Dear Friends and Family,

We miss you! We miss performing for you. We miss gathering together. We miss your smiles, the crinkles in the corners of your eyes, the sound of your voice. We miss it ALL - like a great ache in the bottom of our bellies.

People who work with us will remember that during rehearsals, we always look for “Ma Moments”. In our work, we use it as the sound of silence, the movement in stillness. Ma is a Japanese aesthetic term meaning “the pause” or “negative space - emptiness”. Quantum physicists would call Ma the dancing nothing that is everything. Ma helps us to see the purpose of things. Without an opening, a door would have no use. Without emptiness, a glass would not hold water.

2020 has been a long Ma Moment. So what is it telling us?

Today during our morning walk in Golden Gate Park, Mark and I saw a young father negotiating a business deal on his cell while patting a brand new baby with his other hand. We saw a mother showing her toddler how to hopscotch and watched wise old women in pink knit caps social distancing on park benches fiercely debating feminism.

Again, what is this Ma Moment telling us?

Humans have been on the planet for tens of thousands of years. Only recently have we gone from living to making money. In this Ma Moment are we re-membering what’s important in life - our health, our loved ones and a roof over our heads? Where were we all running to before this pause? Were we lemmings rushing to the cliff? Maybe this Ma Moment reminding us to LIVE!

Amidst a pandemic, social injustice, global depression and still contested presidential election, 2020 has been a year unlike any other. As we look back on this past year, we reflect on what we have done.

We continued to share our work with those of you at home raising children through our 'Stories for Children and the People Who Love Them'. Many of you joined Mark in his 'Sho Meditations' on Facebook Live. The Earth Dance offerings by the First Voice family of artists were inspired.

The road ahead is filled with challenges, but already we have witnessed how when we come together, we can accomplish so much. So, as us OG’s like to say, Keep the Faith - Love Conquers All!

Brenda and Mark

Earth Dance 2020

In May and June we gathered our First Voice family to present our online Earth Dance 2020 event. A shout out once again to our Earth Dance Artists for creating these amazing individual art videos. Watch here and follow them on their platforms, and support their amazing work.

WATCH HERE

Mark's Sho Meditations

In April and May, Mark performed healing offerings each day with his sho for 10 minutes on Facebook Live. These morning meditations were aimed at helping our community refocus, recenter, and relax amidst the current events of our world.

watch here

Stories for Children and the People Who Love Them

Back in April we wanted to give a gift to those who were at home with or doing the very precious job of teaching children during the time of shelter in place, and so we offered short stories told by Brenda on our website.

read here

Upcoming Events

University of North Carolina Storytelling Festival 2021

Join us in February for the University of North Carolina Storytelling Festival 2021, a special collaborative live-stream presented by the University of North Carolina. During the festival, Brenda will be performing excerpts from her upcoming "I AM, San Francisco" play set to premiere in 2021.

Stronger Together!

Support First Voice

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Thank you to our
funders and partners!

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Here's to 2020!