Danny 'Slapjazz' Barber and Sekani Thomas: An Apprenticeship in Hambone (aka Patting Juba)
Radio Bilingüe’s "Raíces II" Series Features California Traditional Artists
Building on the success of their 2006 series, Radio Bilingüe is currently producing Raíces II: Art Moments on Radio, a Spanish-language radio series that focuses on California’s traditional artists. Aired as part of Radio Bilingüe’s weekly Linea Abierta program, Raíces II helps listeners learn more about the diverse traditions of California’s cultural communities.
“Please Borrow our Money!” says Arts Loan Fund to Struggling Arts Organizations
The Arts Loan Fund announced today that for 2010 it has over $500,000 available for low-interest loans to artists and arts organizations across the Bay Area. The Fund, administered by Northern California Grantmakers, is the nation’s largest and oldest fund that makes low-interest loans in the nonprofit arts field.
Letters from India: Chhandam Chritesh Das Dance Company's 2010 Tour
Editor's Note: Rina Mehta (Los Angeles) is a participant in ACTA's Apprenticeship Program as an apprentice to Kathak virtuoso Chitresh Das (San Rafael). Her following account reflects on a series of performances which were part of a tour in winter 2010 to India with Das and his company, Chhandam Chitresh Das Dance Company. Her visit to India and studies and observance of Das during this time formed an instrumental component of her studies with Das both in California and India during the course of her apprenticeship. The apprenticeship will culminate in Mehta's full evening solo concert in Los Angeles, May 2010 under Das's direction.
I arrived in India without any preconceived notions or expectations of the trip and the tour. Anyone that has traveled to India will understand that India demands this of all its natives and visitors. The country, as is observed by many, is a mysterious entity with a rhyme, rhythm, and reason of its own. Some say that India’s natural state is one of chaos and standing in the streets of Kolkata or Mumbai, this truth becomes self-evident. Buses, trucks decorated in multi-color, hand-drawn and motored rickshaws, pedestrians of all ages, and the occasional cow or dog crowd the streets. There is a firm belief embedded in the consciousness of the people of India that one’s destiny and the fate of the world reside in powers beyond. In English we say, “I am late” or “I was late”. The same phrase in Hindi or any Indian language is said as “Lateness happened to me.” So, stepping off the plane at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport in Kolkata, I chose to leave behind any preconceived ways of being and doing and submit to the laws of the India.
Drone Magic!
Ever wonder about bagpipes? Ever consider the varieties of this wondrous instrument whose seemingly endless supply of air and undercurrent of drone can accompany the most regal of ceremonies or the most raucous of circle dances? Who plays them and where are they to be found?
Some answers were uncovered in an aptly named Living Cultures Grants Program project called Drone Magic, an international festival of bagpipes. Under the direction of Hungarian-born piper Ferenc Tobak, this day-long event of workshops and concerts highlighted pipers representing the traditions of Hungary, Moldavia, Scotland, Greece, Macedonia Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Sweden and Ireland.
