Up to date, Climbing Poetree has traveled to hundreds of cities and towns around the country and globe. We have self organized 10 national tours, crossed the country solo, with a crew of powerful womyn, on ground, sky, foot, grease mobile, always with wings spread wide.
Below you will find a list of OUR past tours, as well as little stories from our travels and the mission behind each journey, till the beginning of 2010. (Its become harder to stay on top of the constant website update here, with so much to do! to view full listing, visit the "upcoming Shows" tab).
Hope to see you soon!!!!
UNITING THE STATE OF THE AMERICAS
JUNE 1st- NOV 3, 2003
Climbing PoeTree made its debut in July of 2003, when Alixa and Naima launched a five-month tour across the nation with a multi-media, spoken-word performance about the War on Drugs: “Uniting the State of the Americas”. Through performance poetry fused with slide projection and movement choreography, they raised awareness about the effects of the drug war on people of the Americas, untangling complex and parallel realities of racism, classism, and violence at home through the booming U.S prison industrial complex and abroad through the US funded military operation; Plan Colombia. In a guise to eradicate drug crops through fumigations, Plan Colombia has devastated the land, poisoned, killed and dislocated its people.
With explosive lyrics and eloquently emotive delivery, Alixa and Naima told a similar and all too familiar story about the criminalization of poor people- both abroad in South America and in our own neighborhoods- and offered healing and empowerment through truth-telling and creative resistance. The dialogs that followed the performance always teemed with personal testimony, invigorated urgency, profound questions and inspired answers. When the lights went out and the echoes faded, a flame burned brighter in the vessel of every audience member who joined in the call for a more just and compassionate world.
UNITING THE STATE OF THE AMERICAS TOUR SCHEDULE
North Hampton, MA
Worcester, MA
Providence, RI
Hartford CT
Philly PA
D.C
Durham NC
Atlanta GA
New Orleans LA
Baton Rouge LA
Memphis TN
Chicago IL
Madison WI
De Moins IA
Iowa City IA
Saint Paul MN
Seattle WA
Portland OR
Eugene OR
Eureka CA
Sacramento CA
San Francisco CA
San Jose CA
Santa Cruz CA
Denver CO
Cedar Rapids IA
Chicago IL
Indianapolis IN
Lansing MI
Ann Arbor MI
Detroit MI
Columbus OH
Pittsburgh PA
Philly PA
NYC
MIGRATION TOUR
OCT 1- DEC 10, 2005
Climbing Poetree embarked on a winged journey around the states, cross-pollinating testimonies of tragedy and triumph through poetic proclamation. In the wake of the terrible tragedy in the Delta, and some still unresolved issues from colonization... we found it NECESSARY to spread the WORD and share the word!
To do this Alixa and Naima launched S.T.I.T.C.H.E.D; their story gather project that now holds more than 5,000 stories written by audience members and workshop participants, creating this incredible multi-colored tapestry of Stories, Testimonies, Intentions, Truths, Confessions, Healing, Expressions, & Dreams. Follow the S.T.I.T.C.H.E.D. link to Read/see more about the project and the workshops we offer using this innovative method of sharing our stories and building strong alliances with self through the mirroring of strangers.
S.F. Bay, CA 10/1-10/13
Los Angeles, CA 10/14-10/23
Iowa 10/25-10/26
Illinois 10/27-10/31
Chicago, IL 11/1-11/6
Lansing, MI 11/7
Detroit/Ann Arbor, MI 11/8-11/13
Pittsburgh, PA 11/14-11/15
State College, PA 11/16
Washington D.C. 11/17-11/20
Philadelphia, PA 11/21-11/22
Western/Central MA 11/23-11/28
Boston, MA 11/29-11/30
Providence, RI 12/1-12/3
Connecticut 12/4-12/6
Albany/Hudson, NY 12/7-12/9
THANKS to everyone who made the 2005 MIGRATION Tour into a movement!
