The energetic Carnival troupe began its two-city tour with 10 days in Harrisonburg, camping on ’s lawn while promoting “creation care” through performance, artwork and service both there and at EMU. Carnival de Resistance is a new venture, with artist-members from around the U.S. and Mexico, says member Sarah Thompson, who holds an MDiv from and is outreach coordinator for . Four main shows addressed themes of earth, air, fire and water.

At EMU’s Thomas Plaza in front of the Campus Center Wednesday, more than 100 experienced the air-themed show, titled “Out of the Whirlwind.” Featuring its creators, Jay Beck and Tevyn East as Raven and Dove, it began serendipitously as a full harvest moon emerged from clouds:

Addressing human neglect of earth

Dove (East), a wordless dancer in white robes, cradles an egg. Hatchling Raven (Beck) appears, clad in black rags. Raven’s first word is “death.” His narrative – angry, mournful, sometimes humorous – attacks humanity’s neglect of Earth:

“For the earth to stay alive, your way will have to die.”

Raven and Dove briefly dance on a biblical-type ark, but Dove gets confined to a cage. “We can scarcely fly in this soup of chemicals,” shouts Raven, who warns of angering Gaia, envisioned as the mother of Earth.

“The concepts were thought-provoking,” said ’08, an EMU staffer who brought a church youth group to the show.

At an earlier chapel service, the troupe led a Cherokee chant to “the great spirit,” along with the adaptation of a familiar spiritual’s words “When I die, hallelujah, by and by,” to “When we live, hallelujah, how we live.”

On the Carnival’s , inspiration is attributed to an array of influences, including First Nation and African earth-centered spirituality and activist theologians Ched Myers and William Stringfellow.

Resonating with students of sustainability

EMU biology professor observed that the Carnival “links oppressed people with the oppressed earth.” The radicalism, he said, may reach some who ignore conventional messages.

Troupe members visited Yoder’s classes all week. They have committed to making no purchases while touring, relying on kindnesses when needed. The Carnival is supported both by grants and hospitality.

EMU junior Chris Lehman, an environmental sustainability major, served as one of many sound-powering bikers and directed parking. Everett Brubaker, a classmate in the same major, participated as co-president of the campus . This major has been attracting increasing numbers of students, with 30 now in the program.

Junior Erin Rheinheimer, an environmental sustainability minor and Earthkeepers member, helped make sunflower signs for a parade and enjoyed a Carnival “skill-share show.”

Lehman, who enjoyed the air show most, is considering a career in conservation or wildlife biology. Brubaker, who especially liked the Carnival parade, hopes to work in advocacy.

Gifting a mural to Cedarwood

The second-floor mural in began with images by Carnival troupe member and nomadic painter Dimitri Kadiev. These were selected by art professor from his previous works, and the two worked collaboratively on shaping the overall result.

On part of the mural, between a laundry-room window and custodial closet door, a figure with outstretched arms smiles joyfully. A river seems to flow from the figure’s heart. Nearby, a quetzal (Guatemala’s national bird) displays its tail feathers.

Gusler and Kadiev started with a yellow background, which she notes, “glows through wherever there is open space.” Next, they filled in large shapes with solid colors – blue (river and shades of sky); green (landscape); purple (mountains).

Then, Gusler had all her students participate. At Kadiev’s suggestion, they created stenciled images of living things: an owl, poppy, hibiscus, egret and butterflies. Others subsequently dipped brushes in varying shades of green, instructed to “fill the shapes, and while you do, think about the earth.”

A passing student shows a spot to a companion, noting, “I did that shape.” Cedarwood resident director Micah Hurst points to the blue space his children, 4 and 8, helped paint.

Parading down Main Street

In Thursday’s Carnival parade, imaginatively retooled bicycles rolled alongside marchers from Harrisonburg’s North Main Street to Court Square. Motorists smiled at jugglers, banners, colorful costumes and percussionists with homemade instruments.

The local “Fossil Fuel Zombies,” wearing shredded black trash bags, called for burying fossil fuels with message-bearing signs, including “Oil, oil, watch Earth boil.”

“Are you really Jesus?” someone asked Kadiev, who had lettered the name atop his paint-splattered garb. “Only a stand-in,” Kadiev smiled.

The march ended with an hour-long “Power Down and Lift Up” rally at Court Square. Local groups represented by speakers included the for sustainability, the global-warming awareness movement, , , and .

Pastor Phil Kniss, who helped pedal the sound system, explained why his church installed 125 solar panels. When believers ask “Why worry about this world?” he responds, “Because God loves this world.”

At Trinity this weekend, the Carnival will offer children’s events and a “Water Show” before bicycling to Charlottesville for its final 2013 gig. Each day’s is posted on the Carnival’s website.

Sharon E. Kniss, a third-year Eastern Mennonite Student student from Harrisonburg, has won the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest held Mar. 18 on campus.

Ms. Kniss took first place in the annual competition with her address, "Engaging the Terrorists: A Discourse on Living with the Other." She received a cash award.

Runners-up were Elisa J. Wolf, a sophomore from Lititz, Pa., and Zachary T. Kurtz, a senior from Keyser, W.Va.

In her presentation, Kniss asked what needs to happen to purposely engage "the other" – to begin to communicate with those of differing persuasions and viewpoints, noting that applying handy labels like "conservative" or "liberal" aren’t helpful in that process.

She used Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 to support her points, arguing that "how we learn to live with each other forms the basis of peacebuilding in society."

A video and copy of Kniss’ presentation will be sent to Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa., to be judged as part of a national competition among the winners of all participating Mennonite and Brethren-In-Christ colleges and universities.

Kniss, a major from Harrisonburg, is the daughter of Phil and Irene Kniss and a member of Park View Mennonite Church.

The Smith Oratorical Contest began in 1974 as a way to honor the late C. Henry Smith, Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen College in Indiana and Bluffton Unversity in Ohio. Smith had a deep interest in the Mennonite peace position. The contest encourages college students to present speeches that apply the Anabaptist peace position to contemporary concerns.