CATSKILL MOUNTAINS — Water Woman Dance is a 2003 “filmed poem” by filmmaker and actress Shoshanna Gleich. Visually, the short film, shot by Miana Jun, follows Gleich as she roller skates against the backdrop of the Ashokan Reservoir at what appears to be early morning, with the mist-covered Catskill Mountains in the background. A deer watches her as she performs her roller skate dance, waving a blue cloth with her arms. Playing over the video is Gleich’s reading of her poem “created from a prayer to divine on how best to contribute to protecting water,” with a score by Grammy-award-winning Steve Gorn (if you’re familiar with Paul Simon’s You’re the One album, you may recognize the sound of Gorn’s flute, which plays the opening notes on the album). 

Gleich’s poem is a meditation not only on the significance of the water contained within the Ashokan Reservoir, providing “16 million people” (in 2003 numbers) “bathed, refreshed and purified,” but also on our connection as humans to water overall, beginning with the womb. At its core, Water Woman Dance is a call to respect and care for our water. 

Gleich has been active as a filmmaker since 1984, when, at the age of seventeen, she created No Thank You I’ll Twist Some More, WABC TV New York Hot Tracks, and was even shown to the US Navy to “cheer up the troops.” She pursued her passion as an NYU film student, creating the award-winning Dinner at JoJo’s, a zany Pee-Wee’s Playhouse-esque short film about a woman preparing for a blind date who becomes distracted by a fly. Her film credits as an actress include Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Coneheads. He current works in progress include God’s Giggle, “A surreal autobiographical one-woman show exploring creativity, healing, homelessness, and the resilience of the human spirit,” and Face to Face with God’s Giggle, “A companion documentary chronicling the three-decade journey behind the creation of the show.” Water Woman Dance is available on YouTube and on www.shoshannayawannaproductions.com.