A Thousand Mothers Collecting the Bones
Schedule
Sat May 09 2026 at 07:30 pm to 09:00 pm
UTC-07:00Location
La Peña Cultural Center | Berkeley, CA
About this Event
Performers: Monique Miyake and Phoenix Song
Director: Vicki Dello Joio
Through a performance piece featuring theater, poetry, storytelling, and music, Monique Miyake and Phoenix Song share their experience of the loss of their seventeen-year-old son to suicide. While rooted in unimaginable grief, this work is also an offering of deep love, healing, and the transformation that becomes possible when we allow loss to reshape us into more authentic versions of ourselves. Phoenix Song, featured in SF Magazine's Best of the Bay, plays music from around the world on Native flute, buffalo drum, djembe, Arabic tambourine, hand pan, melodica, jaw harp, and vocals that help us move energy through breath and sound.
This performance is for anyone carrying personal or collective loss. It invites us into a shared space of witnessing, where one story can hold the stories of many. As grief is expressed and honored, it can begin to move—within us and between us—opening the possibility of integration, meaning, and even renewal.
“When the heart breaks into a million pieces, the only thing left to do is let the light shine in.”
A Q&A talkback will follow along with an artist's reception of Monique's original artwork and prints. 10% of sales will be donated to the Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGTBTQ+ young people.
For accomodation requests please contact us at least one week in advance. Email us at [email protected].
Reviews:
What an extraordinary event. I feel like I am a part of the great new wave of beingness that embraces our individual expression of grief that touches our common reality but never shared. No more hiding, no more shame, no more isolation. Your collective performance allows us all to be free to ourselves to go deep, open and outstretched to the truth and wholeness of allowing the pain of grief all the way in. I honor the strength in the vulnerability expressed by Monique and Phoenix. I am so honored and grateful for the witness experience and the place it touches in me. I feel safer in the world to be me in my own brokenness.
--Tree bereaved mother, retired palliative care nurse
I had been processing a lot of mama grief (for my mom, my grief about my kids. etc) when I went to your ritual, and it really helped move something for me. Just being reminded of and seeing your powerful process and how your surrender to grief has really transformed you in such profound ways was a beautiful reminder to me that opening to grief is really the medicine. I respect your radical vulnerability in sharing all of that and letting people see the shadow and that there’s medicine in being with it!
-Anastasia, mother, therapist
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Accessibility
- La Peña is a wheelchair-accessible venue with step-less entry, wide doorways, and accessible restrooms.
- Masks are strongly encouraged. If you’re experiencing COVID-19, cold, or flu-like symptoms, please consider staying home to protect our community. HEPA air purifiers operate throughout our space.
- All-gender restrooms available
We strive to make La Peña a welcoming, accessible space for everyone.
If you have any specific needs or questions about accessibility, please contact us at least one week in advance. Email us at [email protected]
Support La Peña — and save money!
Become a La Peña Member: Enjoy free entry to our monthly political education film series, plus La Cumbia and ¡BAILA! dance parties, rental discounts and more.
Join here: Lapena.org/members
Make a one-time gift: Support our programs and keep La Peña thriving by donating here: Lapena.org/donate (donations are tax-deductible)
Where is it happening?
La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 27.94 to USD 35.00
