Apprenticeship Program Participants
Round 7 (2006-2007)
(left to right) Master Artist Katsuko Arakawa and
Apprentice Pamela Joy Afuso
Pamela Joy Afuso (Los Angeles) will study Okinawan
kutuu (a plucked zither) with master artist Katsuko Teruya
Arakawa (Gardena). Arakawa
began studying kutuu over fifty years ago with Nae Kochi, senior headmaster
of the Ryukyu Sokyoku Koyokai Kutuu School in Okinawa, where Arakawa
received her master teaching certificate in 1968. Afuso has studied
kutuu for ten years and received her teaching certificate in 2004. She
has also studied Okinawan dance for almost thirty years. Their
apprenticeship will focus on advanced instrumental and singing techniques
to prepare Afuso for her next level of certification. They will
also work together to plan Afuso’s beginning kutuu class curriculum.
(left to right) Prumsodun Ok and Charya Burt
Photo Credit, Prumsodun Ok: Michael Burr
Prumsodun Ok (San Francisco) will study classical Cambodian dance
with master artist Charya Cheam Burt (Windsor). Burt trained
at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where
she also became a faculty member in the Department of Dance. Ok
began studying Cambodian dance three years ago with Sophiline Cheam
Shapiro at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach. He will now
focus on studying the movements and facial expressions of one of the
four main characters of the classical Cambodian repertoire and he will
learn two new dance pieces over the course of the apprenticeship.
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Farah Yasmeen Shaikh (Menlo Park) will study North Indian classical
Kathak dance with master artist Chitresh Das (San Rafael). Das
began studying as a child with Pandit Ram Narayan Misra in Calcutta,
India, and after eighteen years of intense training he brought the
tradition to the United States. Shaikh has been studying with
Das for eleven years and is currently a member of his dance company. She
is now ready to learn to perform a Kathak solo, a tradition that is
now in decline. She will study improvisation, rhythmic structure,
and will have to increase her stamina to perform a two-hour solo concert.
(left to right) Jivan Gasparyan Jr. and Master Artist Djivan
Gasparyan
Jivan Gasparyan Jr. (Sherman Oaks) will study Armenian
duduk (double reed woodwind instrument) with his grandfather, master
artist Djivan
Gasparyan (Sherman Oaks). Djivan Gasparyan started learning
the duduk as a child and was a self-taught musician. He later
studied and taught at the Yerevan Conservatory in Armenia and received
the title of People’s Artist of Armenia in 1973. Jivan
Gasparyan Jr. has studied with his grandfather since he was a child
and is now an advanced player. During the apprenticeship he will
work on circular breathing and ornamenting notes. He will also
expand his repertoire of traditional Armenian folk songs.
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(left) Janice Ng
Janice Ng (Piedmont) will study Kunqu opera, the oldest form of Chinese
folk opera, with master artist Sabrina Hou (Pacifica). Hou studied
at the Beijing Opera Conservatory and performed with the Beijing Northern
Kunqu Opera Theater before moving to the United States ten years ago. Ng
had studied and performed Cantonese Opera for over ten years before
she began to study Kunqu opera with Hou three years ago. During
the apprenticeship she will learn singing, dancing, and acting techniques
to perform the female lead role of Du Li Niang, in a 45 minute scene
from the Kunqu opera Peony Pavilion.
Master Artist Danongan Kalanduyan
Conrad Benedicto (San Francisco) will study Pilipino
kulintang music with master artist Danongan Kalanduyan (South
San Francisco). Kalanduyan
comes from a family of accomplished kulintang musicians in Mindanao,
Philippines, and he began learning kulintang from his parents and older
relatives when he was a small child. He is also a National Heritage
Fellow, the highest recognition bestowed on traditional artists in
the U.S. by the National Endowment for the Arts. Benedicto has
been studying with Kalanduyan for the past nine years. During
the apprenticeship they will focus on advanced rhythms and techniques
on the five different kulintang instruments. Benedicto will also
learn improvisational techniques and the history and social context
of kulintang music. He will share what he learns with his students
at Balboa High School in San Francisco.
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Melody Takata (San Francisco) will study Japanese Classical dance
with master artist Fujima Kansuma (Los Angeles). Kansuma has
been teaching Japanese dance in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, for sixty-five
years. She studied as a child in Japan at the Fujima School of
Dance with master teachers Onoe Kikugoro VI and the Fujima Kanjuro
VI. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National
Endowment of the Arts in 1986. Takata is a taiko (Japanese drum)
musician and dancer who studied with Kansuma for ten years as a teen
and young adult. She has traveled to Los Angeles to work with
her teacher over the years and during the apprenticeship she hopes
to learn more of Kansuma’s extensive repertoire.
