UNWAVERING: Music for the Marathon
Black Medicine, Earth Practice and alexandra "ahlay" blakely invite you to deepen your commitments to anti-oppression together, for the long journey, starting with our voices and our hearts.
TICKETS FOR FRIDAY ARE CLOSED BUT WE ARE NOT SOLD OUT.
TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE THE DOOR.
TICKETS FOR FRIDAY ARE CLOSED BUT WE ARE NOT SOLD OUT.
TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE THE DOOR.
What
UNWAVERING: Music for the Marathon
Where
Washington Hall - Lodge Room
153 14th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
153 14th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
When
Nov 8, 2024, 6PM (doors at 5pm) - 9PM | CONCERT
WORKSHOPS:
NOV 9, 2024, 10AM - 1PM
NOV 9, 2024, 2PM - 5PM
WORKSHOPS:
NOV 9, 2024, 10AM - 1PM
NOV 9, 2024, 2PM - 5PM
United in their desire to use their voices to sustain, to interrupt, to grieve, to feel, and to connect, the long-time-coming convergence of Black Medicine, Earth Practice, and alexandra "ahlay" blakely will envelope us, braiding melodies, rhythms, and intentions.
FRIDAY CONCERT — Doors at 5pm / Concert at 6pm
Join us for a Friday evening concert, as we reach with our voices, and land together, to be together for what is next. We'll meet where acapella meets activism, and embodied ancestral connection and harmonies pass through familial lines.
SATURDAY DEEP DIVES — Facilitated by Aaron Johnson with songs led by ahlay blakely, Earth Practice and Black Medicine
Saturday Deep Dives are in-depth workshop spaces designed for participants to better see each other, held by lead facilitator Aaron Johnson with sonic anchors Black Medicine, Earth Practice, and ahlay blakely.
Deep Dive: UNWAVERING (10am-1pm)
We'll come together for silent meditation, co-writing, action planning, and ceremony of resilience, with meditative collective singing and poetry woven throughout. A space built to support finding your answers to the questions, How can I stay in this for the marathon? What is holding me back from giving my all in anti-oppression work?
Deep Dive: Dark and Tender (2-5pm)
Together we'll watch the short film "Dark and Tender" by the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project. Together we will witness the "ungoogle-able" footage of Black masculine platonic tenderness. When was the last time you witnessed tenderness between Black men? We’ll be working with our ability to listen, connect, and be with grief and songs we want to sing as we dismantle the oppressive systems that are actively trying to smother the village before it grows.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
To witness Black Medicine is to witness ancestral voice and song being carried by siblings of the African diaspora. Black Medicine is a sonic reclamation and healing ritual song circle of siblings who grew up singing together in the high desert of southern California. Curated for singers and non-singers alike, these circles create a space where we can receive emotional nourishment by disrupting the notion that we cannot sing, or cannot sing together, bringing healing to where we have been hurt around our voices. Black Medicine makes the song into an accessible sonic tent that is welcoming for all who sit under it. Bring your hearts and join in the ritual of a vocal nest. Expect your voice, mind, body to be sonically renewed.
Earth Practice is a DIY song collective of Jessi Rado, Yin Friend, and Yam. The trio believes that music is a shared language between people, and a medicine by which communities are made stronger and more vibrant. Their unique blend of musical influences place them in a category all their own, often using sounds and rhythms made only by their hands, feet and voices. Their acappella-driven live shows are often highly interactive and intimate, striking a unique balance between harmonization, improvisation, listening and play. After sharing and performing for 7 years, they are releasing their first live album in Fall 2024.
alexandra "ahlay" blakely is a descendent of Ashkenazi, Scandinavian and British folk. She is an artist, singer-songwriter, communal grief tender, community organizer, facilitator and ceramicist walking the path of ancestral healing and the reclaiming of lost cultural memories. Her community singing album, Spells from the Unknown encapsulates songs for the community to transform, ask questions, and seek to lead lives in service to the future ones. Her upcoming 2024 community singing album, WAILS: Songs for Grief was recorded in July 2023 with a choir of 200 voices. The album is completely dedicated to grief, inspired by the Whales of the Sea, the wails of our times, and Francis Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow and more specifically “the five gates of grief.”
