Earthdance

On September 26, 2009, Earthdance comes to Arcosanti

Located in the high Arizona desert, Arcosanti will participate in the largest simultaneous, cross-continental music festival in the world. Synchronized with similar events in Sao Paolo, Vienna, London, Tel Aviv, Houston, and San Diego, Arcosanti will join in Earthdance by bringing together DJs, pyrotechnics, acrobatics, musicians, art installations, and other performances for a daylong festival dedicated to global peace. With its solar-oriented, earthcast structures rising up from the Arizona bluffs, Arcosanti is a community and architectural project dedicated to reducing human impact on the environment while improving quality of life.

Heart of the Earth, Heart of the Sun

While Arcosanti has hosted Earthdance in the past, this year will be the biggest one yet. Notable performers include Flam Chen, a fire-performance and circus collective based out of Tucson, William Eaton, two-time grammy nominee and noted acoustic guitarist, touch screen VJ/DJ Metrognome (a.k.a. Not Breathing), house and electro-tech super group Ploy, and numerous other artists that will play under the Arcosanti Vaults and into the night. Featuring a special art installation titled "Red Lotus: Heart of the Earth, Heart of the Sun," this year's Earthdance focuses on the vital, pulsating core of what makes both humanity and the earth live. With global climate change, the dissolving of personal and cultural identities, and political strife in multiple continents, we must come back to center as a worldwide community and experience, across borders and stereotypes, to what defines humanity's value on earth. What we do in this century may determine the course of our societies for a millenium to come.

Realize that you are at the core of the future—you are at the heart of the earth, at the heart of the sun.
Arcosanti is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to testing and demonstrating arcology, architecture + ecology, as a way to reduce human impact on the environment while improving quality of life. Its educational programs and stunning architecture in a high desert setting attract international students and visitors daily.

Since Italian architect Paolo Soleri launched Arcosanti in 1970, over 6,000 people have participated in the Cosanti Foundation's educational Workshop programs. Workshop participants are of diverse ages and backgrounds and many spend additional time at Arcosanti as short-term or long-term residents who work and live on site.

Arcosanti is a project of the Cosanti Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to education through the construction of Arcosanti as an "urban laboratory." Arcosanti is in central Arizona, about one hour north of Phoenix. Arcosanti is open to visitors daily from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (closed major holidays), offering tours at 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 p.m. Meals are offered in the Arcosanti Cafe and overnight accommodations are available by reservation. World famous Soleri ceramic and bronze windbells are produced and sold on site.

Arcosanti is located 65 miles north of Phoenix. Take exit 262 off I-17 and follow the signs for Arcosanti. Maps and other information are available at www.arcosanti.org or by
calling 928-632-7135.

About Arcology

The arcology concept proposes a highly integrated and compact three-dimensional urban form. It is the opposite of urban sprawl and its inherently wasteful consumption of land, energy and time, tending to isolate people from each other and community. The complexification and miniaturization of arcology enables radical conservation of land, energy, and resources while also increasing residential access to amenities for residents. Arcology addresses issues like pollution, social isolation, resource scarcity, community, health, housing, education, access to nature, culture, and more, all while privacy is paramount in the design.

An arcology would need about 2% as much land as a typical city of similar population. Today's city devotes more than 60% of its land to roads and automobiles while arcology eliminates the automobile from within the city. The multi-use nature of arcology design would put living, working, and public spaces within easy reach of each other, making walking the main form of transportation within the city.

An arcology's direct proximity to uninhabited wilderness provides the city dweller with constant access to rural space. Agriculture is integrated into the city design, maximizing the logistical efficiency of food distribution systems. Arcology uses passive solar architectural techniques such as the apse effect, greenhouse architecture, and garment architecture to reduce the energy usage of the city, especially in terms of heating, lighting, and cooling. Overall, arcology seeks to embody a "Lean Alternative" to hyper consumption and wastefulness through more frugal, efficient and thoughtful city design.

Arcology theory holds that this leanness is obtainable only via the miniaturization intrinsic to the Urban Effect, the complex interaction between diverse entities and organisms which mark healthy systems both in the natural world and in every successful and culturally significant city in history.
General Admission: $30
Admission is free for children six and under!

Camping Reservations: $15

What is this? I can camp at Arcosanti?

Yes, you can camp overnight at Arcosanti the day of the Earthdance festival. The camp grounds are in Arcosanti's Minds Garden, a beautiful stretch of land on the edge of the mesa surrounded by Italian Cyprus and olive trees. It also houses a sculpture garden with many unique pieces made by Arcosanti residents over the years. Camping reservations are four people per reservation, so with one reservation you can bring up to four people (reservations for children six and under are waived). Campfires and grills are not allowed on the campgrounds due to fire safety regulations.

You can pay for admission either online with Google Checkout (see the form below), by phone, or at the gate the day of the event. However, we strongly encourage festival goers to pay ahead of time, as only cash will be accepted the day of the event at the gate. There is not an ATM at Arcosanti, so you will not be able to enter if you do not have cash and have not paid ahead of time. Please remember this when you plan your day at Earthdance Arcosanti. Again, is preferable to pay online or over the phone before September 26!

See You At The Show