https://anjeline.net Anjeline de Dios Fri, 04 Dec 2020 23:53:28 +0000 https://anjeline.net en https://anjeline.net/Home-page Sun, 28 Jun 2020 12:28:19 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/Home-page listening better is worth our time https://anjeline.net/About Sun, 18 Oct 2020 08:11:34 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/About <img width="1308" height="1310" width_o="1308" height_o="1310" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/702b2fe0bdd292f66924481d5514dc3be95ec81db7999bb11bff461f4ea7a99c/Screenshot-2023-10-20-at-6.23.22-PM.png" data-mid="194334446" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/702b2fe0bdd292f66924481d5514dc3be95ec81db7999bb11bff461f4ea7a99c/Screenshot-2023-10-20-at-6.23.22-PM.png" /> Hello. I’m Anjeline, a vocal/sound artist, researcher, and meditation teacher from Manila, Philippines. Through my practice I create and study emergent spaces of sound, healing, and cultural change. My work draws from different wellsprings. From my family and home culture I developed a lifelong fascination with singing as an activity that allows you to be immersed within yourself yet totally with others. As a humanities scholar who studied philosophy and branched out into cultural geography and inter-Asian cultural studies, I am devoted to understanding the self in relation to the other, especially through systemic and lived aspects of spatial experience. The projects I sustain with collaborators in local and transnational communities of sound art and wellness feed my purpose of creating generative spaces of listening. Finally, my contemplative practice strengthens my personal aspiration to help people listen better to life within and beyond themselves.Thank you for visiting! I hope to hear from you soon. Academic CV here. Artist portfolio here. Photo: Mitch MauricioWebsite design: Karin Yu and Kara de Dios https://anjeline.net/Contact Sun, 18 Oct 2020 07:59:46 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/Contact I am currently accepting commissions and/or collaborations for new writing, research, and/or performance projects scheduled from August 2024. From July 2024, my books are open for private sound sessions over Zoom.&nbsp; ︎&nbsp; Send me a message ︎&nbsp; Newsletter ︎ Album:&nbsp; GALÍNG ︎ &nbsp; Updates ︎ &nbsp; Demos https://anjeline.net/Improvised-Chants Fri, 04 Dec 2020 08:41:49 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/Improvised-Chants ‘GALÍNG’&nbsp;Collaborative Live Album with Morgan Sully (L-KW, 2023) Galíng by Morgan Sully &amp; Anjeline de DiosThis album was recorded in Berlin and began as an invitation to listen to a meeting of voice, resonant frequencies, and long grounding bass tones, offering permission to rest and unfurl.Includes PDF liner notes and story about the making of the release + bonus track. creditsreleased June 9, 2023Anjeline de Dios: voice, microphone, Boss RC-505Morgan Sully: VPME Quad Drum Voice, 4ms Ensemble Oscillator, Shakmat Modular Four Bricks Rook, Pittsburgh Lifeforms System Interface, Cosmotronic Delta-v, µGrids Topographic Drum Sequencerbela: field recordings, microphone, VoiceLive 3 Extreme, laptopTracks 1,2, recorded and mixed by: Morgan SullyTracks 3-5, recorded and mixed by: Rabih Beaini at Morphine Raum TRANSITION ANXIETYImprovised Vocals, 2021 A studio recording of my usual vocal improvisation, featuring production from Kyle Oppenheimer. This was a wedding gift I did for a friend, Hong Kong artist Wong Kit Yi. She had previously introduced me to Kyle for a work of hers, so I thought it'd be nice to have him on board. I sourced the title from something Ali had said in one of our conversations. Recorded on September 12 2021 at Chan Friend Studios, HK. Notes from Ashes · Transition Anxiety MORNING SONGImprovised Vocals, 2021 A recorded snippet of my usual morning chant, which consists of improvised melodic and textual transcriptions of the moment. In this particular time-place—8:00 am, Monday March 29, 2021 in Kowloon—I sought to transcribe the quality of the sunlight (diffuse but clear) and passing sirens on an early Monday morning. Vocally, I approach these chant-sketches as slightly warped, drawn-out extensions of the drills I practice with my classical and Cantopop voice teachers. anjelinededios · Morning Song Dito Mismo, Dito Muna (Right Here, For Now)Solo Spoken Word + Chant Piece 2017 Spoken word and chant piece from a Tagalog poem I wrote in Macao in November 2012, and performed live for the first time at the UP Vargas Museum in Manila, 06 August 2017. To read an art studies module on this performance prepared by the UP Vargas Museum, click here. twang / Hinabi (Interwoven) Vocals for Short Film Score 2017/2019&nbsp;I