Yejin Cha (Glendale) will study traditional Korean pojagi (patchwork)
and embroidery with master artist Bonghwa Kim (Los Angeles). In
Korea women used to weave ramie, hemp, and silk cloths in their home;
most of the family’s clothes and bedding were homemade. The
scraps were embroidered and used to make patchwork gift wrap, table
coverings, or wall hangings. Women continue to practice the art
of pojagi in Korea today. Kim began learning these traditional
arts from her mother when she was a young child. Cha has been
studying with her for about a year and during the apprenticeship she
will continue to study stitching, embroidery, natural dyeing, and traditional
color selection techniques.
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Mehrdad Jahangiri (Los Angeles) will study Persian tar (a six-stringed
plucked instrument) with master artist Sahab Motallebi (Los Angeles). Motallebi
began playing the tar as a child and attended the National Iranian
Music Conservatory in Tehran, the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in
Russia, and RGS University in Turkey. Jahangiri studied setar
(a four-stringed lute) for three years in Iran before he began to work
with Jahangiri on tar. During the apprenticeship he will study
the Radif, the repertory of Persian classical music.
Weaving by
Apprentice Kami Thephavong
Kami Thephavong (Fresno) will study Northern Laotian weaving with
her mother, master artist Leanne Mounvongkham (Fresno). Mounvongkham
comes from a weaving family. Her mother taught her to weave when
she was a child and as an adult she sold her skirts and shawls in the
Laotian capital of Vientiane. She is one of a few Laotian women
who continued to weave even after moving to the United States as refugees
following the Viet Nam War. Her daughter Thephavong studied weaving
for a few years as a child but now she is ready to learn some more
complex designs as well as the intricate process of setting up the
loom for weaving.
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Erasmo Villareal (Earlimart) will study arpa mariachera (mariachi
style harp) with master artist Juan Morales (Wasco). Morales
became interested in learning to play the arpa during his youth when
he visited his father’s homeland of Veracruz, Mexico. He
studied with Arturo Mendoza of Mariachi Vargas and joined the ensemble
Los Camperos de Nati Cano (a National Heritage Fellow). Villareal
has been studying with Morales for four years and has learned to play
the guitarrón, vihuela, guitarra de golpa, and arpa. During
the apprenticeship they will focus on learning to play the bass line
of the music on the arpa and improvise while playing with an ensemble.
(left to right) Sheela Bringi and G.S. Sachdev
Photo Credit, G.S. Sachdev: Stephanie Mohan
Sheela Bringi (Oakland) will study North Indian classical
bansuri (bamboo flute) with master artist G.S. Sachdev (San
Rafael). Sachdev
studied bansuri with Vijay Raghav Rao for twelve years in Delhi, India
and with Pandit Ravi Shankar for eight years in Bombay, India. Bringi
studied bansuri for six years in Colorado before beginning to work
with Sachdev three years ago. During the apprenticeship they
will focus on improvisation within five ragas, or melodic modes, as
well as intonation, fingering techniques, and rhythmic meters.
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(left) Joti Singh
Photo Credit: Rick Rocamora
Joti Singh (San Francisco) will study Guinean dance with master artist
Alseny Soumah (Oakland). Soumah’s family taught him to
dance when he was a small child in Conakry, Guinea, and he performed
with a neighborhood group before dancing professionally with Ballets
Merveilles and Les Ballets Africains. Singh has studied Guinean
dance for eight years with master dancers in Portland, Oregon, the
Bay Area, and Guinea, West Africa. During the apprenticeship
she will study improvisation, and other skills necessary for solo performance.
(left to right) Master Artist Anuradha Sridhar with Apprentice
Sruti Sarathy
Sruti Sarathy (Palo Alto) will study South Indian classical Carnatic
violin with Anuradha Sridhar (Saratoga). Sridhar began studying
violin as a young child with her mother, Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandam. Sridhar’s
great-great-grandfather was a disciple of the composer Saint Thyagraja
and music has been passed down in her family for over five generations. Her
family developed its own style of playing the violin, termed “Lalgudi
Bani.” Sarathy has studied with Sridhar for over five years
and has already won awards for her skills. During the apprenticeship
she will continue to study improvisation so that she can perform as
both an accompanist and soloist.
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Cher Ker Thao (Fresno) will study traditional Hmong bamboo flute with
master artist Pao Xiong (Fresno). Xiong learned to play the flute from
his father when he was growing up in Laos. He has been playing for
over thirty years and performs regularly at community celebrations
and for the local Hmong radio station. Thao initially learned from
his family members to play basics on the flute and has practiced for
many years on his own. During the apprenticeship he will learn new
songs to increase his repertoire and he will also study the history
and cultural context of Hmong flute music.
Ruth Yafonne Chen (San Francisco) will study Chinese Wushu (sword
dance) with Ling Mei Zhang (San Francisco). Zhang studied with
masters Liu Yuhua and Lee Wenjin in Tian Jinh and became the double
straight sword Wushu champion for all of China in 1975. She has
taught martial arts for over thirty years. Chen is a Chinese
dancer who spent several years performing with Lily Cai Chinese Dance
Company before beginning to study Wushu. During the apprenticeship
she will learn several straight sword routines and will choreograph
an original double straight sword routine with her teacher.
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