Reflections: Stage Time and Wine 81 – August 2016

At last, I entered the Red Room for the first time in over a year! After a year of great pressures, obligations, and pain, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though I haven’t been a part of Red Room for very long, I feel like I’m always coming home when I walk through those doors. I feel like I’m with my tribe.

I think many of us feel the same way when we come to Red Room. We feel it’s a place that no matter how long we’ve been away, or how far we’ve roamed, we can always return and find a warm welcome.

Some of us bring beautiful traditional Balinese dance, such Inggrid Wardani. Others, like Rajat Subhra Karmakar, bear beautiful songs from India, with the flavor of Taiwan. Someone brought us their talents for the first time, such as Sean Wang with his amazing violin, CiCi with her hip-hopping “Hamilton” virtuosity, and our own intern Willie Chung with storytelling skills. Max Powers regaled us with his sharp, delightful poetry, while Vicky Sun returned as our wondrous songstress. Andrew Salamanca also showed us more of what he was discovering in his explorations of Taiwanese music.

Here at Red Room, at Stage Time and Wine, or at any event, what you have to bring to the community will always be embraced. Songs, stories, poetry, dance, laughter, tears: bring it all! So long as “thee shall obeyeth the rules!”

For me, Stage Time and Wine 81 marked the beginning of a new year. It’s a year of new friends and new relationships with old friends. I see a bright new horizon where I get more of a chance to give back to the community, and where I get to cultivate my skills as a writer and a storyteller.

Thanks for welcoming me back, Red Room!

by Whitney Zahar, Red Room Scribe