Leap Day, February 29, 1984, University of California, Los Angeles, California

Leaps of Faith, an interactive performance and subsequent film, explores humanity’s disconnection from nature and the potential for transformative, “quantum” leaps in consciousness. Set on Leap Day, the performance began with the amplified croaking of hundreds of frogs, drawing curious students and passersby toward a college campus quad marked with paths radiating outward like spokes on a wheel. Along these paths were stenciled images representing the stages of a frog’s metamorphosis, symbolizing personal and ecological transformation.

Visitors were welcomed by members of the performance art group Sisters of Survival, dressed in brightly colored, nun-like habits. They engaged participants in playful bouts of leapfrog, guiding them toward a circus-like box concealed by a three-sided screen adorned with sequined frogs. An audio recording of the Russian fairytale The Frog Princess added a mythical layer to the experience, recounting the story of a prince who must marry a frog after discovering his arrow in her mouth. Initially horrified, he ultimately learns to find harmony with her—a fitting parallel to the performance’s theme of reconnecting with nature and finding balance.

Inside the box, Gaulke herself sat nude, painted green with leaves attached to her body, embodying an otherworldly, amphibious figure. She held a red arrow in her mouth as 50 live frogs hopped around her. Visitors, after peeking inside, often emerged from the other side of the structure smiling, shocked, or deeply moved, having experienced an unusual, disarming encounter with the performer and her frog companions. The unconventional setup encouraged viewers to question their role as spectators, making them active participants in the performance.

Upon exiting, audience members were handed a flyer quoting thinkers like Albert Einstein, Robin Morgan, and Gaulke herself, with messages emphasizing the urgent need to respect and preserve the natural world. Gaulke’s words on the flyer urged the audience to consider what happens “when our love and respect for other creatures become extinct.” She invited them to envision a future where humanity achieves quantum leaps in consciousness alongside scientific advances, evolving into beings as morally advanced as we are technologically. “Come on,” the flyer challenged, “join the molecular dance. Leap!”

By positioning herself as a still, central figure, Gaulke created an experience that bypassed traditional audience-performer dynamics, transforming the act of witnessing into the performance itself. The piece was both a call to environmental action and a contemplative journey, inviting each participant to embrace the possibility of change and to leap toward a deeper connection with the world around them.

Video footage filmed by Kathleen Forrest, sound by David Jacks, editing by Cheri Gaulke