Thursday, April 29, 2021

Press for "In Their Own Voice" this week


White woman lying in fetal position on a concrete floor wearing black jeans and green top, image looks down

Hi everyone,

I'm delighted to let you know we're in the Press Democrat this week and also The Bohemian

The piece I've been working on, "Barely A Person'', giving a voice to post partum depression, is being shown as part of "In Their Own Voice" - a virtual festival about what happens when you let a woman speak.

SCHEDULE:

May 8th / 9th / 15th / 16th @ 2pm
May 8th / 14th / 15th @ 8:30pm

$25/general tickets $12/student
Prices are per household

"In Their Own Voice" is an hour and 10-minute online theater festival composed of 5 short plays/performance pieces written by the performers. 

This sometimes intense, sometimes funny, always touching festival delves beneath the surface of what society thinks a woman should be and looks at individuals to hear the stories of who they actually are. Featuring an all Femme/Female-identifying/Non-binary group of Sonoma County artists from multiple ethnicities, races, sexualities, and ages this festival is a true community event that seeks to give all those who identify as women a voice.

Please note that this festival aims to give a voice to all aspects of what "Womanhood/Femme/Female-identifying" is.*  

*As such, there are adult situations and adult language used along with some triggering subjects. Viewer discretion is advised and the advisable age is 13+ with adult supervision.

Tickets available at cloverdaleperformingarts.com

After you buy a ticket, you’ll receive an email with a link for the performance of the time and date you chose. Click on the big blue button link in the email to watch the show. Or go to ShowTix4U.com/stream and use the access code provided in the email.

This festival is a co-production between Heroines, Harpies, and Harlots Theatre and Cloverdale Performing Arts Center.

Friday, April 23, 2021

Meeting the silence, and creativity

 Hi everyone!

Yesterday I listened to a lovely episode of ''Hunting for Healers'' hosted by Frank Vogt. He's been doing this podcast for a while now and I admit that, what with having a 3 year old who is almost always talking or wanting something, this is the first once I've listened to the whole way through. 

Among all that Brother Richard talks about (faerie encounters, spirituality, Irish folk healing etc) one bit that has stuck with me strongly over the last day or so was when he spoke about creativity. How we are always creating - our lives, our communities, our art. And how meeting the silence - that still place inside of us - can be so uncomfortable but how when we do, we can hear that divine creativity. This is the idea expandance is based on, this has been my practice for many years, and it's interesting to hear it spoken about from someone with such a different background (he is a Franciscan monk).

Here's the link to the episode on Spotify

And for those who prefer; YouTube.




Thursday, April 1, 2021

We did it!

 

WE DID IT!

Filming is done, and editing begins 

Hello lovely!

I'm delighted to announce that we wrapped filming of ''Barely a Person'', my dance theatre piece giving voice to Postpartum depression, this past weekend. On our (covid safe) set were myself, Jess Headington (director), Sean Pettis (filmmaker) and Dana Hunt (lights, B camera). I was relieved that, what with it being a personal, vulnerable and emotionally taxing piece to dance, I had such a supportive group to work with. It made a huge difference. 

THANK YOU so much to all of you who contributed your voices to this work. We ended up with several mother's voices from 4 different countries making up the soundtrack. 

We head into editing now and the film will be available in May. More details then! 

Here are some shots of our shoot, from Jess and I. 

 

April
2021
Register for CLASS
Classes!

Do you have a friend who'd like to try expandance


Bring them to class this month and they get their first class FREE!

FRIDAYS
Starting Tomorrow Fri April 2nd
9:30am - 10:30am Pacific (5:30pm Ireland and UK)


*** Remember to register for each class! Registering will get you an e-mail with the zoom link ***

For expandance classes, you'll need:

* Something to draw / write with / on
* A couple of cushions and a blanket for relaxation at the end

Please note: These 1 hour classes are sliding scale $10 - $25. Anything you give above $20 will help pay for someone else who can't afford that much, or for BIPOC and immigrants, who are welcome to come for free. Thank you. 

See you there!
RPW