Hillside 2010

 

This past weekend I attended Hillside for the 3rd year in a row. (My post about my inaugural Hillside experience is here if you're curious!).

I was lucky to be Hillsiding with and around Kate McMurray,  Chris Kay Fraser of Firefly Creative Writing,  Elizabeth Fraser of 52 Projects: A Year from Scratch, the talented singer/songwriter Alex Hickey, my delightfully joyful Nia colleague Sarah Butler, the skilled photographer Alexandra Collas,  Erica Ross of Dance Our Way Home, and Zahra Haji of YogaGoddess.  What a collection of brilliantly creative and spirited women who are offering their gifts to the world!

I was at Hillside to present Nia workshops as I have done now for 3 years.  This year's experience helped me realize that, not only does Hillside offer great music, workshops and a magnificently convivial atmosphere, but it teaches more about who I am right now.

Each year Hillside gives me a marker of where I'm at personally and professionally.

When I started workshopping at Hillside in 2008, I was only a year into my Nia teaching and a year and a half into my life with Bipolar Disorder.

Because I can compare the experience year to year, I can see my personal growth (as I continue to live with Bipolar Disorder), and my professional growth (as I move into my 4th year of teaching Nia).

This, of all the years, was the year I felt deep soul strength. I'm not sure I have the right words, but it was more than "fun" this year. It was more than a feeling of "wow, this is great, these are my people".  On top of all of that, I felt my joy, confidence and power as I taught.  And I 'hillsided' with a similar deep contentment, poise and self-assurance as I participated in workshops, listened to the music and interacted with fellow festival-goers.

Oh, what a feeling.

Now it could be that the people differed, or the weather differed, or the music differed or.....no. I'm pretty certain that  I differ. (Yay for me!)





Oh, and I made a robot at a workshop entitled "Super Happy Fun Robot Time." He's made out of metal/electronic scraps.
He doesn't have a name.
Suggestions?




 

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Creative Co-Construction

From July 25-27, 2008 I was at Hillside Festival in Guelph Ontario.

Hillside is an impressively conscious indie-music festival. There are no wasted beer cups, water bottles, or food-stuffs. From compost bins to volunteers-who-wash-your-plates-and-cutlery to mandated-purchase-of-beer-steins to empty-milk-trucks-filled-with-free-water, it is a limited footprint situation. Weekend-long music and workshops (drumming, dancing, sex education, crafting), Tibetan monks, and a Sunday Gospel hour...something for everyone!



I was a workshop presenter at Hillside. I did 2 Nia workshops there.

But that's not the best part.

My friend Alex Hickey provided the inspiration for the Nia workshops at Hillside. You see, Alex recently released her first album, Love Bites, which was the diving-off point for the Nia routine at Hillside.



We danced to 3 songs from her album:

2 tvs
Run Away
A Single Thing

Alex, who wrote her first song, (apparently about social disenfranchisement), at age 5, has been a creative inspiration for me. Her album, Love Bites, is everything a break-up album should be: heartfelt, bittersweet, funny, chock full of feelings about bad endings, new beginnings, grudges, longing and loss.

To top it off, her album mirrors what Nia is all about ~ "Dancing Through Life", "Life as Art" and the feeling that "Through Movement We Find Health".

Thank you Alex, for providing me with the inspiration to make my workshops at Hillside speak to the world!

Oh yeah, I bought this *awesome* bamboo rock-band tshirt from Alex with her rockin' logo on it. It's pretty snazzy, washes well, and makes me feel all warm, fuzzy and sustainable-like!

By the way, if you're considering Hillside in 2009, I highly recommend it - this was the musical line-up for 2008 (Alex Hickey is more than likely to rock the scene in 2009 or 2010 and we'll have a HUGE on-stage larger-than-life Nia celebration going!)

The Abrams Brothers (Friday)
The Acorn
Akron/Family
The Arrogant Worms (Friday)
Joseph Arthur
Bell Orchestre (Sunday)
Black Cabbage
Born Ruffians
The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir (Saturday Evening)
Broken Social Scene (Sunday evening)
Brothers Creeggan
The Burning Hell
David Celia
Chris Brown & Kate Fenner
Jason Collett
Cowboy Junkies (Friday)
Culture Reject
Dubblestandart
Elliott Brood
The Foggy Hogtown Boys
Sue Foley
Jaymay
The Good Brothers
James Gordon & Sons
Jenn Grant
Haale
Harri Palm & the Solo Pilots
Hayden (Sunday Evening)
Rebekah Higgs (Friday)
Islands (Saturday Evening)
The Kramdens
Land of Talk
Lights (Friday)
The Magic (Saturday)
Mandibles
Harry Manx
Danny Michel (Friday)
Molly Kurvink with 6lb. Head
The Monster Show
Moshav
Mr. Something Something
The Most Serene Republic (Friday)
Nabi
Old Man Luedecke
Evalyn Parry
Kelly Joe Phelps
Plants & Animals
Po'Girl
POP Montreal Presents: The Luyas, Miracle Fortress and Think About Life
Roxanne Potvin
Justin Rutledge
The Sadies
Hayley Sales
Sarah Slean (Saturday evening)
Meaghan Smith
Sue Smith
The Speakeasies
Spiral Beach
Rae Spoon
Taxi Chain
Thunderheist
The Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean (early Sunday evening)
David Woodhead
Hawksley Workman (Friday)