Stammi a Sentire, Stasera, Canta’: A Workshop in Healing Narratives
Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CDT)
Chicago, IL
With Laura Biagi, Ph.D and Special Guest, Obisoulstar
In this workshop, participants will be invited to listen and sing to selected Italian folk songs whose theme is: migration, love, and rebirth. Participants will engage in contemplative exercises such as deep listening and free writing, and share their stories with each other. The goal of this workshop is to rethink of ourselves as the authors of our own lives, and to use the songs as prompts to reimagine ourselves as the characters of a wonderful epic journey. Part performance and part healing circle, this workshop is open to everyone who has an interest in becoming more aware of their own selves and each other.
Originally from Italy, Dr. Biagi moved to New York City in her 20’s to immerse herself in diverse social environments. She earned a Master and a Ph.D. from the Department of Performance Studies at New York University, with a dissertation on Southern Italian healing rituals. A world traveler, Dr. Be has lectured and consulted with prestigious educational institutions in the United States, such as New York University, Vassar College, DePaul University, School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Howard University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. Between 2017 and 2018, she designed and taught courses on “storytelling as a healing art” at Cook County Jail in Chicago, in collaboration with DePaul University and the Inside Out Prison Exchange Program. Dr.B’s hybrid solo performances – part storytelling, sound healing, and meditation – have been showcased around the world in festivals and conferences including, in Chicago, Collaboration’s 2017 Peacebook Festival at the Goodman Theatre, and Chicago Ideas Week 2017. The book Saraswati’s Pearls: Dialogues on the Yoga of Sound is a collection of multicultural dialogues she had with her yoga teacher, Yogacharya Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani. Dr.B was one of the few speakers to be selected at the TEDx DePaul University event in 2018 with her talk, “Reimagine Failure: Breathe, Belong, Believe.” www.drlaurabiagi.com
Born in Chicago, but raised in West Africa –Nigeria to be exact — Obisoulstar is the epitome of a Renaissance man. His music is like food for the starving senses and water for a withered heart; it reflects a man who has seen a lot, forgotten little, and is not afraid to tell the story. His music embraces the sounds of Soul, Blues, Funk, Rock and Afrobeat, merging, forming a concoction of melodic delight while promoting unity, love, and spiritual liberation through music. He is the minister of Afrorock Religion. www.obisoulstar.com
Free and open to the public.
RSVP at https://healingnarratives.eventbrite.com