Dear Supporters and Donors–
 
2011 was the largest and grandest All Souls Procession yet, and we have you to thank! As I crunch the numbers, I am heartened by everyone’s generosity and also dismayed at how expensive this little event has become. I think we all agree this year’s route and expansive finale site made [...]

A talk with Amber Dorko Stopper and Janet Finegar of the Philadelphia Krampuslauf!

An essay from the instigator of the Portland Krampuslauf, Arun Once Was ZyGoat.

Here we present the budget breakdown for All Souls Procession 2011, including total revenues gathered, expenses incurred, and remaining debt as of December 2011.

 
Here’s another excellent clip from Gerry Loew taken from material for our forthcoming documentary on the All Souls Procession. Please support the Procession. With an estimated cost of $80,000 this year, your help is essential and we can’t do without it! Only $3-$4 from everyone who attends is all that’s needed. A lot of a [...]

Thank you, de Vie!

Two videos shot at All Souls Procession 2011 from Leslie Epperson and Eric Heithaus.

Check this out, it’s the original grant co-written by Susan Johnson and Mykl Wells for the first public All Souls Procession in 1990, the year following Susan’s performance piece for her deceased father that started it all! Thanks to Mykl Wells for scanning and sharing!

 
It’s summertime in the Old Pueblo again, the time of year in the Sonoran desert when the influence of the elements over our lives is at its peak, and that influence is surely being felt by many here now; along with the scorching heat that we are all accustomed to enduring, we also have some [...]

A few video clips taken during the second day of the first two-week session at our Tucson Circus Arts summer Circus Camp 2011!

Check out this podcast from Expanding Mind internet radio featuring a dialogue on some of the best stuff that festal culture is made of!

Spring salutations to everyone from Many Mouths One Stomach! The seasonal changes may not be as dramatic throughout the yearly cycle for those of us here in the desert southwest as they are for other locales, but the signs are there if we keep a look-out for them; budding ocotillos and mesquites, nest-building birds, wildflowers. [...]

For your consideration; “Orfeu Negro” and “A Dios, MoMo”.

A taste of the festivities from Tucson Carnaval 2011!

Jacob Devaney offers his insights into Carnaval culture.

And here we are again friends, at the end of another year on ye olde Gregorian calendar, in the wake of the 21st annual All Souls Procession, and at the start of what may well be a rather warm and dry winter for those of us here in Southern Arizona!
With the new year approaching, [...]

Here we present the budget breakdown for All Souls Procession 2010, including total revenues gathered, expenses incurred, and remaining debt as of December 2010.

Gerry Loew spotlights the Spirit Group aerialists.

photo courtesy of Kathleen Dreier
2010 was a year of transition for the All Souls Procession Weekend and for the Procession’s organizing body, Many Mouths One Stomach. Most notably, locations for both the Procession of Little Angels and the All Souls Procession Grand Finale ceremony switched from our longtime host venues at Jácome Plaza and the [...]

Superb short film by Narco Nation!

Video taken in the yard of Hook Crane Co. on Friday, October 29th of the Spirit Group aerialists rehearsing for the All Souls Procession 2010 Grand Finale rite!

Another great short film from Gerry as he documents the All Souls Procession Weekend for MMOS. This one is a Fire Dancer’s rehearsal for the Grand Finale ceremony.

Spirit Group stilter

A poem by Deborah K. Davis

A short film by Gerry Loew.

Karen Falkenstrom from Odaiko Sonora gives us her thoughts on the significance of All Souls Procession and the beauty of public urban ritual in the 21st century.

An interview with Randall Swindell of Ensphere and Karen Falkenstrom of Odaiko Sonora, musical directors for this year’s All Souls Procession Grand Finale ceremony. Plus, Gerry Loew’s short promotional video for All Souls Procession 2010.

A poem on the nature of painful experiences and healing in the lives of children, by F.P. Whistle

Jacob Devaney probes the Clown as Provocateur.

Highlights from the “1o-in-1 Sideshow” fundraiser for All Souls Procession Weekend by Gerry Loew: 9/25/10 at the Hut, Tucson, AZ.

