The Goddess Festival Continues
As you may have read in Risa’s Astrology, March is International Women’s Month and here in Fayetteville the month-long Goddess Festival: Goddesses, Angels and Amazons, is in full swing at the new Ultra Studio, 114 W. South St. There are special events each weekend. Here’s a schedule for this weekend.
Friday: From 7 to 11 p.m. there will be a festival CD release concert with various musicians. The theme song for the festival will be announced at the concert.
Saturday: From 9 a.m. to noon Kathy Skaggs will lead a ceremonial and ritual tools workshop where you can learn how to make a purification smudging feather fan. Fee is $12. Pre-register by e-mailing kasdesign@hotmail.com.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lynda Campbell with present a Goddess Letters workshop, a form of journaling that will help participants get in touch with their inner goddess. Fee is $10.
From 1 to 3 p.m. Nancy Cooper Maier will lead the Circle of Song: Celebrating the Goddess Through Speaking, Chanting, and Singing. Maier will explain how words, chants, and songs can be used to find, strengthen, and gain confidence. Participants will learn to tone the chakras for balance and health. Fee is $12. Pre-register at ncmaier@cox.net
From 3:30 to 6 p.m. Luna Zahra will lead a bellydance workshop. Fee is $10. Pre-register at shimmering_shimmy@yahoo.com. Luna Zahra and Katja will perform from 8 to 9 p.m.
There will be an Eco Fantasy tour, an environmental magical journey through the forest with Kris Wilson McMurren from 7 to 8 p.m.
Sunday: From 9 a.m. to noon, June Jefferson will lead a nature writing workshop. Women’s images, archetypes, symbolism and personal themes will be used as springboards. Pre-register at jjefferson@arkansasusa.com
Luna Zahara will repeat her bellydance workshop from 10 a.m. to noon.
From 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Diana Rivers and Vickie Kelley will present “Who Were the Amazons” a choral reading and improv performance.
At 3:30 p.m. the film “The Burning Times” will be shown. The film features interviews with feminist scholars Starhawk, Merlin Stone, Carol P. Christ, Jean Shinoda Bolen and more. A discussion will follow.
The weekend activities will conclude after a 7 p.m. open mic, HOWL, In Praise of Women.
Soo Sunny Park
Soo Sunny Park, a sculptor and installation artist who teaches at Dartmouth College, will present a lecture at 6 p.m. today in room 213 of the Fine Arts Building on the University of Arkansas campus. The award-winning artist works with unusual building methods and materials. Her work received praise from “Art in America” which proclaimed that “her unexpected use of materials engages viewers and alters our perceptions on how things should be made.”
Music
This is one of those weeks when the music scene is bustling. Here are some of the highlights.
Friday night is the big Mountain of Venus 10-year anniversary show at George’s. This is one of the best jam bands in the nation and they call Fayetteville home! You owe it to yourself to get out for this one. Down the street at Smoke & Barrel you can catch a whopper of a triple bill with American Princes, Memphis Pencils and Family And if you missed Martin Sexton the last time he was in town, you have another chance to catch this star crooner when he plays the UArk Bowl on Dickson Street. Sexton sells out rooms like the Nokia Theater in NYC and House of Blues in Los Angeles, so catch him while you can. If you like John Mayer, you’ll love Martin Sexton.
Saturday night, oh my, how will you be able to do it all? The swing group Hot Club of Cowtown will visit at GoodFolk and NWA’s own masters of metal, Vore, will be joined by Troglodyte, Razor Fire, and Anomaly for a night of metal at The Gyspy. Jam and funk fans can catch Flipoff Pirates at Smoke and Barrel and at George’s NWA’s own “organic hip-hop” act Hardaway and the Commoners will be playing for the hometown crowd before heading to shows in northern California. Also at George’s, catch the impressive roots rockers The Deep Vibration from Nashville who are on their way to SXSW. Vocalist Matt Campbell has a voice that sounds a bit like Neil Young, while the band swings toward Van Morrison.
Another not-to-miss show is Chicago rockers Tub Ring, who swing from pop to metal Wednesday night at George’s. Sharing the bill the heavy Framing Hanley and Warship.
