News from Penzance

May 9th, 2025

To my dear Kalabash community,

Ahoy and greetings! Summer is here in Cornwall and I bring news from the seaside town of Penzance where my sabbatical has come to its abundant and life-giving end. Tomorrow I fly back to San Diego for an action packed summer of handmade theatre camps and I just can’t wait!

This time away has been a gift for which I cannot put so easily into words. If I was to try and explain it to you, I could only say that I’ve been tending to the soil of my own heart and navigating the mysterious with as much courage as I can muster.

Nature has been a great teacher to me during this time. And I’ve tried my best to attend to its small miracles. The most astonishing of which must be the Spring.

These last few months I’ve felt like a child experiencing the world for the first time. I’ve seen things I’d only ever heard about. Like watching the wild geese fly overhead and the endless spring flowers that seem to have appeared overnight. I can proudly say I now know the beauty of primroses and bluebells and the taste of wild garlic and the bright fields of daffodils where I wandered lonely as a cloud. And the wonderful realization that all of these beautiful blooms will never truly be gone from the world. Like the Lilly of the Valley that offers her sweetness for such a short time before returning back to the dark soil again. So too will she return next Spring with her white little bells ringing out as if to say Eternity!

The earth is full of little wonders to remind us that time is not a line from beginning to end. Time is a circle. A circle where life and death are lovers in the ever turning of the seasons.

And the birds. Oh the birds. How many nights I’ve slept with the windows open listening to the dawn chorus. The triumph of seeing the first swallow that arrived from its long and dangerous journey to build its nest. The robin in the stone wall, the wren in the forge, the cuckoo in the quoit, the jackdaws in the church tower and the blackbirds in the sycamore tree. All their beaks are now full of grass and wool and little pieces of us. And what news from the fields? There are foals and calves and baby lambs all dancing on the grassy hills.

I’m reminded of Mary Oliver’s poem the “The Messenger” which hangs in our little Kalabash kitchen. The last lines read:

Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished. The phoebe, the delphinium. The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture. Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart and these body-clothes, a mouth with which to give shouts of joy to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam, telling them all, over and over, how it is that we live forever.

And so, as we approach our 10 year anniversary I am thinking about all the ingredients that are already here and I am rejoicing.

It seems only yesterday and also a lifetime ago that we were celebrating our grand opening with balloons and drums and music and dreams. And here we are again at the turning of a new season and the beginning of a new adventure. As the watchdog from The Phantom Tollbooth says “Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life.”

It certainly has been the time of my life sailing this beautiful ship we call Kalabash. And I look forward to seeing this beautiful house of music and art and stories live on for another ten years and more.

Like the starlings that dance their graceful shapes across the sky. So too shall we fly into this new decade together with a song of thanks on our hearts.

Yours faithfully,

Natasha

The Mermaid of Zennor

March 3rd, 2025

"How far have you walked?"

"A long way"

"What brings you here"

"A song"
 

Ahoy there!

I’m back with news of The Mermaid. Not any mermaid, but the Mermaid. That was the message wasn’t it? “Listen closely, Don’t be afraid. Find the Mermaid.”  Well, I have a confession to make. I already knew who the Mermaid was. 

You know those Winds of Change I was talking about? When they come, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. Like a great storm. Like a wild fire. Like the death of a friend. It comes unannounced and uninvited and the consequences are life shattering. No doubt, you know what I’m talking about. Well that’s what happened to me. I didn’t really have a choice. I was just heartbroken and lost and at the beginning of something I didn’t understand at all. 

But then one night, I heard a song and without warning, the tears came. I was on land but my heart was at sea and I was swimming. I was down in my grief looking up at the sun glistening on the waves.
 

“I heard thee sing in the church above the ocean
I heard thee sing my pretty boy 
Far from my salty palaces
I have come to thee my pretty boy…”

The melody felt like it was pulled straight out of the sea just for me. Every note had the soaring wings of seabirds plummeting down to the deepest ocean caves.

