Traditional Arts Development Program
Round 3 Participants
Esha Bandyopadhyay (San Francisco) will complete an intense period of study with her teacher Ms. Niharika Mohanty in East Indian Odissi dance. She will learn a piece called Das Avatar, a combination of technical and expressional dance which portrays the ten incarnations of the Hindu God Vishnu. By mastering Das Avatar, Ms. Bandyopadhyay will be able to perform what practitioners consider a full Odissi repertoire, and to perform and teach with Ms. Mohanty.
Rubén Guzmán, (Oakland) a cartonería artist (Mexican papier mâché sculpture), will work with a web design consultant to develop a website to publicize his artwork, learn new painting techniques from an artistic mentor, study digital photography with a photographer so that he can photograph his work and create a higher quality portfolio, and consult an art curator who will help him improve the presentation of his portfolio. Collectively, this varied assistance will help Mr. Guzmán to better promote his art work and the traditional art form of cartonería.
The Hmong Cultural Heritage Center and Museum (Fresno) will offer instruction in traditional Hmong wedding and funeral ritual singing to ten students for one year. Mr. Nhia Vang Chua Yang, the expert musician who will instruct the students, has dedicated himself to the preservation of Hmong ritual music since he came to the United States fifteen years ago. Mr. Yang’s students will have the opportunity to perform at weddings and funerals under his direction to gain the necessary experience.
Kineya Kichikazu, (Gardena) director of the Japanese nagauta ensemble
Toei-Kai, will host Kineya Saeiji, a master musician from Japan, to
conduct a three-day workshop and lead Toei-Kai members in a concert. Nagauta music
was traditionally performed as the accompaniment to Japanese Kabuki theater
but now it may also be performed alone or with Japanese classical dance.
The concert will premiere a composition by the late Master Kineya Kischisaburo
who founded the Toei-Kai performance group.
Kikusa Katada, (Redondo Beach) director of the Japanese hayashi ensemble Katada Kai of USA will host Grand Master Katada Kisaku, Japanese National Living Treasure, to conduct a workshop for Katada Kai members and join them in a performance. Hayashi is Japanese percussion music which, combined with shamisen (three-stringed instrument) players and singers, forms nagauta music.
Kodo Arts Sphere America, (Los Angeles) a California
non-profit organization which supports the study of taiko percussion,
will host master odaiko (large drum) player, Yoshikazu Fujimoto
of the world-renowned taiko group KODO, to northern California
for a series or workshops. Mr. Fujimoto will instruct over one hundred
different taiko performers, conducting workshops at Stanford,
and in Emeryville, Sacramento, and San Jose.
Los Paisanos, (Selma) a 40-year-old Mexican folkloric dance ensemble and program based at Selma High School in the San Joaquin Valley, will attend the Las Cruces Mariachi Festival Workshops in New Mexico. At the festival, students will participate in workshops with the renowned director of the Ballet Folklorico de la Universidad de Colima, Maestro Rafael Zamarripa. Los Paisanos will incorporate the new dances they learn into their performance repertoire.
Terrence Kelly, (Oakland) artistic director of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, which performs traditional black church music, will attend the Gospel Workshop of America's Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Kelley will learn new production and marketing skills which he will use to create a high quality audio recording of the choir's music. The new CD will give greater exposure to the choir and the art of gospel music.
Sambath Pich, (Long Beach) a Cambodian traditional musician will offer instruction to his son, Sambo Pich, on the sralai thom, or “big oboe,” one of the primary instruments of the traditional pin peat ensemble. Pin peat music is played in religious ceremonies, spiritual offerings, at Cambodian New Year, and as accompaniment to classical dance. Sambo Pich already has advanced training in several of the ensemble instruments and aspires to attain the level of training that will allow him to inherit his father’s and grandfather’s cultural legacies as traditional orchestral leaders.
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