In this 2-day workshop, participants may attend a live performance of The Tattooed Lady at Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Saturday evening then follow up the next day with a sensory-based workshop that asks questions and delves into issues brought to the surface by this new musical.

The performance has been described as "celebrating the resilience of women whose choices have the power to liberate them." The workshop will incorporate somatic breathing and sensory practices into the work of writing. The goal is to bring the type of awareness (to the body and to habitual writing processes) that make more choices possible.

When we write, we often work as if we exist from the neck-up and the wrist-down. In other words, we ignore the environment in which we write, our physical postures, the rhythms of our breath, our engagement with others. It is not necessary to write as if we are locked in a closet or in a tower, and yet—the myths of "the solitary writer" so often focus on isolation and physical neglect. We can choose to change this story. We can create different, more holistic practices to help us feel more agency and connection while we write, as well as when we choose to share that writing. Writing can be a kind of time travel, visiting the past and lasting into the future—but it can also move inward and outward—just like breath, just like the cycle of contraction-and-expansion in our days, seasons, families, communities, and universes.

Tattoo also means rhythm. And revolution—to turn.

Schedule of Events

Saturday, November 5: The Tattooed Lady at Suzanne Roberts Theater

• 1:30pm - Doors open & meet in lobby at Suzanne Roberts Theater (480 S. Broad Street)

• 2:00pm - Live performance begins

Sunday, November 6: Somatic Workshop at Ross Commons

• 10:30am - Breakfast & welcome at Ross Commons, 3rd Floor (229 N. 34th Street)

• 11:00am - Workshop & somatic experience begins

• 12:45pm - Lunch

• 1:30pm - Share out with group

Please note: The Tattooed Lady will serve as a springboard for the next day's discussions and writing prompts, but attendance at the performance is not required for participation in the Sunday workshop. Those who do attend will have the opportunity to bring their experience at the theater to bear on issues of the days, which will include: marked/unmarked existences, chosen identities, and intergenerational conflict and resolution.

Food and refreshments will be provided. Seating is limited. Free registration required.

Part of the year-long series Writing Moves: Workshops for the Bodymind. Supported in part by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.