Thanks again, Gerry. Great work!

The yearly cycle has returned us once again to Fall in Southern Arizona, when we begin looking forward to cooler temperatures and the coming of the All Souls Procession Weekend. There’s lots to tell you about, many new and exciting changes, so I’ll get right to it!

Today’s Burning Question: What projects are you working on for this year’s All Souls Procession? Tell us about it, we want to know!

Camper Mia Jones, who recently turned 9, shares her experiences of this year’s Circus Camp, presented by Tucson Circus Arts. Thank you , Mia! With Gerry Loew’s Circus Camp short film. Thanks to you too, Gerry!

Summer’s here, friends! Many peoples of the northern hemisphere have for centuries observed the summer solstice and Midsummer’s Day by lighting raging bonfires, and at this time of year the heat of the raging bonfire is something we in the Sonoran Desert can relate to. Since folk-culture is a reflection of the soul of a [...]

A great big  THANK YOU to all who turned out last Saturday on a very warm spring afternoon for our very first fundraiser event to benefit this year’s Procession of Little Angels, and to our host Elizabeth Tobias at Splinter Brothers & Sisters Warehouse for having us at her awesome space. We raised about $300 [...]

Our Community, our Procession, our Love. We make it happen together. Thank you for your support, Friends.
Special thanks to Gerry Loew who shot and edited this video.

The Mouth talks with Dwight Metzger, founder of Tucson’s grassroots print shop The Gloo Factory.

Jacob Devaney’s thoughts on the role of trickster figures in collective and individual growth.

Jacob Devaney on completing the circuit of creativity.

Spring greetings, y’all! I’ll be posting quarterly news updates at the solstices and equinoxes from now on, to keep everyone up to speed with what’s in the works in the present and for the future on the MMOS front.

Talking with Jodi Netzer about a new community-based Water Festival here in Tucson!

An array of video clips from the festivities on February 13th at Armory Park.

Tucson Carnaval 2010  is in the works, and Batucaxé and friends are working hard to create an experience to bestow the blessing of the beat for you and me! Go to tucsoncarnaval.org to learn about this event and how you can help to make it happen. Be sure to visit batucaxe.org to find out more [...]

by Jhon Sanders

Read about the outreach efforts of MMOS, Flam Chen and Tucson Circus Arts!

Tucson Puppet Works presents the “Puppet Potboiler”: a series of benefits for All Souls Procession Mask and Puppet-Making Workshops.

Thank You Thank You Thank You! to EVERYONE who worked and played so hard with us at last year’s All Souls Procession Weekend.
This is Tucson’s largest, most inclusive grass roots Festival, and this year, your individual donations surpassed small business donations and both State and County grants combined! In this time, we are seeing our [...]

photo courtesy of Ariel Campbell
In recent years, Flam Chen, MMOS and Tucson Circus Arts have been helping our friends in Bisbee to bring in the New Year with a special infusion of festal flair, including workshops, parades and a midnight spectacular. For those of us who haven’t yet made it down for this unique celebration, [...]

Check out an amazing short film by Gerry Loew taken from this year’s grand finale ritual performance.

a poem for All Souls, and every day.

The totem for All Souls Procession’s 20th anniversary is The Moth.

Youngest member of Spirit Group and up-and-coming stilter!

Two great kids do their part to make All Souls Procession happen!

A good time had by all at last Satuday’s Puppet Potboiler benefit for the All Souls Procession Mask and Puppet-Making workshops. More to come in the near future!

Bear Fullerton talks with this year’s All Souls grand finale musicians, The Seven Pipers Society Pipes and Drums Band.

Kristin Peterson Hedges shares with us the story of her experiences with the Children’s Altar Project, and the process of creating a memorial to the spirit and living memory of her first-born son, Nathaniel Lewis Hedges.

Changing the world one neighborhood at a time; The Mouth talks with Mark Lakeman of the truly incredible City Repair Project.

MANY MOUTHS, ONE STOMACH
by Nadia Hagen
Once upon a time, a very long time ago…there was a lovely place where there were three lovely villages. The villagers were happy and healthy. Unfortunately, they had one heavy burden to bear and that was, that in each village there was a forest and in each forest lived [...]

