Empowered Women International

Celebrate Motherhood – Honor Our Traditions and Heritages

Sunday, March 7 from 3-5pm

EWI Office in Convergence

(1801 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302)

*Remember to please RSVP by emailing CFripp.RSVP@ewint.org

Join us for an intimate female gathering to learn about the customs, traditions, music and food that Ethiopians use to celebrate the coming of a new baby in their lives. Enjoy an authentic Ethiopian Coffee Ceremonial, selection of Ethiopian dishes and a wonderfully decadent cake.

Meet our award-winning artists and business incubator graduates, Mekbib Gebertsadik and Meseret Desta, who are expecting their first child. Learn how one Ethiopian family uses their artistic background and cultural heritage to honor the new child in their lives.

Unlike in the Ethiopian tradition, we encourage you to honor this family with a gift before the birth of their child. Please visit their baby registry at http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp and type “Meseret” and “Desta” in the appropriate search boxes.

On Saturday, March 27th Empowered Women International presents local writer and performing artist Neelam Patel in the powerful and moving one-woman performance, “Sari to Skin.” The event starts at 7pm at Convergence in Alexandria, Virginia. Tickets are now available!

Empowered Women International presents Neelam Patel
in the powerful and moving one-woman performance

SARI TO SKIN

Saturday, March 27, 2010 from 7-9pm

Convergence

1801 N. Quaker Lane

Alexandria, VA 22302

Advance Tickets: $15 per person or two for $25
Please RSVP by emailing Events@ewint.org and paying for your ticket(s)
through Network for Good (remember to indicate this event in the designation box)

At the Door: $20 per person

Free Parking

Empowered Women International is proud to present local writer and performing artist Neelam Patel in her third solo production, entitled “Sari to Skin.” In this new performance, Patel fuses dance and poetry with storytelling to explore the complexity and confusion of her interwoven Indian American experience. A reception to meet the artist and with the opportunity for Q&A will follow the performance.

Patel’s first solo production was a critically acclaimed and sold out presentation, Sensual Reflections (2006), that The Washington Post called “powerful poetry.”  Reviewer Pamela Squires noted, “Far from bemoaning how difficult it is to be bicultural, [Patel] is energized by it and uses it to break out as an artist in the Western mode.”  Her second show, Stripping Borders was presented in June of 2008 for her Arlington County Grant for Individual Artists.  Both resulted in sold-out performances.

In her performances, Patel challenges herself and the audience to develop a single identity despite conflicting influences that life brings.  Trained in Indian dance, the rhythms of her movement are paired with reflective poetry about everydayliving.  Her words are charged with the vulnerable intimacy of personal relationships, the grand power of feminine sexuality, and the spiritual awakening resulting from deep questioning.

Neelam Patel has performed her unique brand of performance art at dozens of venues in the DC metropolitan area and New York City.  She has appeared in The Vagina Monologues at Cramer Theatre in Manassas, VA, in several short films, and in the pilot for the upcoming ABC series “20 Questions.”  She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University and further training at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory.

This program is made possible in part with support from the Alexandria Commission for the Arts.

EWI has a great need for women career mentors, special events volunteers to promote and sell EWI’s jewelry and art collection and artists to teach jewelry making classes. Read more

Well, it was not quite the way we planned it to be, but despite the serious snow and icy roads, we had over 120 guests in attendance. The musical program was exceptional and the fine art by Empowered Women unique.

The 7Sopranos, a local women’s a capella ensemble presented an outstanding, witty and classy performance. If you have not seen the 7Sopranos yet, they are amazing, fun to listen to and a must for all opera and classical music lovers.

Anders Lundegård, a local Swedish classical saxophonist had a breath-taking performance of original and classical saxophone pieces. He was born in Vaxjo, Sweden, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and received his doctorate in music from Northwestern University. Dr. Lundegård has devoted his career to capturing the original sound.

The Lucia Girls, our traveling Swedish guests presented an enchanting musical program of Lucia songs celebrating centuries-old Swedish yuletide traditions that mark the day of shortest daylight hours and herald the changing season. Lucia is the celebration that takes place in Sweden during the year’s darkest day, on December 13 – the darkest day according to the old calendar, i.e. before 1753.

Lucia, the Queen of Light, wears a white dress with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head. She leads a procession called “Luciatåg” where she is accompanied by several attendants, also dressed in white with candles in their hands. They perform Lucia songs and bring coffee, ginger breads and saffron buns. But most importantly, they bring light amid the long and dark winter. To many, the highlight of Swedish Yuletide is the traditional Lucia procession.