MixTape Lisboa

MixTape: Thumri vs Qawwali
A semi-guided collective listening, embodiment, and moving meditation session

This is a workshop in progress and you're invited in.
MixTape is a living experiment: what happens when we stop listening to music at and start listening through the body? This session brings together two of the most ecstatically charged forms in South Asian classical tradition, Thumri and Qawwali, and asks: what do they feel like from the inside?
Thumri is the sound of longing. Rooted in viraha... the ache of separation, it moves through the body slowly, like honey. Qawwali is ritualist surrender, a river that carries you. Together, they trace a full arc: from yearning to release.
We'll move through that arc together, sometimes still, sometimes in motion, using breath, gesture, whirling, and guided somatic prompts to let the music land somewhere deeper than the ears.
No classical training or experience needed. Just curiosity, and a willingness to be moved.

What to expect:
A warm, intimate space with recorded music
Guided listening and movement prompts, you won't be left to figure it out alone
Stillness as an active practice, movement as meditation, and a community of people who are also figuring this out together

What to bring:
Comfortable, loose clothing you can move or lie down in
An open mind and a curious body
Water, Socks, Towel, and a Journal

Agenda:
8:00 Arrive, settle in, mingle
8:30 Invocation + Thumri's longing as a bodily practice
9:15 Pause + Qawwali's surrender and release
10:00 Closing circle + integration

Who is this for?
These artistic and spiritual movements were always made by the margins, for the margins. As such, this experience centers immigrants, people of color, queer communities, and all those who carry multiple worlds inside them. For anyone who has felt like an outsider in wellness, spiritual, or arts spaces. This was built with you in mind.

This is also a workshopping session, meaning it's intentionally in-progress, and your presence and feedback help shape what it becomes. Thank you.

Tickets: Free / Suggested donation of €10 — pay what feels right, pay what you can.
We will be quietly documenting this session through photos and video — not for performance, but for archive.