NEWSLETTER: forward strokes

HEEEEEY!!

June is almost gone, and summer is blasting us not only with heat (and some unfortunate smog) but with wonderful music, exceptional dance events, street fairs and just a sensibility, almost fragrant, that there is still so much possible here, even with the economy tanking, even with the price of gasoline, even if...Every cloud has its silver lining and I am thinking that our windfall will be each other. Take and make every opportunity to get to know your fellow travelers!

Here is one, and maybe the last for a bit as the summer takes me to conferences, workshops, and family reunions:



West African Dance with Anna Scott, 1:30- 3:30
Shakti's Elements, 717 Broadway @ Lincoln, Santa Monica.
$12 cash love offering; $10 if you ride the bus. children welcomed!

Best place to park is in the 7th ST public lot. 1st Two hours free!

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro?
Multiple, fractal, improvisational, polemical but always moving with spirit and in the service of lifting it/us all up. That's the logic of the Afro.

BLOWIN BACK THE 'FRO this week is serendipity! As you may recall, back in April Mami Wata swam into the Fowler Museum, where she is still holding court, btw. Viver Brasil helped celebrate her, Marcus Quiland-Nazario brought buckets and buckets of walking ponds to honor her in a parade, the LA Tap project launched, I had my students do water actions at UCR, the Governor declared a drought, and then the LA River was declared not really a river, and my neighbor, editor of the La La Times, George Wolfe made the LA Times when he commuted to work in a kayak and suite and now we have a fantastic series of water-based performances washing into town this week!!! I know, that was a run on sentence, but it was fun. But before I dive in, Ms. Pat Payne has this to say:

WHAT RECESSION?! The NEST presents a SILENT ART AUCTION,
Sat. June 29th, 2-6pm
3025 Exposition Place #2
Los Angeles, CA 90018-4015
(323) 292-3375
http://www.mapquest.com/mq/8-FOi_LA4o
I-10 to Crenshaw exit, south
The NEST'S SILENT AUCTION will feature original fine art/photography, art books, performance artifacts and custom home furnishings created by yours truly and other talented So-Cal artisans, with prices to fit every budget. Payment plans and/or deliveries can be arranged for large purchases. Light refreshments will be served.
Previews will be online at myspace.com/spunkyxipe

Now, if you have never seen the lovely Ms. Payne in action, you are so sad. But see, she forgives you and is inviting you to her Live/Work space for a delightful afternoon of art, friends, tea, and your money getting placed into her cash register. I got a preview, and the work is quite interesting and stirring. I really dug it. Stay tuned for her upcoming Salon in July.

REDCAT
June 29-July 6
STEPHAN KOPLOWITZ: TASKFORCE
This week-long series of site specific performances responds to unusual, inspiring and challenging sites connected by water--from the Farmers Market at The Grove, to The Water Court at California Plaza, the Los Angeles River and beyond. Bessie and Alpert award-winning choreographer Stephan Koplowitz and his new TaskForce -- a collaborative team of dancers, performers and composers -- explore an enduringly important and controversial resource in Southern California.
redcat.org/season/0708/dan/taskforce.php

Catch what you can, before it floats away. (ok, that one was yucky) Hassan Christopher of the Open Space worked as one of the producers. He is VERY excited about this work, and so am I!


GRAND PERFORMANCES
The next event that I'll recommend of this fantastic series is part of the event sponsored by the REDCAT

06/30 - 5:00 PM: Stephan Koplowitz: TaskForce perform Liquid Landscapes
This area has some of the most beautiful, yet wasteful uses of water in the city. Not to be missed. If you missed Seun Kuti, you missed a great moment in LA civic history. My pics did not turn out (boohoo), but I'll still post one of revelers jammin in the moat on Afrologica. It's as if they knew that the TaskForce was coming to do just that.


