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Syracuse University senior Zharia Harris-Waddy grew up playing sports and musical instruments. So when she was tasked to start a business for her senior Bandier capstone class, she knew she wanted to combine her two favorite things: movement and music.
Within a few months, Room Tone Sessions: Volume I — a yoga session accompanied by live music — quickly emerged after.
“The purpose of my idea was to find a way to connect music and sports industry because they all fall under the same umbrella, even though they aren’t always intersecting in similar paths,” Harris-Waddy said.
The yoga session’s first installment was held at the Community Folk Art Center on Thursday. The event began with yoga led by three local instructors and was capped off by a live performance from Marie-Elise, an R&B singer and SU graduate student.
Harris-Waddy said her project’s goal was to blend the music and movement communities and help prevent burnout. She wanted to create a space where people could “just turn their brain off and just chill.”
Junior Emma Celenza attended the event as a supporter of Arum and Harris-Waddy. As a former high school athlete, Celenza said she’s become less active in college. Attending Room Tone Sessions: Volume I allowed her to relax and release tension, she said, which is all part of Harris-Waddy’s mission
As a player on SU’s volleyball team and part of a rigorous program, she experienced many forms of burnout herself, she said. Room Tone Sessions hopes to limit this strain on students and provide a safe and “chill” environment.
Once Harris-Waddy’s idea was fleshed out, she immediately reached out to companies. Room Tone Sessions: Volume I was able to partner with three different brands, including Purple Banana, Lumos and Comf NYC.
Purple Banana has always been “super tapped in” with the student-athlete community, Harris-Waddy said. The event was an opportunity to connect with more SU students, aside from just athletes, she said.
Lumos, an infrared sauna and cold plunge studio based in Syracuse, was extremely responsive to Harris-Waddy’s idea, she said. Alongside ComfNYC, Harris-Waddy’s third partner, the companies provided several self-care items to give away.
Comf, a clothing brand co-created by SU alum Speedy Morman, was excited to collaborate with Room Tone Sessions because of their similar morals, Harris-Waddy said.
“(Comf is) really in line with what we’re doing because it’s really about being in tune with yourself and comfortable in your skin,” she said.
To prepare for Room Tone Sessions, Harris-Waddy was assisted by her classmate, junior Callia Arum. The two combined forces in their capstone class and were both able to benefit from each other’s projects.
Arum’s capstone, marketing brand Good Neighbor Digital, helps smaller artists promote their content on social media platforms. Since both students were in the same capstone class, they often assisted with each other’s projects. Arum is the marketing coordinator for Room Tone Sessions, which is a client of Good Neighbor Digital.
Arum helps facilitate social media content for Room Tone Sessions by placing fliers around campus to spread the word. She helped Room Tone Sessions gain more attention and reach a wider audience, she said.
“One of the big things with capstone is forming an idea quick and getting in the market quick because there are so many uncertainties that if you’re going to produce something by the end of the semester, you have to get on it,” Arum said.
After the attendees’ interest in additional classes, Harris-Waddy said she would want potential future sessions to offer different movement and music styles.
Although she’s graduating in May, Harris-Waddy views the sessions as adaptable to any place.
“(It’s) a kind of a way to meet up with people you might not always see, but the pop-up keeps you connected and allows you to destress,” Harris-Waddy said.
