Tiny pies & delectable treats, meditation, and catharsis combine with live music, video, and light in a two hour ritual experience. Created by Beth Fleenor (voice / amplified clarinet / sound & food composition) with Scott Keva James (video art), David Verkade (lighting), this will be an evening of taste, breath, listening, motion, and being.

For this performance experience, the Chapel will be divided into four connected spaces, filled with sound, light, video, and food. Audience members are invited to move freely about the space to experience different perspectives of the work created. Above all, the intention is to create a moment of beauty and peace – a space to just be with yourself and others – that stretches out continuously over two hours.

“Divided into four ventricles, the human heart rhythmically pumps blood through our circulatory system, providing the body with oxygen and nutrients, and assisting in the removal of metabolic wastes. Even though emotions are thought to be centered in the brain, a strong rush of emotion such as fear, anger, or love, pumps adrenaline to the heart – accelerating the heart beat. In conversation and thought, we often charge this tiny muscular organ with the responsibility of guiding us in the right direction, or cluing us into aspects of universal connection. Residing in the center of our chest, we use phrases like “listen to your heart,” “follow your heart” and “have a heart” to find our way to a deeper part of ourselves. We seem to seek a pathway to our own inner knowing and our ability to connect that knowing with others…heart to heart. The heart communicates to the brain and body in four ways including nervous system connections, hormones produced in the heart itself, biomechanical information via blood pressure waves, and energetic information from its strong electrical and electromagnetic fields. The heart emits an electrical field 60 times greater in amplitude than the activity in the brain and an electromagnetic field 5,000 times stronger than that of the brain. It not only can be measured anywhere on the body (using an EKG) but also for several feet outside the body. And interestingly, activity in one person’s heart can be measured in the brain waves of another person. The electromagnetic field of two individuals, touching or within a few feet of each other, can interact so that energy activity in the heart of one individual is measured in the brain waves of the other. The electrical activity of the heart and the brain can be guided into a synchronous electrical rhythm easily measured and displayed by simply focusing on positive and loving emotions emanating from the heart. This state of organ “coherence” is associated with improved higher level functioning, lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, and improved immune system function.” (Cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn) All of which serves as inspiration for this performance experience.