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Workshops
When presenters have been confirmed and we have our workshop descriptions for 2014, you’ll see them here – and we will of course let you know on our Facebook and Yahoo pages, too!
List of workshops for 2014 – many more coming soon!
Aidan Talbot: Drumming at the Fire Circle
The fire circle welcomes many types of percussion, from djembes to congas, frame drums and dumbeks, dunduns, shakers and bells. How can all of us engage with one another to make coherent, meaningful, and enjoyable music that serves the greater circle of dancers, singers, and magic makers? Join Aidan to explore rhythms and techniques that will help to build a sense of ensemble and listening within our rhythmic ensemble.
Deepen Into Trance: Sacred Work Around the Fire
The fire sparks ancient memories. The drums evoke a primal reaction deep within our core. Something within us is activated. As we journey together each night, we enter into altered states of consciousness & experience ourselves outside of ordinary reality. At times we move deeply into trance, and we witness others doing the same. Sometimes the lines are blurred & we are enmeshed together as one dancing, singing, breathing, pulsing tribe. How do we support ourselves and one another as we navigate the process? What is the process, where are the boundaries & how can we step fully into this experience? Join us as we explore these altered states and take a closer look at our place within the whole. We will cover the keys to grounding & centering ourselves, as well discerning when & how to connect with our fellow trancing fire tribers as we journey through each night.
Todd Glacy: Community Kirtan, Chanting the Love Vibration
Community Kirtan is a form of devotional practice created in the moment and utilizing chanting, typically in a call-and-response format. It is for all people and no musical or vocal “expertise” is required, only a willingness to open one’s heart and share in raising the love vibration.
Julie Woods: Vocal Engage-meant: Bringin’ That Vocal Medicine Thang On and Off the Mountain
Join me in a collaborative growthshop on vocal discovery. We’ll actively explore portals — of the Circle, our FireTribe kinships, and our SFF pathways — that we open, consciously and unconsciously, with our voices. I’m looking forward to diving deeply into the drive, art, spirituality, and mechanics of our idiosyncratic ways of relating to people/ music/ dance/ prayer at The Fire; at SFF in general; and off the mountain. This is pragmatic spiritual work born out of a request to share my experiences of surrendering to engage-meant guided by Spirit. There’ll be some Q&A at the end. Mostly, though, it’s a discovery adventure! So from trance prayers to organically connecting with drummers and dancers in vocal-call-and-physical-response to active LongWalk witnessing of beloveds in support of their journeys… these personal portals — and so many more — can, and will, be part of exploring using our voices as medicine for self and Other.
Alice Heller: African Dance for the Fire Circle
This workshop is an energetic session that gets your feet moving to the sounds of West Africa. You will be infused with dances, rhythms, and techniques from the creative aspect of the African Diaspora. Come lets feel the movement, hear rhythms, and move to the sound of the earth.
Sylvia Brallier: Tantric Shamanism Breathwork C
Ecstasy is a divine gift that lifts us out of ordinary reality and into a direct experience of the sacred. The transformative fires of ecstasy burn away the blocked energy held in our shadow selves and transmutes it into pure energy that may be used for personal and planetary transformation. This ceremony
Donovan Arthen: Voice at the Fire Circle
Full description coming soon!
Sarah Monette: Compassionate Communication – Connecting with Fellow Fire Circle Community
We are joined together by the common drive to create community, inspiration, intension, and magic. Yet we sometimes seem to connect far better energetically than conversationally. This workshop aims to explore how we interact, what methods we use to relate to each other and the communicational tools we can use to create more fulfilling connections through how speak and listen. We’ll give folks a few new ideas to try during your time amidst this incredible community, strengthening our bonds with each other and potentially heightening our collective abilities. By forming deeper connections through the recognition and employment of compassionate conversation, you may find a more enriching festival experience, and even your entire life beyond, in ways you never imagined.
Sheila Radziewicz: The Impossible Only Takes A Little Longer
Have you been told “No” too many times in your life? What do you need to be able to do to look inside your self and find your “Yes”? We will spend time understanding how the world around us influences the belief or disbelief in ourselves. Who are the the influencers in our lives and why do they have so much power over us? We will discuss words used negatively and positively have lasting affects. Last we will look to the fire circle ritual to identify how it may help us find ourselves.
Saffire Bouchelion: Embodying Rhythm
Every ancient culture in the world, no matter your tribe, has some type of drum or rhythm instrument used to express the pulse of the people and their unique rhythms. Embodying Rhythm is therefore universal and helps us to access and integrate the common pulse of all humankind, connecting us more deeply to ourselves and each other. Our tools are our hands, and feet, our voices, and anything else we can think of! The SHAKER SERIES uses a pair of shakers to move through a process that balances the hemispheres of the brain and strengthens the body-mind connection utilizing rhythm, walking, and voice.
Carl Bridge: Dunduns for the Fire Circle
Back by popular demand! The family of Dunun drums (Dununba, Sangban, and Kenkeni) are the baseline of Malinke Percussion; in a traditional setting they create a melodic foundation for ensemble rhythms and dance. During this workshop you will receive some helpful tools to improve techniques for playing these drums: ergonomics, how bell patterns can aid in more precise playing, and how knowledge of basic patterns can be used as a tool creating your own rhythms. We will also discuss how to adapt and integrate these instruments in a non-traditional arrangement, such as our larger ensemble at SpiritFire.