shiftingears
Shiftingears was a community-led and -inspired journey that weaves theater, music, and storytelling to bring us into connection with the land that took place on September 6-8, 2024.
A collection of artists and tricksters guided a group in an adventure to creatively shift our awareness to the more-than-human world, to messages from our own bodies, and to the magic that emerges when we come together.
Our 3-day event, taking place across Lisjan Ohlone territory, integrates theater, live music, biking and camping. We will move between two parks in the so-called East Bay – Redwood Regional and Coyote Hills Regional. We invite participants to join for whichever portions of this journey calls to them. We strive to make each element of the event as accessible as possible to everyone – children, elders, first-time-bikers, adventurers of all kinds, and everyone in between!
Art will be curated and shared by Cole Rainey, Jacob Sandoval, Kylie Tseng, Oona Valle, Robin Bean Crane, Selena Feliciano, and Wangũi Hymes.
Friday night:
Planetary shifts is a collaborative improvisational theatre piece. Bring your instruments, bring your blankets and blindfolds for a co created sonic experience! Groverflow brings you into the question - how can we undam the flow? Taking place in the interplay between our inner and outer watersheds, the show follows Grover the beaver trying to deconstruct the megadam that his ancestors built. The show is interactive in body movements and soundscape, inviting us all to participate in undamming (and beaver-damming) the flow in our bodies, economies and ecologies.
Saturday night:
Council of All Creaturestells the story of how all the animals, plants, and elemental beings convene to discuss the problem of humanity. In this participatory musical experience we will dance, shake, squawk, and howl as we dream of humanity’s true place in the web of life. Finally, join Selena and friends for a special musical performance curated for SHIFTINGEARS. The soothing sounds of harmonious voices, instrumentation, and video invite us to share reverence for the land and our collective human experience.
