32 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 30-NOVEMBER 5, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE Rosalia Moon Webster is a South Coaster, born and bred—a creature of Big Sur. And like that place, she has a singular energy, which she has mostly put toward her art. Webster is a writer, dancer and founder of Big SuRCuS, a fire-, belly-dancing and aerial circus for hire, as well as a show that she writes and produces annually. Although she’s a self-described hermit who doesn’t come to town all that often, she’s been pumping up the crowds this year at the “No Kings” rallies in Monterey. Webster published Tales from the Moon in 2021, a poetry anthology of “rap, requiems, spells, and musing.” Webster doesn’t live on the remote South Coast anymore—she lives closer to Big Sur’s more populated area—and the Weekly caught up with her at her “Mermaid Pad” to talk about her evolution and her art. Weekly: Where’d it all start? Webster: I grew up five miles up Los Burros Road, commonly referred to as Willow Creek Road. I was the first Jade Queen of the Big Sur Jade Festival. I legit hung out with the guys who hung out under the bridge and carved pipes. In fact, my chair-balancing act is from that. We just called them the…um—what was their name? The Roadies?—I’ll think of it. One of them was on the Gong Show and he would balance knives on his nose and a wheelbarrow full of cement. I’m not even kidding. His name was Robot. He could pick up a wheelbarrow that had dried cement, or a woman on a barstool—and balance it on his chin. Like hundreds of pounds. As a little kid I would spy on him at potlucks and was like, “I want to be that.” He was a carnie. [I thought of it:] The Trolls! We called them The Trolls because they lived under the bridge. My dad would pick up hitchhikers and bring them home and I’d put on theatrical plays for them when I was 9. He’d bring them home, give them work, they were captive attention. So I’d put on this production. What about when there were no hitchhikers to entertain? When you grow up on the South Coast, with no TV, dancing sort of becomes a natural way to entertain yourself. What’d you do for school? I went to Pacific Valley School. I was very lucky, I lived next door to one of the teachers; her daughter was a year younger, so we both started learning to read before kindergarten. We had a lot of extra credits. Anytime we’d do writing? Extra credit. Surfing? Extra credits. So I graduated when I was 16. There were 52 kids K-12 when I graduated in ’93— we were in a good time, it was the ’90s. How did that kind of education affect you? It’s why I’m an activist, because I was raised like, “You can just do this!” That when something’s not right, you can just take to the streets and everybody will join you, and we can change climate change, la-di-da. It was so hopeful. My history teacher [Rowena Mayer], who taught me to read, she was my most influential teacher. She was like a feminist-Buddhist. And that’s who I credit with my strive for humanity and compassion and joy and love and equality. She would show us movies—Bob Marley, Simon and Garfunkel—and through music she would teach us history and how critical mass was a very effective way to make change if you aren’t into policy. I feel like all my great ideas come from my teachers. I can’t take any credit. I channel. I sit in the woods and I just listen. And all of a sudden, it was so clear what she was training me for. Have you been doing any other work besides art? I was a wine professional at Nepenthe from 2003 to 2012, then I just took off to write—I had enough money from waiting tables. I just stopped working and focused on my art. Then I joined Nepenthe again for a couple years and I just left [a few] months ago. With the regime change, now’s a time to step back and do my art. There’s never been a better time. The art and activism have also coincided with something else. I was never a drinker, but a yearand-a-half ago, I just stopped. And when you’re an artist, you’re constantly seeking new perspectives. So this is a big change for me—I always voted, but I never rallied. Learn more about Big SuRCuS and keep up with the performance schedule at bigsurcus.com. South Coast Spirit Big Sur native Rosalia Moon Webster takes the energy of place and channels it into art and activism. By David Schmalz Growing up on the South Coast of Big Sur, Rosalia Moon Webster was shaped by a culture of harvest parties, dancing and reverence for the Earth. 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