Who was she singing too? Who was he singing too? Where was this church above the ocean? And why did it have such a powerful affect on me? I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I just wanted it to play again. It was my siren song and I was going to follow her wherever she was leading me.

I couldn’t tell you how it happened. All I can say is that it didn’t happen overnight. It was a journey and I walked every step of the way. I slept in old churches and village halls and shepherd huts. I cried and sang and prayed. I was filled with joy and little terrors too. But mostly, I was filled with wonder. Through bright field and dark forest I made my way on foot across the holy lands of Cornwall until I found her.

It was almost noon when I arrived in the village of Zennor. Apart from the church and the pub there was nothing around for miles except a few farmhouses. I felt far away from everything and relieved to finally have arrived and be able to put down my heavy bag.  

After checking into the Inn, I went to visit the church of St Senara just a few steps away. Above the door hung a fishing net to keep the birds out. I lifted the net, turned the heavy iron handle and slowly stepped inside.

It was a small church and it smelt of stone and wood and sweetness. The ceiling was shaped like the bottom of a boat and colorful hand-knitted kneelers lined each of the benches. To the right, in a little side chapel sat a 600 year old chair, dedicated to the memory of a young man named Matthew Trewhella “the best singer in the parish”.  Carved into the side of the chair was an image of a Mermaid. The Mermaid. The Mermaid of Zennor. 

They say she came to hear him sing. Nobody knew who she was or where she came from.  But she was beautiful and otherworldly and had a presence that made them feel a little otherworldly themselves. One Sunday, while Matthew was singing, another voice started to join in. It was the stranger among them who had never uttered a word. Now her voice was lifted in song with his and the whole church was swaying. It was the most beautiful thing they had ever heard. It was the sound of the land and the sea. The grassy fields and the salty waves. It was the sound of the time-less and the time-bound. The Divine and the earthly. It was the sound of love. 

On the way out of the church, I picked up a prayer card for St Senara and made my way to the cove where Matthew Trewhella was last spotted swimming away with the woman of the waves. I sat there for a long time looking out at the water hoping to catch a glimpse of them. I thought about the last few years and the miles I had walked to get there. I thought about the grief that I came to know. And the gift it had also given me. 

There, in that village by the sea, in that church above the ocean, I finally found the Mermaid. And something else found me too. I wasn't searching anymore. I had arrived. And I was exactly where I was meant to be. Little did I know, something completely magical and unexpected was about to happened next. 

But that is a story for another time…

Spring is in the air, summer is a-comin’ and our ship is about to set sail! Where we’re going next? Well…you’ll soon find out. Until then…
 

May your soul always recognize the divinity in another;
May your heart embrace the gifts of grace each has to offer,
And hear the song within even the humblest sea shell.
May you find joy in each others laughter,
And peace in each others eyes.
May the tide carry you to the shores of imagination,
In a boat made of your most precious dreams.
May all your prayers be answered,
As you write them in the sand.

The Prayer of St Senara. 

Yours faithfully,
Natasha (aka Miss Nati)

P.S. If you'd like to listen to The Mermaid then click here. Happy swimming...

The Winds of Change

Feb 24th, 2025

Ahoy there!

I write to you from a village in the far west of Cornwall. The Winds of Change are here. So strong are these winds, that when they blow, they have the power to change your entire life, whether you like it or not.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to find shelter inside a little cafe where they make the most delicious hot chocolate. The Storm Cat is making giant waves just outside the entrance to the harbour, known locally as ‘the mousehole’. This is the place where Antonia Barber wrote her book ‘The Mousehole Cat’ based on a local legend about a fisherman named Tom Bawcock. I was so moved by this story that I decided to add it to our lineup of handmade theatre productions this summer! As much as I would like to walk around the village and conduct some research forthe play…it’s probably best to stay inside today. With the Storm Cat out at sea and those Winds of Change rattling the windows, who knows what could happen!