Video of the Fine Stream Gamelan performing “Kembang Wuluh” on the eve of May 8th at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church.

by Jhon Sanders

Seasonal rites of renewal in Bulgaria.

Creative action manifests at local arts incubation space!

A few more words on the celebratory life from Batucaxe’s Cliff Berrien and Yarrow King.

by Jhon Sanders

A brief look into the history and traditions of Carnival celebration around the world

Matt Cotten and Angela Walker from Tucson Puppet Works hosting a kids mask-making workshop at the Tucson Children’s Museum for the upcoming Carnaval; Saturday, February 21st at Armory Park.

Have you heard? We’re starting a new festival tradition here in Tucson, a tradition rooted in one that’s rather old: the Carnaval. Read on to learn more about our upcoming local Carnaval, Carnaval as celebrated in other locales, and communal festivity in general as we talk with Cliff Berrien and Yarrow King from Tucson’s own samba troupe, Batucaxe.

by Molly Ross

I am sitting behind a tree, half in and half out of a giant Paul Bunyan puppet…..

by Julie Ferreira

Talking over art, collaboration, festival and renewal with the fabulous Molly Ross of Baltimore’s Nana Projects!

By Paul Weir

Greetings, friends! As we enter the 20th year of the All Souls Procession, we would like to respond to your inquiries and share with you how much the Procession costs and how it all happens. First off, please know that we are and have always been a transparent organization-as well with the official non-profit status that we attained in July of 2006, we are also IRS compliant.

“What would you like to see happening in and around Tucson that could help to create stronger community bonds, a greater sense of investment in what goes on locally, and more participation in that process?”

Matt Cotten and Charles Swanson from Tucson Puppet Works tell us the story of the collective, talk about their process, and discuss the folk-art of puppetry and the joy of home-grown entertainment!

An interview with this year’s All Souls Finale musicians, the Fine Stream Gamelan.

by Bear Fullerton

Dani and I met for the first time last October, just before All Souls Procession at a Halloween Party….

A talk about the Remembering Dinners with Stephanie Chace.

by Krishna Bright
 
Now is the time to get involved with the All Souls Procession Weekend activities.  With the Procession on the horizon, falling on November 9 this year, we at Many Mouths One Stomach and in the community are gearing up with the various events, workshops and gatherings in preparation for the Procession.
This year’s activities [...]

by Krishna Bright
 
  What does it mean to volunteer with Many Mouths One Stomach?  Who can volunteer? How many volunteers are needed? These are significant questions you might ask when deciding to offer your support for MMOS and All Souls Procession. Being the Volunteer Buckstopper for the All Souls Procession Weekend, I am able to see [...]

by Paul Weir

By Matt Finstrom
 
Composer: Matt Finstrom, director, the Fine Stream Gamelan
Dedication: It’s for Rolf. Rolf Jordahl. Rolf was one of the founding members of the Fine Stream Gamelan back in 1988 and for 18 years was my musical partner exploring unlikely corners of the musical universe. He was an experimental guitarist extraordinaire, a conservator of fine art, [...]

by Jhon Sanders

Having moved here just five years ago, I’ve only known of Tucson Puppet Works a short while, but they’ve been on the scene under various names and with a fluid line-up of collaborators for well over a decade now.

by Nadia Hagen

I am pleased and excited to announce the official launch of the MMOS weblog, The Mouth. The Mouth is a forum that will provide an opportunity for us all to participate in an open-ended conversation about creativity, festivity and community, as well as keep you updated on our plans, special events, workshops and share some of the not-so-secret inner workings of our wonderful All Souls Procession festival.

by Jhon Sanders

Greetings, friends. My name’s Jhon. I’m a buckstopper for Many Mouths One Stomach, and I’m happy and honored to be able to present to you a preview edition of our forthcoming weblog, “The Mouth”. If you’ve ever wondered what MMOS is all about, this is the place to find out. We’ll be talking over our favorite subjects here –creativity, festivity, and community– and hopefully, you’ll get involved in that conversation, too!