VENUE ACCESSIBILITY (UPDATED)
The Lodge Room at Washington Hall is on the ground floor of Washington Hall and is accessible by ramp and stairs. Please reach out to [email protected] with any accessibility concerns.
COMMUNITY HEALTH
The pandemic is ongoing and masks are encouraged but not required. If you feel unwell, please test and stay home. Ticket refunds will be considered only in the case of a COVID-19 positive test or exposure, but please consider donating your ticket to cover production costs. We appreciate your generosity.
CONTACT
[email protected]
FRIDAY CONCERT — Doors at 5pm / Concert at 6pm
Join us for a Friday evening concert, as we reach with our voices, and land together, to be together for what is next. We'll meet where acapella meets activism, and embodied ancestral connection and harmonies pass through familial lines.
SATURDAY DEEP DIVES — Facilitated by Aaron Johnson with songs led by ahlay blakely, Earth Practice and Black Medicine
Saturday Deep Dives are in-depth workshop spaces designed for participants to better see each other, held by lead facilitator Aaron Johnson with sonic anchors Black Medicine, Earth Practice, and ahlay blakely.
Deep Dive: UNWAVERING (10am-1pm)
We'll come together for silent meditation, co-writing, action planning, and ceremony of resilience, with meditative collective singing and poetry woven throughout. A space built to support finding your answers to the questions, How can I stay in this for the marathon? What is holding me back from giving my all in anti-oppression work?
Deep Dive: Dark and Tender (2-5pm)
Together we'll watch the short film "Dark and Tender" by the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project. Together we will witness the "ungoogle-able" footage of Black masculine platonic tenderness. When was the last time you witnessed tenderness between Black men? We’ll be working with our ability to listen, connect, and be with grief and songs we want to sing as we dismantle the oppressive systems that are actively trying to smother the village before it grows.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
To witness Black Medicine is to witness ancestral voice and song being carried by siblings of the African diaspora. Black Medicine is a sonic reclamation and healing ritual song circle of siblings who grew up singing together in the high desert of southern California. Curated for singers and non-singers alike, these circles create a space where we can receive emotional nourishment by disrupting the notion that we cannot sing, or cannot sing together, bringing healing to where we have been hurt around our voices. Black Medicine makes the song into an accessible sonic tent that is welcoming for all who sit under it. Bring your hearts and join in the ritual of a vocal nest. Expect your voice, mind, body to be sonically renewed.
Earth Practice is a DIY song collective of Jessi Rado, Yin Friend, and Yam. The trio believes that music is a shared language between people, and a medicine by which communities are made stronger and more vibrant. Their unique blend of musical influences place them in a category all their own, often using sounds and rhythms made only by their hands, feet and voices. Their acappella-driven live shows are often highly interactive and intimate, striking a unique balance between harmonization, improvisation, listening and play. After sharing and performing for 7 years, they are releasing their first live album in Fall 2024.
alexandra "ahlay" blakely is a descendent of Ashkenazi, Scandinavian and British folk. She is an artist, singer-songwriter, communal grief tender, community organizer, facilitator and ceramicist walking the path of ancestral healing and the reclaiming of lost cultural memories. Her community singing album, Spells from the Unknown encapsulates songs for the community to transform, ask questions, and seek to lead lives in service to the future ones. Her upcoming 2024 community singing album, WAILS: Songs for Grief was recorded in July 2023 with a choir of 200 voices. The album is completely dedicated to grief, inspired by the Whales of the Sea, the wails of our times, and Francis Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow and more specifically “the five gates of grief.”
VENUE ACCESSIBILITY (UPDATED)
The Lodge Room at Washington Hall is on the ground floor of Washington Hall and is accessible by ramp and stairs. Please reach out to [email protected] with any accessibility concerns.
COMMUNITY HEALTH
The pandemic is ongoing and masks are encouraged but not required. If you feel unwell, please test and stay home. Ticket refunds will be considered only in the case of a COVID-19 positive test or exposure, but please consider donating your ticket to cover production costs. We appreciate your generosity.
CONTACT
[email protected]
