Program at Friendship Court

$6620 needed to fund this program. Please see contact information below if you are interested in supporting.

Event/Program Type: Participatory Expressive Art Circle

Describe any resources you know your event/program will require (financial, safety, space/infrastructure) OR can provide (outside financial or other support):

• Use of space: Piedmont Housing Alliance
• Collaboration with the leadership of the Friendship Court Community Center
• Leading artist honorarium: $1500
• 4 weeks of Teaching artist workshops at Friendship Court. $1200
• 4 rehearsals $1920
• Rehearsal Location $400
• Marketing $200
• Food $400
• Event Planning $1000

Total $6620

Describe how your event/program addresses the mission of Unity?

Experience in empowerment arts is practice for dealing with many types of oppression.

Unity Day’s mission wants to motivate people to make the change towards healing and building a more just society. By design, practicing Liberation Arts is expressively modeling freedom. It’s theatre structure transforms the room into an environment where the skills and culture of the peaceful warrior shine.

It’s more likely you will feel like doing something when you are good at it. To get good, we practice. The more we practice modeling freedom the more confidence we build in liberating ourselves.

As our practice grows people will come to see the boundary between art and life as a choice and the community’s motivation to change will grow. A sustained, community engaging, artist movement can significantly impact the charlottesville story.

Honoring community and neighborhood leaders making change

The improvisational aspect of the circle has a political dynamic. Creating live content as a group, exercises our abilities at consensus, in administering agreements, and at conflict resolution. This events mission is to use art to nourishes our civil self in honor of our local leaders trying to make change.

Describe what participants of your event/program will do/experience:

The event will be held at the Friendship Court Community Center or on the field beside it. In an atmosphere of partnership tabling and activities fest, the event will feature a participatory expressive art circle.

This circle is a ceremony of rhythmic music, song, dance and creative movement. It presents to the public eye as a high-energy festival of folkloric songs and drumming, mixed with contemporary music and dance.

The circle is open to participating to all folks, and it is easy to enter.

Participation tends to form in concentric circles of:

1. Witnessing; being in the circle physically and following the stories
2. Singing the chorus and answering the audience responses
3. Music making: percussion, clapping, instruments
4. Dance and creative movements
5. Lead songs and solos
6. MCing and orchestrating

Name three groups of people your event/program would appeal to:

1. The people at Friendship Court
2. Belmont residents interested in their neighbors
3. Charlottesville artist and art organizations wanting to create in community

The circle is generationally diverse; it is a space where organically youth, adults, elders have an experience together. It’s hardly a surprise when the energies of our ancestors make an appearance as well.

Contact Information:

Saman Dashti - Liberation Arts of Ecovillage Education Institute

ecoeduc.org@gmail.com

(862) 234-0014