I am reminded of the first time I felt these windsblowing. It was last Spring and Sir Gerald and I were visiting some friends in the Mojave Desert. The wind blew so dangerously strong that we had no choice but to stay inside the whole time. I don’t think we got a wink ofsleep either! It banged at our windows all night and day as if to say: “Open up! Let us in! We have an important message for you!”

But what that message was…I couldn’t tell you. They sang in a language I didn’t understand.

After a few days in the windy high desert, Sir Gerald and I were ready to go home. He was car sick on the way there and the way back, so the minute we walked in the door, he went straight to bed. I, on the other hand, went straight to the sea. Perhaps it was all that sand. Or maybe it was the wind? So relentless and impossible to ignore. Either way…I needed the big ocean.

It was dusk when I arrived at the beach. I walked down the steps at the end of Bird Rock Ave and climbed over the rocks until I reached the waters edge. I put my feet in and looked out onto the darkening horizon in the hopes I might see a little boat with a hurricane lamp shining at the top of its mast. The last time I read about the Moomins, they were headed for an Island in the middle ofthe Northern Sea with nothing on it but a lighthouse. They were going to live there and lead “a wonderful life, full of troubles.” Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a lighthouse? I think the Moomins are very brave to try it. If I was with them, I’d like to ask them what they think about these Winds of Change that come blowing their trouble all around. Surely MoominPappa would have an answer for me?

But that night, on the shores of Bird Rock, I did not spot any Moomins in their little boat called The Adventure. Instead, three sea lions appeared. They took turns poking their heads above the water and looking straight at me. I was careful to sit very still and smile. Eventually, they seemed to trust me and came close enough to the shore forme to ask them my question.

“What does one do when the Winds of Change start blowing?”

The sea lions looked at eachother and dipped below the waves before popping up even closer. No doubt so that I could hear them better. One by one, they seemed to say…
 

“Listen closely”

“Don’t be afraid”

“Find the Mermaid”

And with that they disappeared under the waves. I watched the surface for a while but they never popped up again.

“Listen closely. Don’t be afraid. Find the Mermaid.”  Seems pretty straightforward right? Well, I guess that depends… When was the last time you went looking for a Mermaid? I’ll let you know how my search goes.

Yours faithfully,
Miss Nati 
 

P.S. Sir Gerald the cat found my call for adventure a little tiresome. He has since fallen in love with a Cello player and now lives in Portland, Oregon. He sends his regards.

The Secret Society of Greg

Last May, something truly incredible happened. The Secret Society of Greg was brought to life. How to describe what an important and magical creation this was?

Here is a little backstory.

During the making our Bat for Lashes production COSMIA in 2022, a couple of our students fell in love with a toad they called Greg. And so, the Secret Society of Greg was born!

Since then, our brilliant young student Dusty Rose, started writing a play about this Secret Society and the amazing toad Greg! With the help of her fellow SSOG member Gabriella Ceravolo and her teacher Miss Nati, the script was ready for the next step.

Costumes…Set Design…Color…Rainbows…

In came, Dusty’s Mom, the artist April Rose, who turned Dusty’s sketches and visions of characters into real life. Using paper, paint, fabric, cardboard and papier-mache…it wasn’t long before giant mushrooms, toad heads and hummingbird masks started to appear.

The 20 kids who signed up to tell the tale were a wild crew filled with enthusiasm and love for Greg and the whole show. It was clear that the fact that this was an original production written by one of their own had super-charged the whole process. Ideas were flying in the room as the show developed and character backstories were written at home and brought to the picnic area to be shared.

Questions like “Why does the Mockingbird Sorcer steal voices?” were answered and surprises from Starfish about the origins of the world were revealed. Want to know how old the earth is? Just ask a starfish named Eoin.

Direct all other questions to the Oracle of Mangata…pictured below, just at the right time…when the moon is at it’s fullest.

But who is Greg? And more importantly what is the Secret Society of Greg? Well…all of these questions and more could and might be answered by watching this little film of the whole event below.

