the team behind conscious dying documentary The Last Ecstatic Days will join with the Center for Conscious Living & Dying for a series of weekend events at LEAF Retreat.
First, on Friday, May 12, at 6 p.m., catch a sneak preview of the Asheville-produced film, which features an original theme song by Grammy-winning musician Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros). After the screening, CCLD Executive Director Dr. Aditi Sethi, a devotional Indian musician, will be joined by Native American flutist Greg Lathrop, traditional flutist Scott Sheerin, and Appalachian roots musician Jay Brown (pictured above) to share a heart-centered musical offering Honoring, Remembrance & Legacy Songs, exploring the wisdom of grief.
On Saturday, May 13, at 9:30 p.m., CCLD will take part in the world premiere of The Grief Happening: a contemplative musical experience with members of the cast of The Last Ecstatic Days. Inspired by performance artist Alan Kaprow’s “Happenings” at Black Mountain College, The Grief Happening is a contemplative, an interactive concert that will give audience members the opportunity to embrace grief through a healing journey. It’s directed by Scott Kirschenbaum and produced by Hannah Fowler, Landon Maloney, and Prerana Thakurdesai.
Musicians participating in The Grief Happening include Indian-American musician Aditi Sethi, Native American flutist Greg Lathrop, traditional flutist Scott Sheerin, tabla player Jahidi, Appalachian roots musician Jay Brown, spoken word artist Jessica Chilton, and ambient musician Jason Hebal.
Reimagining the concert as a communal healing experience, The Grief Happening draws inspiration from the grief culture of the Indian holy city of Varanasi, where music and dance unite with death and grief celebration. This is an opportunity to make music, make art, make theater sourced from one’s own grief, the grief in the audience, communal grief, ancestral grief, forms of grief that are wordless or live in the moment.
On Sunday, May 14, at 1:30 p.m., Hannah Fowler, the impact producer for “The Last Ecstatic Days,” will lead her flagship workshop All Healing is Release: Conscious Dying as a Rite of Passage with Dr. Aditi Sethi.
For more information on Center for Conscious Living & Dying, please visit their website www.ccld.community and find them on social media @ccld.community.
For more information on The Last Ecstatic Days, please visit their website www.thelastecstaticdaysmovie.com and find them on social media @thelastecstaticdays.