VENICE BOARDWALK
Venice Eco Fest
Saturday June 28th, 10 AM - 7 PM
1800 Oceanfront Walk, Venice, CA 90291

It's as if Mami Wata is determined to make a point! Eco Fest comes late to Venice, but that's great for you if you did not make any of the other festivals hosted by Earth Day LA back in April. This one co-hosted by Venice Chamber of Commerce. Vegetarian fare, music, school dance teams, and a world premiere by Blankenship Ballet! Free! But parking is not and will likely make you go into convulsions, so, please take the bus, Metro 33 or 333 will get you right there. There's a Culver City bus, that gets close, too (don't know the number) and the Big Blue Bus #1 will take you to Lincoln & Venice where you can catch the 33 or 333 OR BBB #2 will take right by Venice Main post office. Bring the kids! I'm coming after my class.

SKIRBALL
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, LA, CA 90049
OPENING THIS WEEKEND: Tere O'Connor and Rammed Earth.
June 26 & 27 8 PM; Sat 7 & 9 PM; Sun June 28 7PM
$20 gen, $18 mem, $15 student

Get tickets now for %15 off using the following code for on-line pre-sale 99522
No late comers will be seated, so get up there early and hang at the café! This is guaranteed to be one of those dance community reunions, so get yo' hair did, yo' toenails done and your clothes perfectly LA frumpy! Oh, and accessorize. Free parking or go Metro Rapid #761

CULVER CITY HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM
4401 Elenda Street, Culver City, CA
Friday 6/27 & Saturday 6/28 at 8pm; Gen Admin $15, kids $5,
Pop Rocks
This comes recommended by Grover Dale. The LA Dance Company presents two evenings of pop-music driven choreographies accompanied by a live DJ in a setting like a rock concert. Looks like a really fantastic event on the very broad LA Dance scene! Choreography by Jolieba Jackson, Kate Hutter, Leslie Scott and many others.


UNKNOWN THEATER
110 Seward ST, LA, CA 90038
11 Missing Days, Meg Wolfe/Show Box
July 3 - 13, two weekends, different bill each one
The mystery will unfold soon, but you won't get to solve it if you don't have tickets...

SANTA MONICA PIER
Ocean Blvd @ Broadway
The Thursday night music series begins tonight! The schedule is a tad ho-hum until mid-July, but there may be something of interest to you. The 4th of July has a Hawai'ian theme, which, to be honest, turned my stomach a bit as there is right now a very intense lobbying effort to free this island nation from US control. But, it looks like a good line up. So if you like hula and ukelele, check it out on the 3rd of July. The GLOW Festival will be here, more to come on that. Parking is a NIGHTMARE. Please take the bus, or better yet, if you're local, ride your bike. The city provides valet parking right there on the beach.


SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL
Thursday June 26th - Saturday June 28th
This famous section of the boulevard launches its own festival this year with a very ecclectic mix of bands. This is a venue-based festival, kinda like the music festival in Austin, but waaay smaller. If you're over 42 yrs old with a significant amount of burned out brain cells, most of this will be heaven for you. I recommend checking out Dialated Peeples (whaat?!) for all the Gen X Hip Hop heads on Friday, June 27th at the House of Blues. But get ready for Sunset Junction, the mother of all urban music street festivals in LA, in August.

FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East Los Angeles, CA
Viver Brasil, "Omi Odara/The Gift on the Water"
July 5th, 8:00 PM, $28/ $5 for kids

Oh yes, more water, more water, more water! please get your tickets. This show will sell out soon. It's a great venue for families, especially since Target has underwritten $5 for children! The open dance class was a blast--thanks to all who showed for that. Let's sit together! Hit me up if you are going and we'll plan a section.




SUMMER INTENSIVES
Here comes the DanceBank summer intensive, accompanied by a workshop from the SHOWBOX, both Dance Ninja (aka Meg Wolfe) inventions. Please go to her MySpace page for many more details, esp. pricing as it varies by the number of classes purchased.