The story tells the tale of a group of kids, who journey into the magical world of Greg Town, in search of their king who has mysteriously gone missing! Along the way they encounter even more frogs, a mockingbird sorcerer, a rainbow rose, an oracle, a purple giraffe and an attic full of lost toys!

A huge thanks to all the hands and hearts that brought this play together. Especially Dorka Hegedus-Lum for all these beautiful photographs and our directors Miss Nati and Miss Nancy and the entire team at Kalabash. Big thank you to Miss Laurie for helping to paint the mural and the artistic genius of April Rose who lovingly brought this world to life. Thank you to the original members of SSOG for creating magic and discovering King Greg.

And most of all, thank you to Dusty Rose.

You are a bright light of creativity and love in the world and because of your determination, hard work and wild imagination, the world is now a little greener, brighter and filled with a new story and song. Don’t ever stop. Never forget and always remember…

WATER PLUS SUN EQUALS RAINBOW

The Odyssey!

Who knew how absolutely profound an experience Homer’s Odyssey would be as a children’s play! We are endlessly impressed with these kiddos! Their talent and love for Greek mythology exceeded all our expectations. Please enjoy these photos and the little documentation (which doesn’t do the real thing justice) But we’re grateful for the memories!

40 Days of Play (An Agnes Martin Vision)

This month Kalabash is doing a 40 day practice challenge, encouraging students to build their skills and a bit of healthy competition with their fellow music-makers. Me, the ship captain, Katie Berns, created a large sticker chart made up of over 4,000 squares to keep track of everyone’s progress. This sizable chart was inspired by the work of Agnes Martin.

When I was first asked to do this, I lit up! I get to create an Agnes Martin-inspired work? I get to step into the method of someone I admire so deeply? What a dream! However, I couldn’t sit for weeks on end and wait for a vision to appear to me. I didn’t have enough time! The challenge was only a week away and I had to move fast. I did, however, do a bunch of meticulous measuring and pencil-sharpening to plan for how big this thing would have to be to accommodate the over 100 students we have here at Kalabash. I would say Agnes would be proud, but I don’t think she’d really care.

I can already hear it you now, “Wait, hold on…visions??”, you might ask. “Sitting for weeks on end??? What are you talking about?”

Well, let me tell you…

WHO IS AGNES MARTIN?

Agnes Martin was a painter born in Canada, 1912. She moved to New York City when she was 20 years old and became apart of the New York School, a group of artists looking to define modern art in America. Her colleges included the likes of Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

She’s most known for her paintings made up of repetitive grids, stripes and dots. Though her work resembled the minimalist athletics of some of her counterparts, she did not consider herself a minimalist. She rather thought of her work as Abstract Expressionism, depicting the visions she had, most commonly relating to themes of pure happiness, innocence, beauty and joy.

She was a mystic and had a deeply spiritual connection to her work. She would sit and wait for an image to come to her, sometimes sitting for weeks on end until a tiny grid would appear in her mind. This was a meditative practice, honoring her spiritual life, thinking of herself only as a vessel for creation.

REFLECTIONS

I find the repetition, focus and intention behind Martin’s work a parallel to the dedication it takes to complete a challenge of this magnitude. For 40 days, students will practice and place an orange dot on each day they’ve completed. I know it would satisfy Martin’s soul to see each of these 4,400 squares filled with the proof, the intention, of a students dedication to their craft. Maybe this is a stretch, but stretching is good for the body and mind!

The challenge started Saturday, October 8 and will end on November 17, leading us to our open mic!

FAQs

• Are there prizes? What are they?! - SURprises

• How long did it take to make this?! - Mmm.. this one is hard to track, but I would say 7-8 hours? This includes planning, drawing out the entire grid in pencil, filling in each square with a dot, painting the sign, and placing each students name to their individual column.

• How many dots are there?! - Are you ready for this answer?? 4,400 (and counting!)

SNACK BREAK

Anges Martin ate! She did! Just like you and me! She would set strict diets for herself and would often eat a limited diet. Her favorite snack was bananas and coffee. Here is a recipe for Banana Coffee Cake we are sure Agnes Martin would like.

