Ecotopia
Now!
A worldchanging eco-literacy program for
Utah's high schools and universities
a Broader Impacts Partner of:
National Science Foundation
Our mission is to communicate urgent climate science and core principles of ecology to Utah's young people, and connect them with local organizations who are working to create ecological and social sustainability in their own backyard.
our
mission:
vision:
our
A wave of eco-literate young people reshaping the cultural and physical landscape of Utah, and the planet, for the better.
2.
fair!
informational
Immediately following the assembly students encounter an informational fair featuring local organizations who are actively working to create ecological and social sustainability in their own backyard; this includes: non-profits, student clubs, city initiatives, community service groups, and colleges & universities with related programs of study.
Networking face-to-face with representatives from these organizations, students are invited to ground their vision of ecotopia in hands-on experiences of creating ecotopia in realtime.
Long after Ecotopia Now! has rolled on, student involvement with these organizations will be what nurtures their initial curiosity into a lifelong passion for sustainability.
Using technology from the award-winning San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival, all the electricity used for the assembly's sound system is generated entirely by students, who take turns pedaling generator bicycles in-place; harnessing their volunteerism and cooperation to create the power.
Their power amplifies an inspirational spectacle that features “whup music” from SHAKE YOUR PEACE! and The Whupestra (a 25-person troupe of musicians, singers, and dancers) alternated with 3-minute long theatrical vignettes, impact speeches, and poetry, communicating urgent climate science, and core principles of eco-literacy.
The assembly evokes the vision of “ecotopia” (a world of social and ecological sustainability), in a visceral, emotional, and unforgettable way.
1.
Bicycle powered
assembly!
our
program:
The
Tour:
Project
lead:
SHAKE YOUR PEACE and The Whupestra
SHAKE YOUR PEACE! and The Whupestra is an experimental musical theater company based in Salt Lake City, UT that immerses audiences in "whup" - a multicultural music, dance, and street theater style imbued with an ecotopian perspective. Whup music is featured on the forthcoming album: "Whup Music."
Gabe Dominguez - Director
Director Gabe Dominguez co-founded the critically lauded and award-winning Bicycle Music Festival in San Francisco. He has completed 7 bicycle-based music tours, and 3 walking-based music tours with his band SHAKE YOUR PEACE!, sharing a message of sustainability. He is the subject of a Velo Visionaries episode that has been featured at over a dozen film festivals.
He is the husband of musician Sonya Cotton, with whom he works in the musical duo Tiny Home. They have two young children and live in Salt Lake City, UT.
Project
partners:
cast
+ crew
music
Gabe Dominguez
Director, choir
courtney Isaiah Smith
Music Director, keyboards, choir
Jazzy Olivo
choir
Courtney Lane Spaulding
choir
Adam Taula
choir
Mychael Johnson
choir
Andrés Reyes
guitar
Alicia Wrigley
bass
Ben Weiss
mandolin
Juliette Camille
fiddle
Kenny Fong
saxophone
candido abeyta
saxophone
evan taylor
trumpet
ecotopia
trumpet
dance
theater, crew, coming soon...
Jesus Cespedes
timbales hybrid
Verneshia Sterling
marching bass drum
Katia pixie Racine
marching cymbals
Tyler Chen
marching cymbals
DeSean Bryant
marching quints
About:
Ecotopia Now! is an educational musical theater assembly + informational fair, that was slated to tour Utah high schools and colleges in April 2020 (postponed due to COVID-19), now slated for Fall '22. In the meantime we are doing two things: 1) mobilizing allies in Utah to co-create a new k-12 curriculum that combines restorative practices with intersectionality and trains students to stop environmental racism; 2) concocting a suite of theater exercises for school drama programs that helps them combust their own original climate-theater so that they can produce their own adaptation of "Ecotopia Now!" in-house.
Follow us on Instagram:
Ecotopia Now! is an artistic production of
SHAKE YOUR PEACE! and The Whupestra,
a Salt Lake City-based experimental musical theater company.
Ecotopia Now! is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)3 charity. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation:
Megan Adelsberger
Choreographer, dance
Jeffrey Louizia
dance
Hannah Gagon
dance
Josh Curtis
dance
Jill cardenas
dance
info@ecotopianow.org | Tel: 657-464-4374
contact
us:
Ecotopia Now! is an artistic production of SHAKE YOUR PEACE! and The Whupestra, a project of Studio Ecotopia