An Immersive Dance, Art and Space Experience

Sky’s The Limit Observatory

May 2025

SHOW NOTE: THE PLANETS is an immersive experience that has no fixed stage or seating arrangements. Our Electromagnetic Waves will guide audience members from piece to piece, and we invite the audience to move around if they wish to view dances from any vantage point.

SHOW ORDER

  • THE PLANETS Band

    Violin: Jérémie Levi Samson*

    Guitar: Dusty Brough

    Clarinet: Shawn Oshmiansky

    Accordion: Dan Cantrell

    Vibraphone: Jake Chapman

    Bass: Janie Cowan

    * Band Leader

  • Mercury

    Choreography/Dancers: Fred Gehrig, Barbara Koch

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Mercury, the Winged Messenger”

    A graphic design featuring a large white circle in the center, with two purple wing-like shapes with horizontal lines extending from each side of the circle, all set against a dark blue background.

  • Venus

    Choreography: Jenn Henry

    Solosits/Solo Choreography: Andee Goldman, Rebecca Plevin

    Dancers: Lara Bennett, Halley Brown, Lauren Burgess, Sarah Jackson, Gabrielle Levi, Penelope Levi, Megan Tortora, Nissa-Belle Vidal

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Venus, the Bringer of Peace”

    Illustration of the moon phases, showing the moon's cycle from new moon to full moon and back, with a star in the sky.

  • Moon

    Choreography: Jenn Henry

    Dancers: Robert Haydon (Neil Armstrong-Saturday), Jenn Henry (Moon), Jenn LR Hernandez (Buzz Aldrin), Genny Kristie (Michael Collins-Saturday), Michael Wielock (Michael Collins-Friday), Laura Wondra (Neil Armstrong-Friday)

    Music: Claude Debussy, “Clair de Lune,” performed by The Planets Band

    Divided flag with a blue and white background, featuring a stylized yin-yang symbol in the center.

  • Curiosity/Mars Rover

    Choreography/Dancers: Cat Holcomb, Veronica Van Haney

    Music: The Planets Band, composed by Jérémie Levi Samson 

  • Mars

    Choreography/Dancers: Kali Poulin, Lauren Slivosky

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Mars, the Bringer of War”

    A blue background with a white circle and a white arrow pointing clockwise, resembling a refresh or reload icon.

  • The Asteroid Belt

    Choreography: Jenn Henry

    Dancers (in order of appearance): Jenn LR Hernandez, Jacqueline Herrera, Kathy Lang, Ann Van Haney, Victoria Sebanz, Susan Amateis, Emberlee Goldman, Scotia Goldman, Matías Fórmica, Penelope Levi, Ella Niemann Hamm, Jasper Peck, Emerson Taggart-Wurth, Veronica Van Haney

    Featuring Special Guests from the Coachella Valley Derby Girls: Ericka Battles Williams, Kim Beall, Jamie Brislin, Ginny Broderick, Emily Cornejo, Amanda Dela Rosa, Sherrie Gaumer, Jetta James, Kat Vakoc, Lydia Lee Vincent

    Music: Jérémie Levi Samson, “The Asteroid Belt,” performed by The Planets Band


    Stylized image of shooting stars or streaks with white trails on a dark blue background

  • Jupiter

    Choreography: Lauren Slivosky

    Dancers: Ella Crowe, Elaine Goddard, Eva Vargas 

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity”

    Illustration of a blue background with white circles of varying sizes and a white curved shape on the left side.

  • Saturn

    Choreography: Nicole Tarro

    Dancers: Sonora Atwater, Vera Chinook, Sundance Clark, Kyra Collins, Astral Painter, Leon Parrillo, Mila Rose, Ivy Roth, Lola Sachs, Drew Tarro, Nora Wolfe

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age”

    Flag of Alaska featuring a blue background, a white circle, a horizontal white stripe, and a white star in the upper left corner.

  • Uranus

    Choreography: Melissa Daniels

    Dancers: Melissa Daniels, Stephanie Dashiell, Jenn LR Hernandez, Kali Poulin, Victoria Sebanz, Barbie Sommars

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Uranus, the Magician”

    Stylized illustration of a combination of a navy blue and white background with white and navy blue geometric shapes, including star-like sparkles.

