NEWSLETTER: peanut butter jelly time!

HEY!!!

I wish the rain would just go ahead and come. The ultra gray mornings are making it hard to get up and get out. Luckily, there is much to do just around the house. Living almost in a kibbutz, as I do, it is esp. important during the summer to stay on top of the home front--the kids are just eating us alive. I can't front. We call to the trees in agony, "please help us! the small people are running amok, and it's 11:30 PM." Just whispering laughter from their leaves, and later, stillness as we groggily go for that 6:30 AM run/walk. Beautiful.

My dance class is still on hiatus, but I hear your pleas and I am not letting it go! Just resting and organizing some other things, as well as my abdominal muscles...


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.


How are you lovelies? Did you go swimming last weekend? If you missed the Big Blow Out Comb last Saturday at the Ford--yes, I am speaking of Viver Brasil's Gift on the Water--then you can read all about it in a raving review by Victoria Looseleaf in the LA Times. The fro was blown out, little afrosheen spritzed for good measure. The final piece made me cry. Co-choreographed by the whole team, the future is in the end. Shelby WIlliams kicked butt, as to be expected, but Rosalie Tucker turned in a beautiful surprise of a performance. The lighting made me forget I was outside. It is time for a Best of Viver Brasil soundtrack album. Seriously. Talk about some watershed moments. But that was not enough water, even though they took us through lagoons, oceans, estuaries, ponds, lakes and rivers; I had to go run around in one myself. TASKFORCE worked it, and the audience, as we visited 5 sites along the LA River on Sunday July 6th. My daughter and I followed the bus, getting to drive all the way back home for the first stop--dang it--but the looping was well worth it. Stephen Kolpowitz took it to the streets, the plazas, the parks, the rivers, and even the sewers that should be rivers to help the Friends of Los Angeles River show us where its really at. Alexandria Yalje was especially interesting to watch as the dancers traversed the ravines and slick surfaces of the concrete riverbed. There is likely a documentary in the works for this piece, so we'll look forward to seeing it in a year or so. What's up this weekend? Gotta get to Meg Wolf's show, 11 Missing Days fronted by local team, Caseboldt and Smith.

BLOWIN BACK THE 'FRO
11 Missing Days for sho nuff, but there is a new dance class in town that you should check out...at the Nate Holden Center! Perhaps there is a new venue in town for classes? Hmmmmm. Also, summer stages and dances under the stars heat up, the Glow Festival gets closer and a summer African Dance camp in LA, finally.


THE UNKNOWN THEATRE
1110 Seward Street Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 466-7781
11 Missing Days last weekend! $18 advance, $25 at the door
Thursday - Sat, 8 PM, Sunday 6 PM
This has been selling out, so hopefully you have your tickets; don't miss it. Film noir and dance collide as a woman seeks the last 11 days, finding...you in the audience we hope!


WILSHIRE BLVD, BETWEEN CLOVERDALE & LABREA
VISCERA instigates a
Watermelon Relay Race
12 noon July 11th, Friday
Come cheer the runners on and maybe get a slice of the good stuff. The first in a series of ethnic typed food olympics.

THE NEST
3025 Exposition PL, #2 LA, 90018
"bad as you wanna be, a salon"
Saturday July 12th, 8 PM - 1 AM
Drop by and tell Ms. Pat you love her. $10
This is a practically closed event, but I just got the go ahead to invite you all. Ms. Pat has curated a lovely evening of performance art and I am looking forward to participating. But she has one rule: the 2 degrees of separation: if you don't know 'em, don't bring 'em. So this invite is just for us afronauts, deal? It is her live/workspace, after all!
10 Fwy to CRENSHAW exit, SOUTH to RODEO, 1st LEFT (North) to DEGNAN, immediate LEFT into alley.
Ample street parking.

ACTORS' WORKOUT STUDIO
4735 Lankersheim BLVD, North Hollywood 91602
Cornucopia presents "STar of the Grab Bag"
Sunday July 13th 3:30 PM

An adult afternoon of storytelling and poetry, this session allows audience members who show at 3:!5 and put their name in the bag a shot at 5 minutes on stage. Ellen Switkes hosts this long-running event. Something to see!


REDCAT
NOW Festival July 17th - August 2, 3 programs, plus a dub event on Tuesdays
Whew wee! This will be a 9 act series full of mayhem and delight. Get your tickets! Edgar Miramontes sends this little gift of love:
"I am excited to announce a special offer to our exciting NOW FESTIVAL 2008 program: BUY TWO TIX, GET THE THIRD FREE - deal available through the box office only not the web. Call our box office at 213-237-2800.
Feel free to pass this along to all of your friends.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the NOW Festival 2008!"

Of special interest is The Baker/Tarpanga Project and Christina Wong. if you are looking for complete, "what the__?!" then you must check out the Poor Dog Group.

NATE HOLDEN CENTER
Friday, July 11th; Thursday July 17th, 7 - 8:30 PM
Kongo dance class for $7! Sounds very hot!
Yassinanga, DJ and dancer for Zap Mama, is doing LA. It appears that he will set up shop in Culver City. More details as I get them.

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.

OPENS TOMORROW!!!
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.

ROADTRIP!
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?! A lot of us are on summer break, but Viver Brasil is not!

Tuesday Nights @ Dance Arts Academy, on LaBrea between 8th and Wilshire, continue with a collaboration between Viver Brasil and the community! Make the series and you can participate in the GLOW festival on July 20th 6:30 AM...

And Mama Camara is back and holding it down at Debbie Allen Dance Academy. Her Thursday Night class is only 1 hour, but you'll likely need open heart surgery afterwards. Thursdays, 8 PM. Good, subtle drumming. Don't miss.



Lovely!
I hope to see some of you at the relay tomorrow. I will be running. Keep looking for my class to return. I miss you all!

in love,
-Anna