The Unconventional Practitioner Festival is headed to Whistler, and at least three local names are involved.
Robyn Forsyth, known to many of her arts peers as Feral Nifty, teams up with fellow Sea to Sky musicians Adam Lucas and Mike Reed on Feb. 22 to facilitate what's being billed as a Ceremony of Sound and Music.
Specifics regarding the Feb. 23 event have yet to be announced, but Forsyth (who is going by her legal name in this particular context) can shed some light on what the festival is really about.
"It is a gathering of a community of people who are interested in deepening their practice within self-exploration," she remarks. "It is a number of different practitioners coming to share their modalities and use it as a way of uniting people and connecting people with themselves."
The term "modality" can refer to various different practices. Some ground themselves by doing yoga, while others meditate via breathing exercises. Forsyth, Lucas and Reed plan to present a soundscape created for Dolby Atmos, a proprietary surround-sound technology.capable of producing an immersive, three-dimensional listening experience. Forsyth describes it as "a magic carpet of sound" for people to enjoy and respond to as they like, perhaps wandering off into the recesses of their own imaginations.
Afterwards, the trio will play a live show.
"I've known Adam since he was about 14. He's my brother's best friend, and I borrow him," says Forsyth. "During COVID, he approached me about doing some mixing and stuff. We discovered that we have the same ear and we really enjoy the same things.
"And I've known Mike for over a year. He's an incredibly talented sound healer who really knows how to bring regulation to a person's body and space, and he knows how to manage a space to give people what they need for recovery. Mike and I have almost more of a spontaneous response where we can improvise in ceremonial experiences together. [The festival] is actually the first time the three of us are really coming together and pulling out all our creativity."
Quietness and reflection
Those of us in Western society tend to live busy lives. There's always more work to do, more family commitments that arise, more social engagements to give us FOMO, and so forth. When others ask us how we're doing, frequently our response sounds like: "I'm good, just busy" without a second thought.
Forsyth has a lot on her plate too: singing, painting, sculpting, making wigs—you name it—plus responsibilities as a wife and mother. She's naturally interested in pursuing different creative realms, but for that reason it's good she met festival organizer Judy Brooks.
"I think it's a really important practice to bring yourself some quietness and reflection in order to be able to handle all this busyness and actually know why you're even doing it," Forsyth comments. "Sometimes you're just busy for the sake of being busy, but really being more conscious in our choices [is healthy]. I also feel like it's really nice to be conscious in choosing a community.
"I have been asked before if I meditate, and for a long time I said I did not—but the act of playing music or creating artwork is my meditation, my flow state. It's what recharges me so I can be the better version of myself for others. For some people, their meditation is the mountain."
There's a smorgasbord of different modalities out there, and each can be valuable in its own way. Forsyth likes to think of music as universally appealing, however: there's no barrier to entry for listening and enjoyment. It's a powerful form of expression that transcends the spoken word to bring people together, and it can be a touching, intimate way to connect.
The Unconventional Practitioner Festival will be held on Feb. 22 and 23 at the Brew Creek Centre. Details and tickets can be found here.