DANCE BANK
Sat/Sun 11am-2pm*:
8/2 & 8/3 - Rae Shao-Lan Blum (at Farmlab)
8/9 & 8/10 - Mira Kingsley (at Farmlab)
8/16 & 8/17 - Sara Wookey
8/23 & 8/24 - Olivier Tarpaga *(5-8pm on 8/24)
8/30 & 8/31 - Liz Casebolt & Joel Smith
Tuesday/Thursdays 11am-1pm:
8/5 & 8/7 - Simone Forti (at Farmlab)
8/12 & 8/14 – Liz Maxwell
8/19 & 8/21 - Rebecca Alson-Milkman
8/26 & 8/28 - Taisha Paggett

Thursday nights, 7-9pm:
8/14 - Hana van der Kolk
8/21 - Hana van der Kolk
8/28 - Meg Wolfe

SHOW BOX presents the July Guest Artist Series
July 5th: Faye Driscoll (NYC)
July 12th: Sam Kim (NYC)
July 19th: lean to productions - Leslie Seiters (San Diego) and Rachael Lincoln
July 26th: Modern Garage Movement (NYC)
These classes will be held from 11am-1pm, at
Farmlab and Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
Phone: 323.226.1158

Handicapped Accessible
Free & plentiful street parking


AFRICAN DANCE FESTIVALS/CAMPS/WORKSHOPS

Fareta has closed early registration, but you can still get in on the action and even pay with Pay Pal. This camp is hosted by Youssef Koumbassa July 6 - 13 at Camp Hye Sierra, Dunlap CA and features an All-Star line up of dancers from Mali & Guinea, with a few reps from Senegal. Yousseff has such good energy, if you can, check this out.

Alamuta at the Lacy Studio Lofts (OMG, they look so beautiful) in LA, July 11 - Aug 3, is set to kick off coming soon to LA in July, tickets still available. The line up includes not just dances from West Africa, but throughout the African Diaspora. let's thank them for organizing this by turning up and paying in full in advance...

Travel north to the Congolese Dance and Drum Workshop hosted by the Kongo dance community of Oakland, CA. Not to be missed! Held in Pike, CA near Nevada City, this camp truly transports you to the essence of the musidance. Their children's camp is worth its weight in gold. July 25 - August 3rd, but you can purchase by the day!

Le Bagatae in Chicago has announced a summer dance festival. Won Na Won Malan, by the lake in beautiful South South Shore district. August 7 - 10; Pay before July 24th $195 buys all 12 classes, concert and camp t-shirt. THE LINE UP IS HOT!!!! I will upload the registration form in Afrologica as it came as a PDF file. Youssouf Koumbassa, Djenaba Sako, Biza Sompa--just to give you an idea. This will be fierce.

Papa N'Diaye in Boston invites you out to the NDAJE Festival
June 26-29, 2008
The line up is AMAZING!!! For more details, please check http://www.papendiaye.com/ndajefestival
For more information about West African dance in the Boston area, please visit www.WADaBo.com!
Questions? Send an email to: ndajefestival@ papendiaye. com


RASANBLE! A Hatian dance camp in Oakland!!
July 11- 14th, in two locations so check out Rara Tou Limen's MySpace page for complete line-ups, fee schedules and events. You can also request info at raratoulimen@gmail.com

You can still travel to Salvador- Bahia, Brasil with Viver Brasil Aug 1 - 16! Just a few spots left. This is one of those relaxing, yet intense dance workshops. Linda Yudin and her staff have quite a time planned for you. $3395 includes double occupancy, all classes and airfare. This is a great way to go the Land of Magic if you have never been.

ONGOING CLASSES
section will be back next week after a foraging round. who is teaching what and where?! here are few items that are one time events

Zé Ricardo at the Dance Arts Academy Tuesday Nights,July 1 & 8, 8:00 PM, guest of Viver Brasil $15
Rosangela SIlvestre at Electric Lodge in Venice Sat at 10 AM, guest of Kimberly Mullen (unconfirmed)




Lovely!
So, I'll see you in class this Saturday, no? Consider it the warm up for a very exciting weekend.

in love,
-Anna