98.6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION
SEP 1-DEC 7, 2006
Climbing PoeTree completed its third national tour, 98.6º of Separation having touched thousands of people across the nation. From New Orleans to Toronto, Oakland to Atlanta. During 98.6º Alixa and Naima also launched S.T.I.T.C.H.E.D; their story gather project that now holds more than 5,000 stories written by audience members and workshop participants creating this incredible multi-colored tapestry of Stories, Testimonies, Intentions, Truths, Confessions, Healing, Expressions, & Dreams. Follow the S.T.I.T.C.H.E.D. link to Read/see more about the project and the workshops we offer using this innovative method of sharing our stories and building inspirational alliances with strangers.
98.6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION
IS ABOUT CONNECTING
OUR STORIES AND STRUGGLES,
MEASURING THE TEMPERATURE
OF OUR COMMON BLOOD,
IN THE MIDST OF GLOBAL
CLIMATE CRISIS
WE BOUT TO HEAT THINGS UP,
SPARK A FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
THAT WE MIGHT REVOLVE
AROUND OUR SUN
THE BRIGHTEST STAR
THAT SITS INSIDE
THE ARTIST ALSO KNOWN AS
LOVE
Atlanta, GA 9/1-9/4
Bay Area, CA 9/5-9/10
Los Angeles, CA 9/11-9/13
Bay Area, CA 9/14-9/18
Toronto, Ontario 9/21 – 9/28
Upstate to Brooklyn, NY 9/29 – 10/16
Miami, FL 10/20
San Antonio, TX 10/21
Houston, TX 10/22-10/23
Austin, TX 10/24-10/27
New Orleans, LA 10/28-11/2
Ann Arbor, MI 11/3-11/4
Cleveland, OH 11/5-11/6
Cincinnati, OH 11/7-11/9
Chicago, IL 11/10 - 11/13
Decatur and Champaign, IL 11/14 - 11/15
Iowa City, IA 11/16 - 11/17
Washington D.C.11/18 - 11/20
Upstate NY 12/2 - 12/7
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS!!!
1. Opening for Danny Glover and “Wade in the Water” at the National Black Theater in Harlem
2. Painting a healing mural with youth in the 9th ward, New Orleans only weeks after Katrina hit
3. Sharing the stage with our home girls LAS KRUDAS (Cuban vegan lesbian feminist stilt-walking hip hop crew) for their first U.S. performance, and our first time in Texas (which we learned is its own country anyways! Don’t mess!)
4. Decadence and debauchery at Atlanta’s National Black Gay Pride and Oakland’s
5. Workshops all over the place, from the Harriet Tubman Free School in Albany to Jordan and Crenshaw High in Watts, L.A. We reached hundreds of youth!
6. Headlining Ladyfest South and rocking the NLG National Convention with Detroit-based emcee, INVINCIBLE
7. And all the roots events, from “Veye-Yo” in Little Haiti to “Yemaya’s Uprising” in Toronto
That was fun ya'll!
but most importantly...
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
“We live in an age in which silence is not only criminal but suicidal…
for if they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us that night."
-James Baldwin
UPRISING TOUR
JAN 10-NOV 30, 2007
Climbing poeTree toured most of 2007 promoting, at the time, the upcoming Hurricane Season Tour and doing workshops, performances and panels all over the country. CPT even made it across the border to Canada and traveled through out Hawaii touring with local legend Paula Fuga. CPT also opened Bionners By The Bay sharing the stage with powerhouse activists, Van Jones, Simran Sethi, Naomi Wolf, and John Perkins to name a few of the highlights!
