Joaquin Lopez: visionary, poet and creator of PanGaia
Rene' Jenkins: musician, ancient instrument master, sound healer
Musical Guest: Eddie Guthman, professional musician (chello, cittern, guitar)
Nick Simmons, professional musician(guitar, drums, charango)
影響
“Art has already been created. Any art is an attempt to capture what the whole universe is constantly unfolding at our feet”. (Joaquin Lopez)
PanGaia presents a multi-sensory, multi-lingual blend of original poetry accompained by ancient instruments and other instrumental guests. The content draws upon psychological, shamanic, and socio-political perspectives that are translated into performance through Joaquin’s powerfully truthful words.
PanGaia creations come out of the necessity and urgency for the protection of the Earth. “We share out of a fierce need, and out of an ‘inner call’ to give voice to what the earth would say if it could speak in human language ...what is already embedded all along the mountains, the rivers, our gardens, and in our blood.” (Joaquin)
What we do is risky and on the edge of modern human consciousness and condition. Our work is original. Inspiration resides in small villages, ancient structures, and natural spaces all over the world. There it is described as sacred, ceremonial and ritual. We dare to pull these traditions out of their secretive world and place them before an audience. We then invite the audience to bring their remembrance of these into their contribution to the art that is being created. Our pieces are a vehicle for the movement of energy. This spontaneous movement produces something greater than the whole. Even finding the words to describe what we do requires risks because they are words with deep psycho-cultural origins, which trigger many who do not understand until they become a part of the process.
Our work comes at a time when our culture is primed and those who feel that they have no voice, are seeking what PanGaia offers. “It’s all alive, it’s all intelligent, it’s all related and it’s all connected”. (Bioneers).
.
PanGaia began its journey in 2005 as Axis Mundi. At that time there were six members co-creating their first piece entitled “Earth Veins”. This piece was powerfully performed through embodied poetry, theater, and dance, before a back drop of video images with the sound of ancient instruments.
They became PanGaia in 2006.
Past PanGaia Performances:
Hitchhiker’s Cauldron: 2006 and 2007.
Marin College: "Seeds", October 2006.
The Glaser Center: “Seeds”, in February, 2007.
515 Orchard: "Bending Fences, 2007.
Sonoma Word Festival in September: "Bending Fences with Ashes", September 2007.
Pantheacon Festival: "Bending Fences", 2007.
Sonoma Word Festival: "Bending Fences with Ashes", September 2008.
Ocean Song Sonoma County: Solstice Celebration, 2007
Occidental House Concert: October, 2008
Petaluma Arts Council: Dia los Muertos with Jabez Churchill, 2008
Sebastopol Center for the Arts: Truth be Told performance series PanGaia presented "Fallish" an evening of transformational poetry, music and dance with Aimee Mconneloug and Eddie Guthman were guest performers, 2008.
Healdsburg Literary Cafe an evening of shamanic poetry with ancient sounds with Amiee Mconneloug and Eddie Guthman and guest artist-Nick Simmons, 2009
The music which is previewed here is from an interview and performance at KCRB with Robin Pressman, "Our Roots are Showing", in 2007. Performers are Joaquin Lopez, Rene' Jenkins, and Paul Armstrong,
PanGaia Member Bios:
Joaquin Lopez, visionary and poet.
PanGaia is the creative vision of Joaquin Lopez, a native of Spain. He has been in CA for 10 years. Five years ago, Joaquin went thru a near-death experience which awoke in him his hidden artist. From this came a deep knowing that something larger is holding us.
As a poet, he has been writing for 17 years. Four years ago, he started sharing his poetry in different venues and became the Sonoma County Grand Slam winner, which led directly to the formation of Axis Mundi. In 2006 Axis Mundi transformed into PanGaia.
He is husband to dancer Amie, and a father to Ian, 3, and Vida 1. Joaquin and his wife are deeply involved in the Native American sweat lodge tradition and he has received many teachings from his shamanic mentor and from their Lakota, Sioux teacher.
Currently he teaches transformational tennis, an innovative approach that emphasizes personal growth through tennis. He works with the Sonoma State men’s tennis team as an assistant-consultant. He also teaches for Stepping Stones, an organization providing rites of passage for youth. In 2002 he received a grant to write a book called "Transformational Tennis".
Joaquin possesses two Masters degrees. He graduated from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto with a Masters in counseling psychology in 2002. In 1997 he completed a Masters in Sports Psychology from the Institute of Maslow Catell in Spain. He completed his BA from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he was elected best student athlete.
Rene’ Jenkins, ancient instruments and sound healing.
Rene’ Jenkins is a man of great versatility. His first instrument was the piano, which he played at the very early age of five. He later shifted his instrument of choice from piano to trombone.
Rene’s musical career began at age 18 and his life direction took two paths. One musical, the other toward Zen Buddhism, meditation and mysticism. For two decades, the musical path brought him into performance with many established artists. Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, the Temptations, Maynard Ferguson, Joe Williams, Gregg Allman, Mary Wilson of the Supremes are only a few of the artists. He currently plays for Dick Bright’s SRO, a 19 piece party-rock, cover-tunes band with a vast repertoire playing Motown to Hip-Hop for corporate parties and fundraisers all over the world.
His love for the “dij” began in 1993. He soon formed the ”Didjeri-Dudes”, a group of five guys exploring sound-vibration and resonance in the gunite caves of Gundlach-Bundschu winery in Somoma. The Didjeri-Dudes played a blend of shamanic “dreamtime” journeying, healing tones and rhythm to small groups and fundraisers for local, non-profit organizations. They opened for the Charmaine Nevelle’s New Orleans Jazz and Funk Band.
This performance to an audience of 300 led Rene’ to change directions and head down his alternative life path. Rene’s interest in Zen Buddhism led him to study Breema-Shiatsu, cross-cutural shamanism, sacred plant allies, Peruvian cosmology, and to discover the many beautiful sounding ancient instruments. It is with these instruments that he creates and holds the container for PanGaia performances.
In 2002 he heard the term “sound healing” and realized this was the essence of his work. His interests shifted and he began playing ancient instruments (Pututo, flutes, zampona, ocarina, whistling water vessel & wind wand), and founded “VibeTherapy”, a ceremonial sound healing practice in Sonoma since 2003. As a Sacred Sound Practitioner, Rene’ performs private, group and remote healings, concerts and all occasion ceremonies including space clearing and house blessings.
Eddie Guthman, musician on string instruments
Eddie is in his 26th year of teaching music in both public and private schools and his 37th year as professional musician. Although he is a multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, cello, mandolin, violin, piano, drums and cittern, the bulk of his professional career has been on acoustic and electric bass.
Highlights include performing with many great jazz musicians such as Joe Pass, Jimmy Smith, Red Holloway, Frank Butler, Kenny Dixon and Roger Kellerway, touring with several groups including Crystal Wind and Acoustic Medicine, performing with the Napa and Ventura Symphonies, American Philharmonic Sonoma, and conducting the Trento Italy Waldorf School Orchestra in Norway in June of 2004.
Eddie has several recordings and written music for television as well. His newest CD is called Tower in the Mist and features his cittern, mandolin and basses. He has a B.A in music from Sonoma State University where he is currently studying for a Masters in Education.