Goodbye Lexi Hello 10am!

It is with a kiss and a happy tear we announce that incredible artist teacher Lexi Pulido is leaving us after many beautiful years of music making and education! Even though we will miss her greatly we know she will always be part of our Kalabash family and we couldn’t be happier for her as she embarks on a whole new adventure!

Lexi has recently opened a studio of her own in Normal Heights and there is nothing normal about it. In fact, it’s the coolest art thing that is happening in our city. The studio is called 10am (TENAM) and every Monday through Friday at 10am there is a 15 minute performance art in the window. It’s not only a space for incredible experimental art, but Lexi is also continuing her teachings there as well and hosting group workshops, including a children’s choir!! I highly recommend that you join her, learn about TenAm, spread the word and do whatever you can to support her on this new courageous and inspiring venture!

Learn all about TenAm here: https://www.tenamstudio.com

Postcards from Camp!

This summer we visited Moominvalley, Neverland, Trollberg, Ursula’s sea cave, the village of a thousand ships and Hogwarts!

Running with the Wolves

Last summer, we put on a theatre production of The Wolfwalkers, a film which is the third part in director Tom Moore’s “Irish Folklore Trilogy”. As far as we are aware there hasn’t been a kids production of this film in existence yet. As the cast of all girls showed up on the morning of the first day and shyly smiled at one another while setting their shoes and lunch boxes in a row, we knew there would be something special and magical about this week of Handmade Theatre. The actors fiercely took to their roles during the week, delivering lines with passion and conviction, becoming their characters much to the teachers’ delight. Letting out howls in unison, grinning at one another slyly, they melded into their very own wolf pack in front of our eyes.

The pack, surrounding mama wolf Natalia.

By the end of the week, we were all entirely swept away by the magic of the story. The girls hummed “Running with the Wolves” by Norwegian songwriter Aurora, in between scene rehearsals. The teachers were able to sit back and watch with that time-honored enchantment unique to theatre. We spent the evenings hanging foliage and flowers from the ceiling, painting a mural with giant moon, stars, ferns, and vines, to frame the actors on the stage. They spent an afternoon weaving ribbon, small daises, and lavender, into flower crowns that many of them brought back and wore steadfastly throughout the week.

On the last day, after film day, we all gathered around and got “initiated into the wolf pack” by the directors. Each girl received a packet of information about a wolf family member we had adopted on their behalf from the California Wolf Center. They were quiet, feeling the sacred space and honoring the beauty and symbolism of the moment. We bid them farewell on that bittersweet Friday, knowing they felt newfound wonder in their hearts, enthusiasm for the earth and nature, and with the knowledge that they had found a community of friends that would last in their memories forever.

Experience Miss Lexi's Sound Mark Walk

Lexi Pulido is a conductor of space. Seeing her perform with her alt jazz band KiliKili or versatile duo Lex & The Jewels is captivating, from the very moment she steps on stage and her voice soars from deeply earthy to atmospheric, as playful and curious as a bird. She plays with space when she sits down at the piano and instructs students to breathe here, to feel into the meaning of a word there, and when she silently nods approval as a student, with energized clarity, creates their own vocal melody in the generous space she has cultivated for them. Her careful, compassionate instruction is what makes her students soar themselves to new heights, surprising even themselves at what they’ve channeled creatively and expressively under her inspired direction. 

It’s with this same inspiration that she’s generously created a guided sound walk, an experience that is free to the public and available to pick up as a zine at the Kalabash front desk! Lexi describes her sound walk on her website as follows: 

This walk was created in fall of 2020 by Lexi Pulido (as part) of her 8-week Sound Art Group Workshop series at Kalabash School of Music and the Arts. Pulido was inspired by the Elastic City walks of New York. Through the lens of its sound, participants are invited to combine imagination and self reflection with the living, sounding world around Birdrock, CA. 

