NEWSLETTER: right on time

How DO?

The last weekend of summer is here, and even the weather is lamenting the fact! But there is much to make this last week a memorable one. Although most of the speeches have been redundant and a bit mind numbing, the Democratic National Convention is currently THE show to watch, no matter where you are on the planet. How wild is that? Obama takes the stage this evening amidst growing and ever expanding totalitarian turns in policy by the Bush administration and those Republicans still marching arm in arm with the nihilistic activities. So I would like you to beware spreading yourself so thin in "fight back" pose, that you drain your wallet and enthusiasm for the presidential campaign. Too numerous to tick off here, I just want to alert you to a few areas in which the Bush administration is seeking to drain dollars away from the drive to get "change" in the White house: you have until TOMORROW to tell the Bureau of Land Management that you don't want an open gold mine in the California desert. Yup, I did not make that up. From demanding that aerial wolf hunting in Alaska continue, to making weird new rules about family planning, a lot of energy is going into redirecting YOUR energy. Choose wisely, get active locally, and find your center: all great dancing emanates from core strength.


Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is you '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--sign up, get your community on. New reviews are up! Go check 'em out and get into the conversation.


BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO is my daughter's third birthday (!), the final weekend of a venerable community festival, opportunities to strut your stuff and the arrival of September. Where did August go?


GRAND PERFORMANCES
California Plaza, 300-350 Grand Ave, Los Angeles
Get yourself there either Friday at noon to a rare treat. The Garrifuna Women's Project is in town and you can experience them for free. The Garrifuna are an African community in Belize who escaped from their captors when the ship bearing them into slavery wrecked. Still going strong. Check it.

AFRICAN MARKET PLACE
Rancho Cienega Park, 5001 Rodeo RD, LA 9016
Tickets on-line or at the gate $8 for adults; $5 children
I actually slept on this. I have not been in years and getting info on the line up and times is very very difficult. I happen to know that Maia will play on Saturday around 5 PM with the world renowned Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. Check out this clip of her being interviewed on Spaceways Radio on KPFK. On Sunday, Brazil is to take over in a meaningful way, but I can't tell you how exactly. Wish I had more details, because there are some amazing artists and dance troupes that come through. It is mostly a market, so if you're not into shopping, might not be your cup of tea. But if you like traveling without having to go very far, this is a great way to get out of town.


THE HOTEL CAFE
1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, Ca 90028
TONGUE & GROOVE
Sunday August 31st - 6:00 to 7:30pm; $6
A monthly offering of short fiction, personal essays,poetry, spoken word + music produced by Conrad Romo. This month featuring the following: Chiwan Choi, Chris Kerr, Doug Cordell, Pat Payne, Derrick Brown 'Born in the Year of the Butterfly Knife', Nancy Pimental and musical guest Scott Huckabey.


Looking for something mentioned last week? Check the archives to the left.


HOLLYWOOD BOWL
September 3, 8 PM, tickets from $1 - $95
Bossa Nova at 50
With a fantastic line-up including new voices and old crooners, Bossa Nova at 50 is a sumptuous show not to be missed. Make sure you take a dancing partner with you or be open to dancing with your neighbor!


FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood CA 90068
August 30th, 10 AM, $5/kids free
DAFRA West African Drum and Dance Ensemble takes the stage. Bring the kids!

Then that night:
Mantra Theater presents Legend of the Chao Phraya: The Siamese River of Life, this promises to an exquisite show of dance, music martial arts and theater. Well worth the ticket. $30/students & children $5.

Friday September 5th, 8:30 PM; $25/students & children $5
Sans Detour
Catch Me Bird and Baker & Tarpanga Project team up for an evening at the Ford. B&T will present "Disorder inside Order," based on the true story of a journalist caught in a political firestorm. Catch me Bird unveils Silk, the latest installment of the reality performance series. Let's turn out and have a blast. Anyone want to picnic before hand?

SHAKTI'S ELEMENTS
717 Broadway Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401
September 5
Presents Raga Lounge. This is a monthly gathering at my old studio, but this time around, they are looking for performers. So scroll down to get info on how to make their scene memorable.

THE OPEN SPACE
209 S. Garey ST., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Monday, September 8th, 8 PM
Meg Wolfe/Show Box presents ANATOMY RIOT #26!
A low-tech, do-it-yourself high octane night in an easy going space. Always a surprise!
On the bill: Melina Bielefelt, Won-sun Choi, Sarah Leddy, Hannah Schwadron, Anna B. Scott (me!), Rosie Trump and Meg Wolfe. Come on down!




