Expansoma – Music, Art, Health and Wellness

Last weekend’s Expansoma: Music, Art, and Health was a sweet, well meaning event with a variety of acts, from hip-hop and raggea, to live yoga performances. Itʼs intention is to become a seasonal event that promotes healthy living and happy interactions with others. Free vegetables and carrot juices were distributed throughout the evening, while the eveningʼs host and primary co-ordinator and Engines of Peace frontman, Dano Peace, used the stage to share insights into the most basic ingredients of a super juice, (celery, cucumber, apple, dark green leaves and lemon for zest) between acts. Beyond the healthy tips, and good vibrations Dano so eagerly shared with his crowd, he was in fact a host of the first order. It was close to impossible to look away when he had the mic in his hand. He had energy that seemed fathomless. His abundant warmth and overall genuinely sunny disposition made him a downright gem. He was a delight to watch interact with his crowd, invoking the audienceʼs participation, and sporadically surprising someone with the gift of a baby coconut; baby coconuts, he so sportively referred to as one of the Earthʼs many “titties”, that is okay to drink from for our nourishment. His overall sincerity was the eveningʼs crowning achievement for me.

Yes, the music was fine. It was perfectly satisfactory. It provided similar feelings of good spirits and positive associations as Iʼve already mentioned. But, the nightʼs overall purpose as a conduit for conveying healthy life lessons was what made it wholly enjoyable and full-filling.

It made for an easy break from the numerous shows that all have as their motives these days to celebrate whatever brief scene is currently being chewed over. I was happy to stumble into this show, and have, as a Saturday evening event, ideas and encouragement, rather than to be overwhelmed with innuendos and intimidation. I genuinely look forward to next seasonʼs show.

– Shane Day