  • Neptune

    Choreography: Nicole Tarro

    Dancers: Ella Crowe, Chelsea Hagler, Royya Sardari, Sarah Scott-Alperin, Lauren Slivosky, Nicole Tarro

    Music: Gustav Holst, “Neptune, the Mystic”

    Graphic design with navy blue and white waves in two horizontal sections separated by a thin navy blue line.

  • Pluto

    Choreography: Eva Vargas

    Dancers: Lara Bennett, Melissa Daniels, Lauren Slivosky, Eva Vargas

    Music: Jérémie Levi Samson, “Pluto,” performed by The Planets Band

    Flag with a white background, blue vertical stripes on each side, and a central blue heart with an arrow pointing upward through it.

  • Electromagnetic Waves

    Stephanie Dashiell, Margo Lester, Zayla Meyer-England, Jasper Peck, Nissa-Belle Vidal

  • Black Hole

    Mike Lopez


PRODUCTION CREW

  • Front of House Manager: Jenn Hernandez

  • Box Office: Ali Lund, Amanda McGlothlin

  • Information Desk: Vickie Connor, Robert Haydon

  • Stage Manager: Eva Vargas

  • Assistant Stage Manager: Beth Divel

  • Back of House: Joel Meyer-England, Cara Moore

  • Security: Val Dew

  • Parking: Stephen Scigliano, Alex Poulin

  • Emergency Medical Services: Donovan Smith

A lonely rover looking around, no one to be with, to travel with, all alone as the wind surrounds.

Built from Earth, but forever on Mars, is this my new home? Earth is too far.

There is another, though I can't reach as, they are on the other side of the planet, a planet so huge, we are so far.

All alone on my birthday, I will sing myself a tune, maybe someone else out there knows and is celebrating for me.

—Veronica Van Haney

Three people, two children and one adult, standing on a desert-like road with mountains in the background. The adult is jumping in the air, while one child reaches out toward them and the other woman stands watching.
Two women performing dance or yoga outdoors on a concrete surface with mountains in the background. One woman is kneeling with her arms extended, while the other is balance on one leg with an arm raised and the other on her partner's shoulder.
Women preparing for roller derby practice outdoors in a desert landscape with mountains, some sitting on the ground, others standing or wearing roller skates and knee pads.

Curiosity

Scientific equipment 

Amazing rover

technology cool

rocket transport rover wow

rover helps science

Curiosity

drills rock to collect samples

look with microscope

—Cat Holcomb

THANK YOU TO THE COACHELLA VALLEY DERBY GIRLS FOR THEIR SPECIAL APPEARANCE!

  • Logo featuring a young woman with pink hair, wearing roller skates, fishnet stockings, and a black outfit, sitting with one leg crossed over the other, with the text 'Coachella Valley Derby Girls' around her and a background with palm trees and a wind turbine.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

  • Visit 29

    Graphic promoting a visit to 29 Palms in the Mojave Desert, featuring palm trees, the sun, and descriptive text.

  • Cliffhanger Guides

    A circular logo with yellow outline of a hand with the middle finger raised and the other fingers curled, on a black background. Yellow text around the circle reads 'Cliffhanger Guides Joshua Tree, California.'

  • Pioneertown General Store

    Vintage western-themed logo for Pioneertown General Store featuring a cowboy hat, a lasso, and a cowboy boot, with text providing store details.

  • The Pointed Pearl

    Icon of a stylized angel with a halo, wings, and a flowing gown, set against a circular background.

THANK YOU TO OUR PATRONS!

  • Mercury: Yahaira Familia

    Mars: Ashley Holcomb, Kathy Lang, Amanda McGlothlin, Marsha Poole-Hunt, Dr. Emma Tracy

    Uranus: Kerry Uher Laster, Adam Sechooler, Jenny Tang, Nicole True

    Jupiter: Lara Bennett

AND THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF TIME, SPACE AND SILENT AUCTION GIFTS!

  • Circular logo for Viva Fit Yucca Valley with a dumbbell icon at the top inside a white circle, black background, white text.