The walk begins on the Kalabash front patio with an action as simple as observing the beautiful mural painted on our building. Participants are directed to imagine it coming to life, and what colors and images and feelings it might evoke. We are then guided to a public fountain and encouraged to not only listen to the sound of the fountain itself but the way it interacts with the sounds of cars and people and the urban environment. Continuing on the walk, we are encouraged to reflect upon the experience of our ancestors, to perform a breath meditation with waves, to consider the personality and sound of a local plant. At once poetic and philosophical, whimsical and profound, the tour packs a punch and by the end I found myself wishing for more pages so that I might continue on.

But maybe that’s the point. Lexi is waiting for us to pick up on the melody where she left off, as we find our voice in the song and she fades off, smiling. As we see for ourselves, with shocking clarity, the beauty of the everyday world that was here for us the whole time.

Interview with Kalabash Student Artist

For the past few months, Kalabash student Jack Rudy (who takes music/theatre/acting classes with Miss Nancy and has taken comic book classes with Rodney Anderson) has been working on a writing project called “The Adventures of Tyris and Kat”. We are pleased to release the trailer for this project, which is illustrated by Jack and narrated by Jack and Nancy. Below is an interview with the artist and the trailer for the film! We’re looking forward to seeing more work from this young artist!

Can you give a brief synopsis of the story? 

Well, it’s about these two twins and they live in this made up world. One of them has these powers they don’t know about, and they don’t know their whole family history and one day they get kidnapped, and have to go on a long journey to figure out who they are and who their family is. 

How did you come up with the premise of the story? The characters? 

Random ideas come to me, and they usually get inspired by the shows I watch or am currently watching. 

Were there any specific shows that inspired this story? 

Not at the first part, but then I watched Avatar and that kind of helped move the story. 

And what inspirations did you draw from that show? 

The fact that she can use the elements and some of the character dynamics, for example between the siblings, are a little bit like the ones from Avatar. 

Will this be a series of graphic novels, or do you intend to bring in film/other media? Would you consider making it a theatre, musical, or film piece? 

I’d imagined it as an animated TV show with shorter episodes. But a graphic novel could also be cool. 

What genre do you feel your artwork falls under? 

Fantasy. And Horror. And usually it’s about kids, because I’m a kid. 

What/who are some of your main inspirations that you draw from in your work? 

For drawing, I usually do cartoon style. But I haven’t really been inspired by other cartoon styles, because I don’t try to draw realistically or in an anime style. But with some of my other work I’ve been inspired by Stranger Things, and IT by Stephen King. And that’s pretty much it. 

In what space do you feel most creatively inspired? AKA where do you feel you can do your best work? 

Not really. I don’t do better in any certain place, I just need to be alone. And also it depends on my state of mind. Sometimes if I’m not super energetic, or maybe after I’ve watched something, then I’ll sit down to create. 

How has your script writing changed and/or evolved over time? 

I think at the beginning, I wasn’t great with cutting off scenes. And not as much dialogue as description. And also things were more blunt. Like: ‘Yes, I will”, and not said in a, you know, normal way. I think some of my dialogue got more natural over time. 

What are some common themes in your script-writing? 

Usually it’s about kids going on a journey. And they will evolve and change a little along the way. 

Is this the first piece of writing you’ve ever done? 

Nope~ so my first real writing that I did was a book that I worked on for a little bit and I got a good way through. And then I also write part of a Horror Movie Script, that will be continued, that I have a clip of, and that is called Blindsville Horror Story. It’s about a small town and kids start to go missing, and these two boys have to team up to save their friend.

What do you like most about your work?

I like making stories, and it’s fun to create different worlds and people apart from this world. 

What do you dislike about your work? Or what do you think you can improve upon? 

I’ll have a basic plan but sometimes I need a more set plan, and sometimes I sort of just...go with it, and not think too much before. And that gets really crazy. So maybe I could have a bit more of a set plan, not just beginning, middle, and end, but who they meet along the way. ‘Cause I just randomly introduced Prothisio because I wanted a different character. He’s an old wizard they meet who trains Kat after she gets her powers. 

