Join us at Eco Collective for an intimate Winter Solstice ritual/performance presented by Ritual Rhythms Chicago and She Wolf Sacred.
Beginning the evening with a community potluck, we will anticipate the return of the light at Winter Solstice through an extended ritual, featuring live performances highlighting our collective emergence from the darkness.
The evening will feature musical performances from Secrets of the Beehive, Haley Le Rand, and an ensemble of Ritual Rhythms sound healers, as well as dance performances from Julie Brannen, Kellyn Jackson, Gaby Martinez, Edith Freeze, and Iva Andonovska, and a special appearance by Gaea Lady!
We invite you to contribute to a community potluck and be a part of our ritual. More details to come.
Admission is $20 in advance/$25 at the door. If you bring a dish to share, you can take $5 off admission price. You may also contribute further to our community and support our performers with a supportive ticket of $30.
When buying advanced tickets and you plan on bringing a dish, use the code dish22 and you’ll be asked to provide information about your potluck contribution.
We will gather for potluck at 7pm and the ritual will start promptly at 8pm. After the ritual and performances formally end, we will have an open sound healing and movement jam for anyone who would like to participate.
Eco Collective is located at 2042 W 21st St. in Pilsen, Chicago.
Tickets available here!
Performers
Julie Brannen
Julie Brannen’s mission is to restore, rewild, + reunite humanity with nature via the avenues of creativity, community, education, health + wellness.
Her greatest joy comes from guiding folks into an organic + compassionate practice of fiercely approaching vulnerability + embodying whole-hearted living. Her goal is to create brave, inclusive spaces in order to allow for radiant expression, courageous liberation, + uplifting connection.
She is the Founder + “Mama Wolf” of SheWolf Sacred, an intersectional, socially responsive, artistic community dedicated to honoring the embodied Divine Feminine.
She is a Certified Reiki Master Teacher, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Registered Dance/Movement Therapist, with a Master of Arts in Dance/Movement Therapy + Counseling, + Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis from Columbia College Chicago.
Secrets of the Beehive
Secrets of the Beehive is an evolving collaboration of musicians dedicated to exploring the hidden spirit. Performing original music of singer/songwriter Jason Winslade (the founder and organizer of Ritual Rhythms Chicago), the band is currently a duo consisting of Jason on percussion, keyboard, shruti box and melodica, and Davis Krieg on guitar. The Beehive’s style is heavily influenced by alternative folk, post-punk and world music, and focuses on the spiritual journey. Jason and Davis will be joined by special guests Haley Le Rand and Mehtab Kirtan for the Solstice show and will perform originals and seasonal tunes.
Gaea Lady
Gaea Lady is an enchantress by nature, and is a force that will make you feel the very earth move. Fusing her 25 years of dance training in forms from classical to modern – neovintage to the ethereal, she cultures an intentional style that is all her own. Integrating dance, art, visuals, costuming, concept, fire, silk fabrics, temple dance, hoops, and deep seated intention, her inspiring performances mesmerize and deeply touch. She seeks to share knowledge and empower others through her performances and teaching, forging connections and community.
Kellyn Jackson
Kellyn Jackson is a contact improviser, community builder, and dance/movement therapist. She, Radmila Olshansky and Kate Ziebart have been dancing together for over 5 years, dreaming, scheming, and for much of the pandemic, cocoon-ing. They are but one slice of the vibrant Chicago contact improvisation community and would love to dance with you at a jam!
Edith Freeze
Carmen Edith Freeze was born Carmen Edith Pachacama-Pachacama in Quito, the capital of the Republic of Ecuador, in South America, a place full of traditions, magic, and love. She started training in ballet and gymnastics at an early age, studying folk dance performance and choreography, and performing with the Simon Bolivar Theater and La Casa de la Cultura.
Carmen Edith obtained a B.S. in Business and Economics and an M.S. in Economics and Policy Research at DePaul University. In addition, she directs Pachacamak Folk Foundation programs, and has worked with Chicago Public Schools, Montessori Rogers Park, the Museum of Science and Industry and Joffrey Ballet. The programs play a critical role in improving and extending the reach of awareness, consciousness of Folk Art through activities such as indigenous traditions education, art, environment education, basic environment screening.
Gaby Martinez
Gabriella, Gaby, Martinez is a Multi-disciplinary Performing Artist living in Chicago. She has a Bachelor’s in psychology and dance. Gaby continues to find connections between both realms through her practices, performances, and teachings. She also works as a teaching artist and paraprofessional for youth, focusing on creating an inclusive community. Her most recent work includes dancing with Chicago Improv Group, Freedom From and Freedom to and facilitating Family workshops for the Museum of Contemporary Art. Gaby is honored to perform at Return of the light and gives thanks SheWolf, Ritual Rhythms, Eco and our community for sharing their light!
Iva Andonovska
Iva is a Chicago based aerial artist, who specializes in aerial silks, but very much enjoys lyra and hammock performance. She also does fire eating and fire performing utilizing fans, hula hoop, and dragon staff. Iva’s training includes ballet, Montenegrian and Serbian traditional dancing, and years of aerial classes. Iva’s love for circus arts started more than a decade ago when she picked up hula hooping and has grown over the years to include acro yoga and the above-mentioned disciplines. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and is about to travel exploring different movement communities around the country.
Haley LeRand
Haley LeRand is a singer/songwriter living in Rogers Park, Chicago, who plays solo on guitar. She is influenced by folk artists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as blues artists from the 1930s-1950s such as Elmore James and Robert Johnson. She plays at a variety of events, bars and art spaces around Chicagoland and has released two albums.
Mehtab Kirtan
Mehtab Kirtan is a multi-faceted composer & performer within the jazz & world music spheres. He has toured nationally with funk outfits Gramps The Vamp and Bassel & The Supernaturals, and has produced and recorded several original studio projects with his own projects Here & Now, The Fool’s Journey, and other projects led by colleagues James Abud & Wills McKenna.
Jane Justice
R. Jane Justice is a highly esteemed vibrational therapist and sound alchemist who believes that vibration is medicine. Having healed much of her own dis-ease with energy, frequency and sound, Jane made it a mission to support others in their healing journeys too. She currently works with patients suffering from a variety of ailments, from autism and developmental delays to addiction to dementia and alzheimers. In addition to working with groups and individuals, Jane has also played on multiple film scores, including the recent PBS documentary “Any Given Day.”
Sean Black
Sean Black is a self taught and self employed singer songwriter and guitarist whose talents have been honed amidst traumatic experiences. He believes music is the bridge between heaven and earth, and is the missing link needed for spiritual enlightenment and salvation. His guitars are tuned to meditation frequency, namely: 432hz. Performing in varying ways and places, whether on stage or in a public square, he plays melodically through “The Spirit,” in meditation frequencies.
Ritual Rhythms Chicago 