  • Susan Amateis

    Michele Fischella

    Habitat 29

    Hi-Desert Daydream

    Joshua Tree Music Festival

    Mojave Americana

    Mojave Arts Academy of Dance

    Mojave Walks

    Nxwhere

    Rose & Co

    Sarah Jackson

    Studio 29

    Wandering Mojave

    White Label Vinyl

    Wing-N-It

  • A circular logo with the text 'Sky's The Limit' around the top. Inside the circle, there is a night sky with a moon, stars, and a mountain silhouette.

DANCE MOJAVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • President: Genny Kristie

  • Secretary: Robert Haydon

  • Treasurer: Michael Wielock

SPECIAL THANKS TO

  • Ann Congdon

  • Melissa Daniels

  • Jacqueline Herrera

  • Allen Schiano, Sky’s the Limit Astronomy Team

  • Space Truckin’ Gallery

  • Namita Thakker, Manzanita Law

ABOUT THE MUSIC

Much of the score for THE PLANETS is from the seven-movement orchestral suite of the same name by Gustav Holst, who composed the work between 1914 and 1917. Each movement is inspired by the a different planet in the solar system.

Jérémie Levi Samson is a professional musician and composer. Samson composed original works for The Asteroid Belt, Pluto, the Curiosity Mars Rover, and the electromagnetic light/radio waves serving as dancing ushers joining each dance piece together.

He and his wife, Jacqueline Herrera, founded an innovative free outdoor drive-in concert series in Yucca Valley that has grown into the Mon Petit Mojave Foundation. Samson has been committed to blending music with nature for many years, including at Soundcheck Earth, an outdoor musical experience hosted by the Harrison House and Joshua Tree National Park.

ABOUT THE FLAGS

Our immersive set for THE PLANETS is complemented by original flag designs representing each planet. Each flag is a unique cyanotype print, an antique form of photography chosen for its connection to William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered Uranus and pioneered astronomical spectrophotometry. The symbolism for each flag takes inspiration from the Greco-Roman pantheon and incorporates distinctive astronomical features, while strictly adhering to the rules of vexillology: limited colors, simplicity and meaningful imagery.

Zach J.F. Boyles is a multi-disciplinary visual artist based in Yucca Valley. A Coachella Valley native, he holds a degree in fine arts from U.C. Berkeley and has exhibited throughout the high and low deserts, including the Victorville Arts Museum College of the Desert, and the Backstreet Arts District.

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dance Mojave Performance Collective is so grateful to be able to celebrate the vibrant desert community of Twentynine Palms with you here tonight. 

Gustav Holst’s The Planets was before its time when it was completed in 1917. Holst’s preferred time signature of quintuple meter sometimes made choreography counts tricky - a quirk I didn’t realize until the grant application had already been written, sorry everybody. His themes feel fresh, cinematic, and powerful. Holst composed out of planetary order, and his suite began with “Mars.” However, we have taken the liberty of switching Mars and Mercury so that they match our solar system, in honor of science and the Observatory where we perform. Thanks to Jérémie, we have also added to the suite for astronomy’s sake, with his original compositions honoring the Mars Curiosity Rover, Asteroid Belt, and Pluto. And for fun, we also included The Moon, borrowing the piece from Claude Debussy. 

Holst composed on the brink of the First World War, and you can hear the truculent themes of “Mars” echoing throughout the suite. In 2025, more than 100 years later, it seems like there is still a lot to be disappointed by in this universe. But so much of this production has been about seeing our community come through for each other, again and again. We see our young choreographers and dancers create together, and we see friendships grow and strengthen. We hear a little mischief and fun in Jérémie’s pieces. It brings us hope.

The number of “thank yous” to say on a production like this is astronomical. This production would not have been possible without our music and arts teams, led by Jacqueline and Jérémie, Melissa and Zach. And of course, we would not be here without our gracious hosts, Ann Congdon and the Observatory. Special thanks to Visit 29 and Breanne Dusastre for all their support and coordination. Thank you to all our performers and crew, and the families and friends behind them.

And thank you to everyone in the audience for spending the evening with us!

Jenn Henry, Executive Director

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo

Credit: Sarah Nicole Photo