What superpower would you have and why? 

Okay there are a few answers. Either telekinesis~because that would be fun; to move things with your mind, and control people’s minds because then~

You would rule the world? 

I would rule the world. Shape shifting would be fun~ and changing sizes, shrinking and stuff. That would be fun because I could go into my lego sets. And breathing underwater would be cool. Flying would be cool too. It would be cool to get around that way. 

Tell me more about your lego set. 

I just like to build lego sets. I have a lot of energy I think but I also like to focus on something, and I can focus on something for three hours, and not do anything else. 

What are some other hobbies you enjoy? 

I like swimming. I like watching TV shows. I like reading. I like LEGOS. I like to draw, and I like Theatre Tech. Oh, and I like dancing, tap dancing. And also acting is fun because you get to be a different person. Oh, and I like costuming. I like making clothes designs.  I like doing versions of Greek and Roman Togas but modernized versions. 

Okay, name three actors you’d like to cast in your movies. 

Hmmm. For Prophisio: Ian McKellen For Kat...hmm...I know! Sadie Sink. Because she’s a ginger too, and a good actress. For Tyris...Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Bran in Game of Thrones. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given (can be art-related or otherwise)?

I don’t like getting advice. But! I gave myself good advice. I don’t take criticism from people I wouldn’t take advice from. That’s pretty good advice. 

I wish I’d gotten that advice at your age. Ok...what audience would you like to reach with your work? 

Maybe young people or teenagers. Like 10-13 year olds. 

Do you feel your work has any deeper symbolism or social commentary?

No, I don’t really like symbolism. I just write a story, for the point of it being a story. 

When can we expect “The Adventures of Tyris and Kat” to come out? 

A long time. Because I’m not done with the series, and animating can take a long time.

March: Spirits and Spring

Watercolor Artwork by Calamity

Spring in San Diego always sets in so suddenly. You turn the corner and a flower, which you always took for granted to be perpetually a bud, has burst it’s pale pink and yellow petals out to the delight of bees and passers by. The long awaited rain taps onto mailboxes and into the sleepy grass seeds, who respond by gratefully sending blades up towards the sun. And for some of you, every Sunday morning you ride your bikes to Kalabash and explore the wonderful world of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away with our talented theatre teachers, Miss Nancy, Mr. Andrew, and Miss Natasha! 

We wish everyone could join us as we build a magical world here filled with river spirits, dragons, witches, dancing paper and puppetry. Join us as we honor Miyazaki’s delightful world of enchantment and spiritual symbolism. And as we explore what it means to get in touch with the earth, spirituality, and the inner child. Here are a few activities for you to be part of this magical creation, and so we can all honor the emergence of Spring together: 

1. Learn a new Japanese word. Two words that come up often throughout the film are “Yu” and “Me”. These clues can be put together to form the word “Yume” which means “To dream”! Below is that word written in Japanese:

夢

(Try copying that down on a piece of paper!)

1. Spirited Away was said to be heavily based on Shinto-Buddhism, a tenet of which is the idea of Kami, or that all things in nature such as trees, rocks, rivers, and mountains have spirits attached to them. So maybe take a nature walk and say hello to every Kami spirit you see. Imagine the rocks, hummingbirds, and mushrooms have voices, personalities, hairstyles. Pick up a few pieces of trash you see to clean the houses of your new friends. They might thank you, just like the River Spirit thanks Chihiro!  

2. Another Shinto Buddhist tradition is the Kagura, or music and dance done for the Kami. In folklore, Amaterasu the sun goddess was said to have disappeared into a cave and refused to come out. All of the other gods gathered together and performed a wild and free dance to urge her to emerge. When she did, the sun rose. Can you do a dance in the morning that might make the sun rise? It will have to be one filled with passion and energy...the sun is heavy!

Enjoy the process of honoring spring by yourself or with your loved ones. While you’re at it, why not listen to this Spirited Away playlist we made especially for you? Featuring all manners of magical music to enchant the spirit inside.

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