This year will be the 11th annual St. Joseph’s New Year’s Eve and Day celebration. The event is open to all members of the community in order to expand our community connections and foster deeper understanding and relationship. This alcohol and drug free event has been a much-awaited yearly gathering for over a decade. It all begins with a sumptuous pot-luck dinner provided by the participants. (see flyer)

In this era of uncertainty and escalating change we come together to celebrate and co-create a community that honors and respects differences while sharing common interests. We especially want other dance, spiritual and service communities to join us in co-creating a real community affair. There will be many opportunities to share, sing, dance, create, relax, play and pray our way into the New Year.  We hope you join us!

This is not your usual New Year’s party where over indulgence clouds our minds and numbs our senses. It is an artistic expression embracing our differences, similarities, interconnectedness, and common dreams. In the Occupy the Heart Sanctuary we offer free massages, comfortable lounging areas to meet with friends and new acquaintances, and art materials to create prayer flags, collages or other artistic expressions. It is a place to get away from the larger community and enjoy one on one conversations. 

In the main hall we will enjoy great talent, music, movement and socializing with entertainment provided by:

International singer songwriter and Voice and Self-Expression Coach Maniko has been writing songs, performing and singing in a diverse array of venues for over 25 years. She has produced and recorded three original CDs and worked on a variety of other recording projects. She has extensive professional and experiential training in expressive arts, movement awareness and integration, meditative disciplines as well as dance, breath and voice as vehicles for bridging the worlds of developing consciousness, creativity, personal integration and authentic self-expression.
 
The Earth Rhythms Dancers and Drummers, are a group of performers that present dances, drum rhythms and songs from the Congo, West Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, and North America. Most of the group's performing repertoire are traditional dance and drum pieces from the cultures that some members have apprenticed with, and some pieces are a collective choreography creation by the members of this troupe. Earth Rhythms performances are high energy presentations that depict the power and love of life force in the members of the collective and in the cultures from which the dance pieces derive their roots. All the guests will be invited to participate and do their own dance as the lights go down and the dancing begins.

Michael Stone (aka DJ Divine) is the host and producer of KVMR’s Conversations, which brings you leading edge thinkers, authors and activists in the areas of Environmental Restoration, Social Justice, Evolutionary Cosmology and Spiritual fulfillment. Proceeds from this event support this program. Michael is also a sought after DJ and leads moving mediation classes and workshops based on the work of Gabrielle Roth. www.AreWeListening.net

DJ Fieldtrip was born and raised at the edge of the Black Forest in Germany. He is a classically trained pianist, currently playing the Hang and the Kalimba. He is a founding member of the Movement Medicine Collective, a group dedicated to the facilitation of healing through dance. As one of the founders of Ecstatic Dance Grass Valley, he leads dance journeys there, in the Bay Area and other places where conscious dancers gather. DJ Fieldtrip is a sonic chaperone on group excursion into movement and sound.

Juliette Phyllis Kunin has spent a lifetime seeking to find her authentic self through music, dance, nature, spirituality, and the arts.  About a decade ago, she fell in love with the 5Rhythms ™and shows up on the dance floor as much as possible knowing that this is a space where simply by bringing her curiosity and warrior spirit, she can find more ease, joy and grace.  Because she continues to have such a deep and profound experience, she is now a certified 5Rhythms ™ teacher, giving back to others what is so precious to her.

Award winning musician/songwriter Kalyani has devoted her life and her art to the awakening of Spirit within herself and others through song. "A perfect vehicle for her uplifting music, Kalyani's voice transports her audience into a world of intimate spirituality," says Grammy award winning producer Charles Michael Brotman.  Kalyani's inspiring contemporary style has been described as "sacred song." Her lyrics and melodies invoke our deepest human longings and our highest spiritual aspirations.

Different DJs will be sharing their music throughout the evening for your dancing pleasure. Profits from this event will go to support KVMR’s Conversations. Hope you will join us…

Thich Nhat Hanh