Japanese Taiko
Master artist Fujima Kansuma and apprentice Melody Takata participated in Round 7 of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, conducting an apprenticeship in Japanese Nihon Buyo, or Japanese classical dance. Fujima Kansma is no ordinary figure. Surmounting a series of challenges and discouragements, her long career reflects extraordinary focus and…
G.S. Sachdev studied North Indian classical bansuri (bamboo flute) with Vijay Raghav Rao for twelve years in Delhi, India and with Pandit Ravi Shankar for eight years in Bombay, India. In 2007, Sachdev taught apprentice, Sheela Bringi as part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program.
Joti Singh studied Guinean dance with master artist Alseny Soumah as part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2007. 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…
South Indian Classical Carnatic music is one of the oldest systems of music in the world. The violin found position in the Carnatic form within the last 300 years. The Lalgudi system of playing the violin is very advanced and is popular for its ability to mimic vocal music. Largely…
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…
African and African diaspora Arts and Culture
Musician and ethnographic researcher, Zina Bozzay founded the Hungarian Folk Singing Circle (‘Népdalkör’ in Hungarian) in 2010. An avid practitioner, she is dedicated to keeping the oral tradition alive. The Hungarian American communities in the Bay Area are active in an annual…
Filipino/Filipino-American arts and culture
As part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2006 Marcelo taught Isis Raele, his step-daughter, the art of capoeira. Capoeira is the only indigenous martial art of the Americas and was developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil. Mestre Pereira started playing capoeira on the streets of São Paulo, Brazil, as a child and…
