The resulting show,“Leave My Shoes by the Door,” is running at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center in Fairhaven through the beginning of October. It is a dance performance built around the theme of death.

Death is not something that most people talk about often. When Kuntz first heard her son and his friends, aged 3 to 6, debating what happens after death, she was curious. If younger children were brave enough to talk about death, she thought adults should be too.

Kuntz found inspiration in the unsettling conversation. Despite her apprehension about approaching a topic so full of uncertainty, Kuntz said she was inspired by the willingness of children to delve into the mystery.

“None of us know,” Kuntz said, “but they’re doing it, so maybe we can.”

The performers who contributed to the piece included community members who had volunteered to share their experiences through dance, as well as dancers. Kuntz worked with them all, combining story with energy and motion to create the final piece.

Vergin, aka Ruthie V., an acclaimed Bellingham artist, helped with many visual aspects of the performance. Moved by the work she did with Kuntz, she said she asked her parents for the first time about what they believe comes after death.

She lamented her previous distance from thoughts of death and the unknown, and said she sees this distance reflected in our society.

A 23-year-old community member, Brooke Friswold, also found that working on this performance brought her some peace. Her father died when she was young.

“It doesn’t always have to be a sad thing anymore,” Friswold said, explaining that despite the grief she still feels, there is some joy in his memory.

While many of the stories were about loss, some are about accepting one’s own mortality. Marie Eaton, who has taught  at Western for 35 years, including a class on death and dying, felt that her piece was about her belief and interest in the afterlife.

“It’s less about being left behind and more about what’s coming next,” Eaton said.

One of the most thought-provoking aspects of “Leave My Shoes by the Door” is its ambiguity.

Rev. Linda Allen, another community member who participated in the performance, said part of the beauty is that the dances are open to interpretation.

“What I bring to it may not be what you see,” Allen said with a smile.

Through dance, visual art and music, Kuntz encouraged these individuals to delve into their own personal experiences. She also helped the performers share this emotional journey with others through physical expression. The entire process has taken, in Kuntz’ words, “a gigantic amount of trust.”

The audience is also asked to have trust, because the performance is a visual expression of ideas open to interpretation. This is written into the program itself, in a note from the show’s creators: “Do not feel like you have to ‘get IT.’ We hope you’ll get something — an emotion, a journey, a memory, a feeling, a story—but your ‘IT’ will no doubt be different than someone else’s ‘IT.’ Get it?”

Performances

Dates: Sept. 23-25 and
Sept. 30-Oct. 2

Times: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 5 p.m.

Location: Firehouse Performing Arts Center, 1314 Harris Ave.

Tickets: $15, available at Community Food Co-op, Village Books, Brownpapertickets.com and at the door