The Dream Book is an multi-media live performance featuring 27 artists interpreting dreams – Sonic Liberation 8 with Kulu Mele Dance Company, The Members of Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, Moor Mother Goddess, Mayita Angarica with Baba Rumba, Hubbard & Son, filmmakers.
Presented by Bowerbird & Sonic Liberation 8 With generous support of the Philadelphia Jazz Project & the Wyncote Foundation
The Dream Book
A curiosity of hoodoo gambling magic, the Dream Book lists objects and situations found in dreams with interpretations and lucky numbers for playing Policy, an illegal (and now obsolete) “numbers” game for gamblers.
Sonic Liberation 8’s The Dream Book is an interdisciplinary performance bringing together diverse performance companies of Philadelphia in a unique evening of music, dance and visual arts – modern and traditional forms intersect with: a loft & Lucumi chamber-jazz octet, an Afro-Cuban dance troupe, a new music chamber orchestra, post-hip-hop soundscape punk poet, Afro-Cuban rumba, and surreal video projections with sound design.
The Dream Book at 1 hr 20 minutes unfolds like a series of dreams. Video artists Hubbard & Son present short surreal video sequences identifying each of the 8 dreams segments and advancing the performance narrative. Each segment’s theme uses its corresponding Dream Book number and its related Orisha (Yoruban Diety).
opening & dream # 186 Journey
(Ellegua). Sonic Liberation 8 performing “The Culprit” by Matt Engle, and “Coolin’ It” by Nichola Rivera. Dream sequence short film by Hubbard & Son (John & Jamie)
dream # 742 The Seas
(Yemaya). Kulu Mele African Dance Ensemble with members of Sonic Liberation 8 perform traditional Afro-Cuban song and dance in tribute to the Orsiha of the seas. Choreography By Dottie Wilkie, Musical Arrangements by John Wilkie. Dream sequence short film by Hubbard & Son (John & Jamie). Dream sequence live improv “The Seas” by Veronica Jurkiewicz, Elliot Levin, & Mike Watsun.
dream # 644 The White Cloth
(Obatala). Members of the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra perform String Quartet No. 5 by Phill Glass.
They Join Sonic Liberation 8 in performing the Afro Cuban Yoruba song Enu Aye Mi Mo Se O, arrange by Kevin Diehl.
Dream sequence short film by Hubbard & Son (John & Jamie).
dream # 486 The Soothsayer
(Orumila). Moor Mother Goddess, a poet trading in slaveship punk and afrofuturist electronics, performs “The Soothsayer.” She then joins Sonic Liberation 8 in a song called “Orumila’s Pocket.” Dream sequence short film by Hubbard & Son (John & Jamie).
dream # 372 Thunder & Lightning
(Shango) Sonic Liberation 8 with a string trio perform “Cyclogenic” by Kevin Diehl. Second is a traditional Rumba Guaguanco sung by Nichola Rivera performed by Nichola, Tom Lowery, Ron Howerton, Kevin Diehl, Shawn Dade Beckett & John Wilkie. The third piece “Bombogenic” by Kevin Diehl is a rumba guarapachangeo in 5/4 performed by Sonic Liberation 8. All 3 selections celebrate the orisha of Thunder & Lightning and male energies. Dream sequence short film by Hubbard & Son (John & Jamie).
dreams #073 The Winds, #742 The Seas (Reprise) #111 The Sweet Waters
(Oya, Yemaya, Ochun) All companies perform a medley of traditional Afro-Cuban compositions in praise of the 3 female Orishas. Musical arrangement by Kevin Diehl. Dream sequence short film by Hubbard & Son (John & Jamie). Dance soloists Cachet Ivey ( Oya), Ama Schley (Yemaya), Payin Schley (Oshun). Audience members of the Venice Island Performing Arts Center join the performers onstage for a dance celebration.
the Dream-Book-event-program (pdf, 447kb)
Made possible by the generous support of Homer Jackson, Julia Lopez, Melissa Talley Palmer – Philadelphia Jazz Project; J. Michael Harrison, WRTI; Dustin Hurt, Bowerbird; Daniel Piotrowski, High Two Recordings; William Powell, Kevin Sommerville, Brett Bessler, Venice Island Perfoming Arts Center; Cause + Effect TV