the tribute of the current toward the source."As they carry us on their journey into the landscapes behind our eyes, we develop vision and imagination: critical skills for understanding the past, shaping the present, and creating the future..+