Dear Friends,
Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations are delighted to share with you Sacred Resonance, a program of new performance by Maine-based artists conceived as part of Indigo and Ovations’ ongoing partnership.
Sacred Resonance is a collection of visual, spiritual, and emotional journeys led by Maine based artists Firefly, Maya Williams and Atiim Chenzira. Produced by Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations, Sacred Resonance brings these dynamic artists together to unveil notions of home, history and place transporting us with their expressions of creativity. Using spoken word, songs steeped in tradition, and hip-hop lyricism this series of performances explores the vibrational qualities of communal connection.
In order to prepare your imagination for the experience of these artists, we offer in their own words their artist statements:
Firefly‘s performance is a journey through Wabanaki culture using sound, light, color and frequency. This performance defies any preconceived notions of what Native American music is supposed to be. This performance allows the ancient ancestral energy to flow through, but does not relegate native people and culture to something of the past. It places Indigenous people in the here, the now and the future.
Maya Williams – As a Black Mixed Race queer and non-binary person who struggles with mental health, it is difficult for me to find a place outside and inside of myself to call home. These are a mix of old and new poems meant for the page and the stage I have written about finding home within myself, the places I enjoy, and the Black people I love and live among.
Atiim Chenzira’s work titled ‘Destiny Manifest’ is a seven-part multi-media art piece utilizing his poetic spoken-word and Hip Hop lyricism to explore his ancestral experience. His expressive storytelling highlights his familial journey from the East Coast to the West and back. ‘Destiny Manifest’ interweaves Atiim’s personal journey as a husband, father, and “new Mainer,” into his American experience with the larger issues of racism, colonialism, capitalism, and displacement.
INDIGO ARTS ALLIANCE connects Black and Brown artists from around the world with Maine’s artists of African descent through a multidisciplinary artist-in-residency program. Indigo amplifies the creative voices and visions of global and local artists to facilitate a cross-cultural collaboration using a multidisciplinary approach.
PORTLAND OVATIONS contributes to the cultural, social, and economic wellbeing of our community by presenting an array of high quality performing artists from around the world and creating diverse educational experiences that bring the enjoyment, energy and enrichment of the arts to all.
We are honored and humbled to share the work of these extraordinary artists and the collaboration with Kennedy Center’s Arts Across American that makes it possible.
Enjoy,
Marcia Minter
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Indigo Arts Alliance
Aimée M. Petrin
Executive & Artistic Director, Portland Ovations