met the sound and visual artist Pauline Vicencio-Despi through a performance project initiated by feminist sound art collective HERESY and Kamuning Public Radio, on the occasion of an all-female sound art performance for International Women’s Day in Manila. Since I couldn’t make it to the actual performance, I contributed a couple of vocal recordings based on requests from our collaborator, film composer Teresa Barrozo. Two years later, Pauline used one of my recordings to score ‘Hinabi’, an animated short that she co-produced with Ivan Despi, under their animation and design studio The Acid House. Pause 2019 Motion Response - HINABI // The Acid House from Pause Fest on Vimeo. Unearthing Live Vocals for Contemporary Dance 2016This is a recorded excerpt of a live scoring of the ‘sapi’&nbsp; solo by dancer Zyda Baaya for the trance state dance piece ‘Unearthing’ by Daloy Dance Company, staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on 24 June 2016. Together with percussionist and kulintang player Tusa Montes, I developed semi-improvised chants in response to the piece, choreographed by Daloy artistic director&nbsp;Ea Torrado. The dancers for this 2016 iteration were Zyda Baaya, Buboy Raquitico, and Jomari Santos. https://anjeline.net/Monograph Fri, 04 Dec 2020 07:10:25 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/Monograph Living Song, Living Labor: Music as Migrant Work&nbsp; Monograph in progress The restrictions on social gatherings owing to covid19 have created an unprecedented crisis for musicians worldwide, foregrounding the importance of live music in contemporary cultural life. The costs of its enforced absence seem clear, but in truth the deeper social and political implications of neglecting live music have yet to be fully named, let alone counted. How, we must ask ourselves now, should live music be recognized as essential to collective life? This question reveals the challenge of analyzing the hidden geographies of identity, aesthetics, and labor that have raised some musical subjects and practices above others. To recognize the value of live music, it is necessary to attend to musicians who make a living from it through covering the music of others, for others. Though ubiquitous throughout the world’s cities, the performance stages of leisure venues occupy the margins of global popular culture. Far removed from the peaks of prestige and stardom we usually associate as the goal of artistic careers, the job of live music entertainment is equally a form of service work.&nbsp; Diasporic and migrant Filipino musicians have fulfilled this work for centuries in deep circuits around colonial Asia’s theme parks, hotels, and cruise ships. Embodying a wide pop music repertoire well-tuned to the global listener’s ear, they play to our hearts’ content and distraction. Although mimicry is discounted in scholarly and institutional circles as a form of substandard creative labor, I argue that the job of performing live music for others entails relational skills of communication, empathy, and improvisation. Working regularly in live entertainment abroad also serves as a valuable source of validation, purpose, and belonging for Filipino musicians, even as it structurally exploits them on account of their transient status and racialized identity.&nbsp; Through interviews and participant observation in venues in Hong Kong, Macao, Penang, Manila, and Cebu, I listen to the lives behind the music we so often take for granted. I learn about their experiences and perspectives about the work they do—the special work of enlivening social space through one’s music, far away from home. Entertainment is regarded as a non-essential expense, and Filipino musicians in particular have long been limited to job sectors that regard them as disposable workers. Even so, performing live for others’ enjoyment connects the work of music to larger economies of care, community, and responsibility. Music, they tell us, gives life. As we reimagine the post-pandemic future of music and global culture, we must learn to prioritize the work of music in a forward-thinking way—one that understands it as a livelihood worth protecting. By attending to the urgent issues and essential contributions of migrant musicians from the Philippines, this book hopes to contribute to the longer effort to create more equitable environments of cultural work and value. Download the thesis ‘Western Music By Its Others: Overseas Filipino Musicians and the Geographies of Migrant and Creative Labor’ (2016, National University of Singapore) here. Watch a 2018 public lecture of this topic, delivered at the Southeast Asia Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, here. Read