NYC 1/10
Harlem MA 2/2
Wellesley MA 2/8
Toronto CA 2/8- 2/11
Brooklyn NY 2/15
Moorhead, MN 2/17
NY, NY 2/22
Chicago IL 3/1- 3/4
Arcata CA 3/7
Hoopa CA 3/9
Sacramento CA 3/10
Oakland CA 3/14
San Francisco 3/16
Oakland CA 3/17
Madison WI 3/23-3/25
Tallahassee FL 3/28
Milwuakee WI 3/30
Beacon NY 4/3
Stone Ridge NY 4/04/07
Boston MA 4/23-4/24
Andover MA 4/25
Poughkeepsie NY 4/27
Brooklyn NY 5/24
Amherst MA 6/11
NY, NY 6/16
Queens NY 6/17
Atlanta GA 6/27-7/1
Beacon NY 7/9
NY, NY 7/21
NY, NY 7/25
NY, NY 7/31
Philly PA 8/29
Honolulu HI 9/6-9/10
Yellow Springs OH 9/14- 9/15
Detroit MI 9/20
Columbus OH 9/21
Toronto CA 9/25- 9/28
Guelph CA 9/29
Whitackers NC 10/6
Arcata CA 10/10
Bronx NY 10/19
Marion MA 10/19
Austin TX 11/1
Malibu CA 11/2
San Francisco 11/04
Oakland CA 11/7
Arcata CA 11/9
Humboldt CA 11/10
Brooklyn NY 11/13
Northampton MA 11/17
NYC 11/30
UPRISING TOUR II
& HURRICANE SEASON NATIONAL TOUR
JAN 27TH- DEC 13TH 2008
We started this year with a week long residency at the Univ. of Illinois and concluded the year launching and executing the Hurricane Season National Tour. We traveled all over the nation on our little white bus, erected our the bamboo set and made sanctuaries if fire, water, glass and shadow art in every venue we entered. To read more about Hurricane Season visit www.hurricaneseasontour.com
UPRISING AND HURRICANE SEASON TOUR SCHEDULE
Urbana IL 1/27
NYC 2/10
Oakland CA 3/6
Berkely CA 3/8
Providence RI 3/30
Milwaukee WI 4/24
Bellingham WA 5/8
NYC 5/29
HURRICANE SEASON NATIONAL TOUR
Philadelphia, PA 8/29
Pittsburgh, PA 9/2
Cleveland, OH 9/4
Yellow Springs/ Cincinnati 9/6-9/7
Columbus, OH 9/10
Detroit, MI 9/12
Ann Arbor, MI 9/14
Chicago, IL (Northside) 9/18
Chicago, IL (Southside) 9/20
Champaign/Urbana, IL 9/24
Iowa City, IA 9/27
Milwaukee, WI 9/30
Madison, WI 10/2
Minneapolis, MN 10/4
Seattle, WA 10/12
Portland, OR 10/16
Arcata, CA 10/18
Oakland, CA 10/25
Berkeley, CA 10/29
San Francisco, CA 10/30
San Jose, CA 11/2
Santa Cruz, CA 11/5
Los Angeles, CA 11/8
Albuquerque, NM 11/15
Austin, TX 11/19
Houston, TX 11/22
New Orleans 11/26
Gulfport/Biloxi, MS 11/29
Tallahassee, FL 12/2
Atlanta, GA 12/5
Asheville, NC 12/9
Washington DC 12/13
2009 HURRICANE SEASON REGIONAL TOUR
This year was extremely exciting for us. We were invited to present and perform at the prestigious, Esalen Institute. We also performed all of Hurricane Season at the world renown Riverside Theater in NYC, shared the stage with Erykah Badu for an audience of 5000 on Hawaii’s shores! We also shared the stage with Toshi Reagon, Me’shell Ndegecello, Angela Davis and Mary Robinson
(the first female president of Ireland and incredible environmental activist), Dead Prez, David D and Speech of Arrested Development. And to top it off we performed a sold out Hurricane Season show at the Newark Symphony Hall!
Brooklyn NY 3/7
NYC 3/20
Harlem NY 3/27
NYC 4/7
Santa Barbara CA 4/11
Santa Cruz 4/15
Big Sur CA 4/18
Toronto CA 4/23- 4/25
Harlem NY 5/1
NYC 5/7
Seattle WA 5/28
Honolulu HI 5/29- 6/5
Kailua Kona HI 6/20
Harlem NY 7/10-8/2
HURRICANE SEASON REGIONAL TOUR 8/28-10/17
Montreal 9/1-9/4
Brooklyn NY 9/15
Unity ME 9/17
Bar Harbor ME 9/20
Boston MA 9/24-9/25
Concord MA 9/27
Pawtucket RI 9/29
Northampton MA 10/3-10/04
Keene NH 10/05
New Britain CT 10/07
Newark NJ 10/10
Philadelphia PA 10/11
Washington DC 10/14
Anherst MA 10/22
New Bedford MA 10/25
Newark NJ 10/30
San Francisco CA 11/14-11/16
Nevada City CA 11/18
Oakland CA 11/19
San Francisco CA 11/22
Berkeley CA 11/24
2010