ONGOING CLASSES
There is a new family-centered African diaspora dance class starting! Creative Seeds will host Tati on Tuesdays, likely at 4:30 - 5:15, beginning Sept. 15th, 10 weeks long. This is a course, not a drop in class. $150 - $300 one to 3 children.
The number of classes on the map have increased! So check it out.



GIGS TO GRAB
This item section I forgot to put into the actual newsletter. There are two opportunities to perform in the LA underground. Check 'em out.

THE OPEN SPACE
Spontaneous Combustion. Get in the studio for 24 hours with the other artists and see what performance you can make.
Participant's meals provided plus a share of the door.

All interested parties should submit an electronic resume, bio, and link to a work sample in the form of a photo, audio file, or video along with a list of instruments, items materials etc. they would be bringing into the space if applicable. We are currently accepting submissions to OpenspaceLA@gmail.com for the first group of combustibles...Th-Fri (Oct. 2nd-3rd) Deadline for submission Fri Sep.12th 2008. Participants not selected for this S.C. will be considered for future shows. Thank you for supporting TheOPENSpace

SHAKTI'S ELEMENTS
Tova is looking for artists to come and perform at an open mic style Raga Lounge, their monthly call to the dance floor. I don't know if there is pay, but check it out if you aren't headed to Sans Detour. Contact Tova directly, tova@shaktiselements.com.



UPCOMING
itch #8: Pronocracy is having its launch party in the lounge at the REDCAT, Tuesday, Sept 16th.
Michael Franti at the Hollywood Bowl, Sept 22nd. Tickets on sale now.



LOVELY
Well goodness. Go and listen to that speech already! I hope to see you soon!

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: feet shoulder width apart

HELLO!!!!!!

WOW and YIKES! This weekend is PACKED with much to do in anticipation of the Labor Day weekend, when everyone normally gets out of town one last time before school starts, but it is likely with the price of gas and general "waiting for the other shoe to drop" body stiffening that many many people will still be in town, looking for something cheap to do. But other than that,in case you missed it, Jamaican runners just tore a hole in the space-time continuum. If you felt wobbly the other day it was because Usain Bolt created a time warp with his incredible finish in the 200 meter dash. But this was overshadowed by pundits wanting to call him a nigger for having the audacity to have won the 100 meter race, AND setting a world record last week, while not even running full out. How dare he! The word that has been used is "showboating." As Mr. Bolt said, "I just came to win, not set another record." Meaning, "I knew that could be done, but strutting back on yard with gold swing from me neck, tis ahnother story, nah?" And Ms. Melanie Walker squashed it in the 400 meter hurdles, effectively making the US Team rethink its diet. Okay, so prepare for two weekends of crowds, some road trips to nearby places, and continual skirmishes in Ossetia and now, Zimbabwe.

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is you '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--sign up, get your community on. New reviews are up! Go check 'em out and get into the conversation.


I had some beautiful and heartfelt responses to last week's post: mil gracias! I needed that. If you ever want to share, feel free to post up a comment on the newsletter archive, or join me at Afrologica. I would esp. like feedback on my long-winded reviews;->. BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO this week is the imminent launch of the Large Hadron Collider in CERN, because I'm a geek like that, but also flings in the park, season finales, and Fall time machinations. Get ready!



UNKNOWN THEATER
1110 Seward Street, Los ANgeles, CA
Fables du Theatre
August 15 - September 27th; Thurs-Sat @ 8 PM; Sunday @ 6 PM; $18 advance on-line purchase; $25 at the door.
Wow and wow. They have had a spectacular dance season and now the bring the whole thing to a close with a critically acclaimed evening of intrigue, circus, and sex. The show will run for a bit, but don't sleep on the tickets! It is a small house.

GRAND PERFORMANCES
California PLaza, 300 -350 Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA
daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra
Saturday August 23rd, 8 PM
This Saturday will be an absolute blast! Gotta get there early so you can be ready for the 60 piece orchestra, hip hop stylee!! Yeah, SIXTY. Lawdy! Free as always, but parking shall be a bit of a nightmare since the KCRW crew will be in da house.Get there early enough not to pop a vein, or late enough--yes reverse LA logic: get there after intermission and there will be spaces left by those trying to beat the exit traffic.