a condensed and provisional version of this manuscript (2021, Nusasonic Magazine) here. https://anjeline.net/My-Approach-Vocal-Meditation Fri, 04 Dec 2020 10:04:43 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/My-Approach-Vocal-Meditation SONIC MEDITATION&nbsp;Sound healing, sound bath, and sound journey are terms that refer to a wide range of contemporary sound-based meditations that aim to provide relaxation, release, and healing. In seated or supine positions, participants listen to waves or fields of sound. The instruments, techniques, and frequencies used in a sound bath vary greatly according to the practitioner’s modality, philosophy, and personal approach. In addition, each session differs based on the number, composition, and mood of the participants themselves. Each session is therefore completely unique. I base my teaching and facilitation of sonic meditation on my artistic practice of improvised chants, and my ethnographic and spiritual training as a ‘critical thinking friend’ to accompany listeners as they make sense of their trance and meditation experiences. In every session I strive to create an immersive and expansive space for participants to practice listening as a self-healing modality.&nbsp; As with many other kinds of creatively repetitive activities, my sessions typically induce alpha and theta states of consciousness. Participants often report sensorial experiences of mental and physical relaxation, emotional release, and intuitive visualization.&nbsp; I send out a bi-monthly newsletter as a field journal, reflecting on my thoughts and experiences as a chant artist-facilitator.&nbsp; Here’s some feedback from past sessions, conducted remotely and on-site: I am fortunate to have experienced a sound meditation session Anjeline led for me and my friends this weekend and it was nothing like I have ever experienced before. I have always known that music could evoke rich visual imagery and get us in touch with or tap into our deep seated emotions. What I didn't expect was that the power of sound could take one on a journey, a transcendental experience, a state of deep relaxation but also with heightened senses. Thank you for this gift, Jeline! May your voice take you to where you want to go! - J, Sweden (on-site)Throughout Anjeline's sound session, I could feel protected from something, a sense of being filled with energy, and a feeling of confidence and courage that I had the power to move forward. It was a great experience to observe myself from a new perspective and feel the movement of my mind visually and tactilely, which I could not think of in other meditations before. At that time, I was lost in the various problems I faced, and I could feel them unfolding in the landscape. In it, I took a new step in my mind, which embodied the shift from abstract and blurred mental pain and problems to material things and surroundings that seemed realistic to a reasonable level in my head. So when I did an action in it, I felt like I had a clue or a guide to how to get through the situation in my mind, and I think it actually eased the difficulty of doing something a little after a while as if I had done it before. It's as if it was a time to be sure of my honest intentions and thoughts in advance. Although it is a human voice, it is impressive and spiritually fulfilled. It stimulates personal narratives and brings about a change of thought by creating a sound, not a way, to send and receive messages directly verbally. Anyone can experience their own's journey deeply after experiencing Anjeline's session. It was such a meaningful and energetic experience. - H, Seoul (remote, via Zoom)Just wanted to say that I thought your session was super fascinating! I've been a Buddhist meditator now for over 10 years and it was amazing to experience a different way of approaching "coming back to the body" and energy movement. When I first started practising, my hands would lift off whenever I'd sit down to meditate. Had the same experience last night, even though I was lying on my back! It was strange to feel the same sensations but with sound as a guide — and as you said in the beginning, your role was like a door, allowing me to move through and face myself. Amazing. Even though I couldn't see you (I had my laptop turned away so the light coming from it wouldn't distract me), I felt your generosity and guidance strongly. And to think, this was all online with a slightly dodgy connection!