Renowned Performance Duo Lelavision Curate A Week Of BIPOC-Forward Art In Seattle

On August 27-September 5, 2021, Lelavision will animate West Seattle's Westcrest Park with BIPOC-centered performances, kinetic musical-sculpture, eco-art installations and workshops, wellness offerings, and science panels to cultivate our health as a community.

As part of the Created Commons initiative, the performance and production company Lelavision (choreographer/organizer Leah Okamoto Mann and sculptor/musician Ela Lamblin) will provide a neighborhood celebration featuring BIPOC-centered performances, wellness offerings, and science panels utilizing their interactive kinetic sculpture, Interspecies Communication. This large sculpture-50 feet long and 32 feet wide-depicts a whale and a bird. Visitors can make the bird "fly" from 12pm to 8pm each weekend of the event, by setting its wings in motion.

"Lelavision's mission is to delight," says organizer Leah Okamoto Mann. "That is what we hope people will experience at the event."

This family-friendly, zero waste event is free and open to the public. All are encouraged to bring picnics, camping chairs, blankets, and filled water bottle, which will help them stay hydrated during the fun. Composting and recycle bins will help keep the park clean. Visitors should pack out all other trash in the spirit of leaving the park better than we found it. Vashon Island Growers Association will provide free organic produce, and a variety of food trucks will be on site, including delicious ice cream from event sponsor Full Tilt Ice Cream. There is limited parking at the park, but plenty of surface street parking. No alcohol will be permitted on site.

An Indigenous-centered opening will kick off the nine-day event on Friday, August 27, at 6pm. Orca Annie & Odin Lonning, UW Tacoma Students from the Pacific Islander Student Association, will share stories, music, and tales of their activism on behalf of the resident Orcas in the Salish Sea. Duwamish Tribe representatives Ken Workman, Nancy Sackman, and Billie Jane Lakey will also be present. Donations for Real Rent Duwamish will be collected throughout the event to honor the Duwamish Tribe and acknowledge the unceded land the event will take place upon.

On Saturday, August 28, 12pm - 8pm, the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA) will present an Arts in Nature Festival Showcase, a condensed version of the well-loved annual Arts In Nature Festival that has offered an eclectic experience of art and performance in a local park for 22 years. Starting at noon, the park will be full of art on the paths, fun in the field, sound baths, roving dancers, and more. Between 3:00 and 8:00 pm, poet LASH will co-MC the main stage performances, with movement artists Danza Symbiosis, Seattle Capoeira, and Noelle Price with cellist Gretchen Yanover. Music features include Troy Osaki, Jennifer Moore, and Holy Pistola.

Sunday, August 29, from 12pm to 3pm, the park will come alive with activities and eco-arts in the field and with trail animations. From 4pm to 8pm, the festival will feature performances curated by artist and activist dani tirrell and a science panel on healthcare access. Panelists include Candace Jackson of the African American Health Board of Seattle and Dr Sinead Younge, Director of the Social Justice Inquiry and Praxis Institute in the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership at Morehouse College. Performers Dandy (David Rue & Randy Ford), Northwest Tap Connection, Majinn (Michael O'Neal), J Mase III, Kutt'N'Up, and Malicious Vixens will take the stage following the panel. The evening's finale will be a community dance party with DJ dark_wiley. Pop-up vaccines will be available on site.

On Tuesday, August 31, from 6pm-8pm, the festival will create a community event in honor of International Overdose Awareness Day in collaboration with artist and counselor, Alexia Jones, the Executive Director of R2ise (https://r2isetheatre.org) and Dr Seema Clifasefi of UW's Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center (https://depts.washington.edu/harrtlab/). Vaccines will also be available on this day.

Friday, September 3, 6pm-8pm will feature a drumming/percussion/chant filled circle with rhythms of the African Diaspora with artist Sumayya E. Diop. Some drums will be provided, or participants can bring their own percussion (including clapping, stepping, and heartbeat).

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Saturday and Sunday, September 4 and 5, 3pm-8pm Jack Straw Cultural Center joins Lelavision in presenting BIPOC poets, musicians, and dancers, including Hula Halau O'keala'Akua Naniloa Mana'oakamai; Jack Straw Writers, hosted by Anastacia-Renee; and music by JR Rhodes. Sunday's presentations will include a Community Bon Odori; music by Nic Masangkay, Trio Guandalevin, and Seattle Kokon Taiko, and Jack Straw Writers, hosted by E.J. Koh.

Throughout the event Lelavision will share their signature, hybrid performance of music and dance on kinetic musical sculptures. Interspecies Communication, the centerpiece sculpture for the event, was designed and fabricated by Lelavision co-founder and co-director, Ela Lamblin. Festival attendees wil be able to animate the sculpture by "flapping the bird" from 12pm to 8pm each weekend of the event.

In order to maintain healthy environments for all, Created Commons and Lelavision will respect all public health directives. Please visit the event's Facebook page for the most recent requirements regarding mask mandates and capacity limitations.

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