Experiencing Interruptions?

Touchstone: Dancing With Angels

"How do we discover (or uncover) our spiritual center -- and thereafter dwell peacefully & harmoniously within that Sacred Space?"

This seems to be the predominant, unifying question within the consciousness of a diverse gathering of seekers featured in a fresh & provocative film.

Now freely-available to view online, "Touchstone: Dancing With Angels" is a widescreen documentary focusing on the extraordinary people, history and plight of Touchstone Farm -- an intentional community located in the beautiful Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.

These fascinating dreamers, artists & healers are renowned for their inspirational music, Sacred Circle Dances, massage & acupuncture center, yoga classes -- as well as their herb, flower & meditation gardens, oftentimes filled with abundantly-joyous, non-denominational celebrations.

Charismatically-charming & free-spirited Anja Daniel was born in Germany and emigrated to America after heeding the call of devas -- nature spirits -- beckoning to her. Anja's magical, mystical, musical presence when participating in Sacred Circle Dance at Touchstone Farm has been a shining beacon, as well, to earnest travelers far and near.

During production of the film, Touchstone's enigmatic founder, George 'Shaker' McNeil -- who has for decades been a local farmer, yoga & dance teacher and peace activist -- quite unexpectedly and dramatically re-emerged as Deborah Hall-McNeil -- amidst the center receiving an outpouring of local and international support to overcome building closures by local inspectors.

Throughout their internal and external struggles, the gentle-souled community of eclectic, creative individuals continues to touch the hearts of many people throughout the region and the world.

This uplifting film opens a genuinely rare, prism-glass window into the life, death and rebirth of a beloved, spiritual collective. Two and a half years in the making, "Touchstone: Dancing With Angels" is an open-hearted exploration of the curious, adventurous spirits who lost -- and eventually regained -- their 'Center.'

Please visit the official website:

http://www.TouchstoneMovie.org

and

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1344881/

to learn more about the documentary.

For information about Touchstone Farm itself, visit:

http://www.SacredCircles.com

or

http://www.SacredCircles.com/EcoVillage/eco-village.htm

for further insight regarding their planned eco-village.

"Touchstone: Dancing With Angels" Copyright © 2008 Immediate Impressions. All Rights Reserved.

  • D. S. Fine
    Director
    "The Occupant" (Sci-Fi Film) - Producer / Director; "The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis" (Documentary) - Producer / Director; "Moments of Bliss" (Cable Access TV Series) - Producer / Director; "The Most..." (Cable Access TV Series) - Producer / Director
  • D. S. Fine
    Producer
    (see above)
  • Rebecca Rideout
    Producer
    "John James Audubon: Drawn From Nature" (PBS) - Associate Producer; "Through Deaf Eyes" (PBS) - Associate Producer; "Ariel Phenomenon" (Documentary) - Associate Producer
  • Anja Daniel
    Key Cast
    Co-director of Touchstone Farm, Easthampton, MA; Sacred Circle Dance Instructor; Musician
  • George 'Shaker' McNeil
    Key Cast
    Founder and co-director of Touchstone Farm, Easthampton, MA; Sacred Circle Dance Instructor
  • Holly Lynn Danyliw
    Associate Producer
    "Silent Voices" (Cable Access TV Political Documentary) - Producer / Director; Three-part Documentary on Touchstone Farm (Cable Access TV) - Producer / Director
  • Rebecca Rideout
    Editor
    (see above)
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 1 minute 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 16, 2008
  • Production Budget:
    7,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Academy of Music Theatre - Premiere Screening
    Northampton, MA
    United States
    May 16, 2008
    New England Premiere
  • Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton (P.A.C.E.) Screening
    Easthampton, MA
    United States
    May 29, 2008
  • The Latchis Theater - Special Memorial Event for Ed Softky
    Brattleboro, VT
    United States
    December 20, 2008
  • The Latchis Theater - Special Memorial Event for Ed Softky
    Brattleboro, VT
    United States
    April 19, 2009
  • The Latchis Theater - Special Memorial Event for Ed Softky
    Brattleboro, VT
    United States
    April 26, 2009
  • Greenfield Garden Cinemas - Benefit Screening for Greenfield Community TV and WMCB-LP Radio
    Greenfield, MA
    United States
    September 23, 2009
  • Culture Unplugged / "Spirit Enlightened" Online Film Festival - Official Selection
    Online (via: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/8056/Touchstone--Dancing-With-Angels)
    January 1, 2012
    "Spirit Enlightened" Film Festival - Official Selection
Director Biography - D. S. Fine

D.S. Fine is an award-winning photojournalist, cinematographer, producer, director, and writer who has worked for PBS station WGBH-TV & WBZ-FM in Boston, The Sharon Advocate newspaper and Boston's "Rear Window," -- a film exhibitor & distributor. In addition to receiving four grants from Massachusetts Arts Councils, Fine has received dual recognition as a finalist in the National Educational Television Film Festival; and has won awards in both The Boston Globe Film Festival & The Boston Globe Photography Contest; along with the Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot (KINSA) Awards. He has established an independent media production company called: "Immediate Impressions," generating memorable cable TV productions and series such as: "The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis," "Moments of Bliss," and "The Most..." over the course of his artistic career.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Prior to deciding upon the mysterious, yet open-hearted Touchstone Farm community as the focus of a feature-length documentary, in 2006, I had considered a wide range of potential candidates.

However, none had the ability to capture & inspire the imagination the way Touchstone did.

From what I'd learned about the magical Farm -- via occasional news articles and conversations with people who knew members of the arts, music & dance-oriented, spiritual community in Easthampton, MA -- this was a special (& especially "ripe") subject.

Why their story hadn't been documented before was an even greater mystery! (...However, I later discovered that a film about Touchstone Farm had been completed, ten years earlier -- in 1996 -- by our soon-to-be associate producer, Holly Danyliw.)

What became gradually apparent about the Farm -- more accurately described by gentle co-founders Anja Daniel & Deborah Hall-McNeil as "a Center" -- was even more beautiful & spiritually-ambitious than I had envisioned.

Not only were the mostly-gregarious (sometimes private) members involved in creating exquisite music & Sacred Circle Dances -- they came from all walks of life -- meeting at "the Center" and taking "a peace" home to share with their communities.

In other words, Touchstone wasn't merely a gathering place for dancers, artists, healers & everyday folks -- it was also a socially-aware "hive" of peaceful co-existence & activism that swarmed out into the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts & far beyond -- like sweet honey bees, creating a sacred "buzz" of peace, love & harmony.

This was why I became intensely excited.

Touchstonians had found a compassionate way of life that nurtured interconnectedness and encouraged freedom of expression -- and whose heartfelt compensation could only be expressed in joyous, angelic love.

And I was grateful that I had finally found a subject worthy of featuring in a documentary -- with potentially far-reaching, beneficial effects upon our audiences -- and society.