CAL ARTS
Making Strange: Rooftop Sci-Fi at the Westin Bonaventure
Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites
404 South Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Aug 14, 21, and 28, 2008
Thursdays at dusk
Just in time! Once the free shows in SaMo end, here is a film festival as quirky as its sponsor. I would say like no other, but those of you in the know have made it to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the weekend film series on the vaults. So this is kinda tame, but YOU MUST, I REPEAT MUST get out to see "Space is the Place" next Thursday. Sun Ra. Sun Ra, people.
Screenings will be held on the Plaza Pool Deck, 4th floor.
Blankets and pillows are encouraged, as seating will be limited.
Street parking, or City National Garage (on Flower Street), $10 with validation.
Hotel valet, $25.
To celebrate the recent launch of Afterall 18, please join us for a three-week rooftop series of sci-fi inspired films and artists videos screened atop the landmark Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in Downtown Los Angeles. All outdoor screenings are FREE and begin at dusk.

Thursday, August 21
Ascension of the Demonoids (George Kuchar, 1985, 46 min.)
Sins of the Fleshapoids (Mike Kuchar, 1965, 43 min.)

Thursday, August 28
Double Lunar Dogs (Joan Jonas, 1984, 24 min.)
Space is the Place (John Coney, 1974, 82 min.)


BALBOA PARK
Celebrate Dance Festival
Friday, August 22 at 6:00 PM - 10 PM; Saturday August 23 11:30 AM - 10 PM; Sunday August 24,Noon- 9:00 PM
Three days of dance of all forms and moves, here's to late summer kinetic events! Anyone wanna car pool? Split hotel?
The 12th annual Celebrate Dance Festival highlights 56 dance artists, organizations, and collectives in FREE performances and workshops over three days.
Peter Kalivas, UCR MFA candidate and longtime mover on the scene is bringing his company PGK Company on Saturday 8 PM. Other hot groups? Axxiom and The Garage, both on late Sunday. There are lots of Belly Dancing and HIp Hop crews, so you can shake that money maker interculturally!
For directions, complete list of presenting artists, and performance schedule please visit: http://www.eveoke.org/cdf.htm
This is one full plate, baby.

PHYLLIS STEIN ART
207 West 5th ST., Los Angeles CA
Sara Paul Ocampo & Mecca Andrews perform
Saturday 4 - 6, free and tea will be served. Support a gallery that supports you!

MALIBU BLUFF'S PARK
Safety Harbour Kids Orphans and Homeless Children Benefit
Sunday, August 24 at 2:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Alexandria Yalje, po-mo dancer about town, invites you to see her own work as a choreographer while helping out a great cause. There are rumors of an after party at her place, but you'll have to ask her nicely via Facebook for the details...


THE OPEN SPACE
209 S. Garey St., Los Angeles Ca 90012
It's a Jam y'all! Come party, network, and have a great time.
Who: YOU Are OFFICIALY INVITED to the Pre-Weekend Kick Off! :)
When: THIS Friday August 22nd
What: Stuntman & One Step Ahead bring you:
Where: The Open Space!!!
WHY: This will be a meet and greet party vibe for all. Cyphers included.
Spinnin Hip Hop, Funk, Breaks & a lot of fun chillin & DANCIN!
$5 till 10pm $10 after early arrival is suggested
Giveaways by SUS clothing
DJ's: DJ Wobbles
Frankie Flave
more TBA
PLEASE PASS THE WORD AROUND!!!!! :)


ECHO PARK
Black Cloud Scientist League/ Machine Project
Geeky performance ARt that you help to make AND that politicizes you. I'm in heaven. First you get a PuffTron (don't have one? be among the first 12 with $85 in your hand to make it yourself), then you watch the messages it sends you about the air quality where it is stationed, next you make a pollution map (but you do that on August 30th), then you get amazed, angry and sad, then active (in that order), and finally you wind up the day at 8 PM with a gelato while you hear from the League members themselves, which includes UC Berkeley folks and Manual Arts High School students. Yup. You don't want to miss this one.
1) a DIY air quality sensor building workshop this Saturday August 23rd from 12-5pm. Limited to 12 students,
2) A research presentation at 8pm this Saturday the 23rd by the Black Cloud Citizen Scientist League
3) A community air pollution mapping event next Saturday August 30th that requires your participation! Details to be given at the presentation on the 23rd.

FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068
There is a Bollywood pajama party being thrown by blu13 on August 23rd at 10 am ($5) then again at 8:30 PM($35/28). There. I mentioned it.
The Ford has had great success with children matinees and now have artists appearing in that 10 AM Saturday slot who don't necessarily perform again. August 30th DAFRA West African Drum and Dance holds down one such event. Kids are free, adults $5, but you must make reservations.