&nbsp; I think the key in approaching any sort of practice like this is grounding in one or a few already established practices, but to ultimately teach what comes naturally to the teacher. To teach from intuition and experience. It comes across genuinely to those you guide and and teach. So THANK YOU! - R, Melbourne (remote, via Zoom) Anjeline’s sound bath was deeply relaxing, immersive, and creative. It felt like a brain massage, a wave of energy flowing in the universe, and a mysterious journey deep into the soul. - M, Hong Kong (on-site)Some weeks ago, I was recommended to try out Anjeline’s sound bath and went in not knowing what to expect. (It was my first time and I had never even heard of a sound bath before that.) I went in mentally exhausted because of work anxiety, and came out refreshed and clear-minded. Before starting, Anjeline explained the process, which was assuring. The experience itself was not only relaxing but surprisingly visceral and deeply sensorial. I imagine every individual is differently attuned to how they experience sensations, so I can only describe my personal experience even if it might sound weird. I felt some weight lifting off my shoulders and my back through the process. I also got this deja vu, the same sensation I used to get when eating thunder tea rice with basil soup years ago, which I can only describe as mental fog being drawn out through the nasal passage. I would certainly go back again as the fog and exhaustion are accumulating, and the sound bath is a uniquely relaxing experience which draws them out in ways that 'physical' therapy like acupuncture and massaging don’t work for me. - N, Hong Kong (on-site) Glad to have hosted another successful vocal meditation led by Anjeline de Dios. It has been a special evening with the beautiful voices free flowing in our space. Anjeline will continue to lead and inspire us in self-discovery with her special talent. - Christina Shiu, The Singing Bowl Gallery, Singapore (on-site) https://anjeline.net/My-Approach-Readings Fri, 04 Dec 2020 23:53:28 +0000 Anjeline de Dios https://anjeline.net/My-Approach-Readings In my former job as a university lecturer, I used to tell my students that it's less important to come up with clear answers about reality than it is to arrive at better questions. It's questions, not answers, that keep our minds flexible and our hearts open. It's posing questions, not imposing answers, that leads us to the fruitful unknown—to things that we don't even know that we don't know. As we practice listening more skillfully to our inner-outer lives, asking better questions helps us uncover new angles and notice hidden opportunities. My goal with readings is similar. Though my querents may come for a reading to verbalize a deeply intimate experience of being at a crossroads, hoping perhaps for a definitive answer to certain issues (e.g. career, relationships, the future), they learn that there is something more uncanny and vital on the table: a place of self-awareness distinct from their ordinary way of relating to themselves, which allows them to tap into their own motivations, hunches, and feelings in a fresh way. From this position they learn that the answers are already there inside them, waiting to be acknowledged and lived into. Readings offer an intentional way to identify these inner resources through the archetypal symbols encoded in tarot and astrology. As your reader, I offer my skill in interpreting these symbols as a way to clarify what's going on in your world, mind, and heart. I act as a resonating space for you to hear yourself differently: with honesty, humor, and appreciation. Together, we invite these myths and figures to come out in ways that are seemingly random (the shuffle of a deck) and arbitrary (the planetary configurations at the moment of your birth). We listen to the meaningful messages of those symbolic patterns in the moment of your questioning—and hopefully gain a measure of clarity and healing that wasn’t there before.Here’s some feedback from past querents: I felt so nourished after our reading. I never thanked you, as profusely as I should have. So thank you. You nourished me, and my feelings of potential. - R, England I’ve been processing your reading the past month. I just wanted to say thanks for triggering (I don't mean this in the negative psychological sense, but maybe more like the gunshot at the start of the race) this self-reflection and self-awareness! - A, Philippines Ahhhhh, what a precious gift that conversation and reading was to me. I’ve come back to it many times in the past year as a source of liberation. - K, Japan i just wanted to say thank you again for the reading today, it was wonderful and revelatory and i felt very bathed &amp; reformatted in your compassion and empathy. - K, Singapore Anjeline is one of the most intuitive, accurate and trustworthy readers I know in the industry. - Sarah Salcedo-Rubin, Reiki Master-Teacher, Philippines