AGASAN Acts of Self Preservation: Online Workshops

Registration is live for AGASAN Acts of Self Preservation-Online Workshops this Winter 2020 from December 18th through 20th. Using sound, movement and visual art, our goal is to offer accessible artistic pathways of destigmatizing mental health through a culturally responsive and collectivized experience. Workshops will be held simultaneously. Participants are highly encouraged to register for all three sessions.

This event is offered at a sliding scale donation $0-30 and space is limited. If you are experiencing financial hardship and would like to attend a workshop at no cost, please contact agasanproject@gmail.com.

Register at agasan.org

Workshop Information

Sound Workshop, Facilitated by: Lisa Suguitan Melnick & Rachel Lastimosa In this workshop we’ll explore the power of frequency, opening ourselves for deep listening and relaxation . No prior music experience is necessary. Please wear comfortable attire and have a journal and writing utensil available.

Visual Art Workshop, Facilitated by: Flex Maxim Dalit & Jeffrey Yip Through visual art, we’ll use symbolism and storytelling in activities that speak to our inner selves. Prior visual art experience is not necessary. Bring your own sketchbook or journal and writing utensils.

Movement Workshop, Facilitated by: Patricia Ong & Marina Stankov-Hodge In this workshop, we’ll uncover ways we use movement to release stress, express our truths, and celebrate ourselves. Prior dance experience is not required. Please wear comfortable clothing and have enough space to move around.

About the facilitators

Movement

Tricia Ong (@Hinga_at_Daloy)
Marina Stankov-Hodge (Mix'd Ingrdnts)

Tricia Ong is a dancer and arts educator based in Oakland. She has studied Filipino traditional dance and contemporary forms and enjoys sharing the love of moving with people of all ages.

Marina “Nurse Boogy” Stankov-Hodge is a registered nurse, dancer and musician. She has a foundational knowledge of street dance styles such as “Early 90’s Hip Hop”, Strutting, Popping, Waacking, and Freestyle House which have been her main dance forms. Most recently she has been performing stepping with the Las vegas group Molodi. She has been a part of many Bay Area and international dance crews, companies, and collectives. She has also performed her own works of dance, music, and musical theatre both here and abroad. She is also a member of the Dance Group Mix'd Ingrdnts.

Visual Arts

Jeffrey Yip (MACRO WAVES)
Flex Maxim Dalit (Videogaymer.com)

Jeffrey Yip is a new media artist in Oakland, California. Highly interested in the intersection of art and technology, he creates environments, often utilizing digital media to enhance the overall experience by integrating visualizations in unison with sound.

Flex-Maxim Dalit is a Storyteller first, & Artist second (a very close second). Flex’s focus aims to tell important, intersectional and imaginative narratives. They feel a mission and a privilege to be able to bring diverse and accessible stories to life. In their free time, they like to make playlists, get lost in Astrology, tend to their plants or play with their three cats.

Sound

Lisa Suguitan Melnick (CSM)
Rachel Lastimosa (SOMA Pilipinas)

Lisa Suguitan Melnick, third generation Filipinx-American of Ilokano and Cebuano roots, leads meridian-opening sessions emphasizing stretching, meditative breathing postures, and energy awareness/restoration. Also a Sound and Music Practitioner certified by the California Institute of Integral Studies, she utilizes sound to promote relaxation and refreshment during her meridian sessions.

Rachel Lastimosa is a composer who has contributed to the Bay Area art scene since 2000, producing theatrical and film scores and has toured internationally as a performing artist. She serves as the Arts and Culture Administrator for SOMA Pilipinas, SF Filipino Cultural Heritage District. Rachel Lastimosa is a second generation Pilipinx-American descending from Kalinga-Apayao lineage by way of Ifugao. Using her performance and production experience, Rachel has formed a collective to create an interactive mult-media experience, using art as an integrative practice to address ancestral trauma called AGASAN, which translates to give medicine in the Ilokano dialect.

ABOUT THE PROJECT AGASAN

In the Ilokano dialect means, “to heal or give medicine”; a multi-phase project that includes workshops and an interactive offering to address ancestral trauma.

Open to anyone, AGASAN is for those willing to explore creative pathways of healing: artists, workers, youth, elders, POC, LGBTQ, service providers and especially communities within the diaspora.

WORKSHOPS Offered in a 3-part consecutive series or as individual workshops, each workshop within the series examines the intersection of wellness, being and the arts. Prior experience in the arts is not necessary.

#actsofselfpreservation #agasanproject