AFRICAN DANCE CAMPS AND SUMMER INTENSIVES
...they collide!! Only in LA of course. Olivier Tarpanga is teaching in the DANCEBank Sumer intensive at the Open Space, Saturday August 23rd, 11 Am - 2 PM; then again on Sunday August 24th 5 - 8 PM. $40 for both days or $25 for either one. Movement will combine dance mostly from Burkina Faso with postmodern considerations to live traditional drumming. Hot stuff and a great preview for his upcoming show at the Ford. Gotta gotta gotta, get yoself there!
Taisha Pagget, co-founder of ITCH will teach the following Tuesday/Thursday, focusing on "the big body (your extremities)" and its relationship to the "little body (your torso)". August 26th & 28th.



ONGOING CLASSES
Check out the map; I've added a few and know I am missing a lot. Let me know about your class!
What you are missing by not following the link: an immersive interactive map with not only my tidbits about the classes offered at each spot, but also directions with live traffic cams as well as info about nearby services/businesses like ATM, coffee and gas. I bet you wish you had some Google stock in your portfolio right about now.

I only got one response for a potluck/dance class this weekend. SO maybe next weekend? I'll also blast on FaceBook.



UPCOMING
SOMAFEST is back! Sept 16th - 21st. Early Registration is now open: $325 for the full thing now, $350 after September 8th. This thing sells out. Get in on it NOW. I"ll have more on this as we approach.

Baker/Tarpanga and Catch Me Bird at the Ford Theater, Sept. 5th, 8:30 PM. I'll have more to say next week, but help them relax by buying your tickets in advance! 1200 seats!!!

Celebration of Life: A fundraiser for Esalen Institute. The recent fires came close to burning this treasure down, but instead, it cause financial chaos by forcing them to cancel most of their summer courses. Come to the rescue on Sept. 7th at UCLA Ackerman Grand Ballroom. More details soon enough.

2009 CHIME guidelines and Application are now live on-line. Download and get that application into the Marget Jenkins company by Oct. 1, 2008 to work with a master down here. All of you wondering about distilling your style into a thought provoking evening and a great class: I nominate Susan Rose as your future mentor...



LOVELY!
I was dragging just a bit this morning, but nothing a little samba and salsa around the house couldn't fix! I was listening to the Blackeyed Peas and then began to think about John Lennon and a recent talk I went to where the speaker said those of us invested financially in the markets through retirement programs are literally co-creators of this world and if we don't like it, just move our money. Imagine if...everyone knew where not only their money was, but where was the love and made dances about it. Continue to dance, even when it feels like the last possible thing you should be doing!

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: arms wide open

Alafia,

This morning we were graced with an encounter with a pod of dolphins so close to shore that they had to dive every time the tide threatened to wash over the rocks. It was so soothing, and needed as our collective nerves have been frayed by this madness going on over in Georgia and Ossetia. If you're not in the know, as if there is no such thing as an Olympics going on, both Russia and Georgia have invaded Ossetia, making me think far too much of the beginnings of WW I. I don't write this newsletter to get THIS type of political action going--there is soooo much to do here in LA, let alone the rest of the US--but lately, these far away ventures feel very very close to home, as we often are called upon to fund both sides, one publicly and the other on the under. You know things are bad when China, I said China, is calling for a truce! Now that's deep, but likely more about not loosing this much needed media limelight to a bunch fools in the Baltic. In any event, we are so fortunate to be able to kick it with the dolphins and make and share our art with each other. I am wondering what concrete steps we can take, other than signing yet another on-line petition--which you should do if you feel so moved--but so often I hear, "peace begins at home," and I know in my bones that I am not always able to bring that frame of mind to my every day. How about you? How do you create peace?

Thanks to all who wrote back last week and I look forward to hearing from others! Still need some contestants for this Other Olympics...

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is you '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--sign up, get your community on. New reviews are up! Go check 'em out and get into the conversation.

BLOWIN' BACK THE FRO' after an entire day of no e-mail last week, I have decided that I will need to migrate the newsletter to a gmail account, just to make sure that I can get the puppy out to you! If you are forwarding on the newsletter, thank you! Please distribute widely so we can generate great audiences for our local artists! if you are a local artist or producer, tell your colleagues about the newsletter. We have to grow the networks that we need! This week, there is much homegrown action and several visitors to our poppin' scene! Get our there and show them what you're workin' with.

TONIGHT!
SANTA MONICA PIER
Toots and the Maytals TONIGHT! 7 - 10 PM
'Nuff said. get out there early because it is going to be a zoo!! if you've never been, you might want to bring paper bags and tea lights to mark and light your space on the beach. It is delicious!

ZANZIBAR
Katia Moraes live @ Afro Funké, doors open at 9 pm $10 cover
For those of you with no kids, you must chekc out this event! Katia keeps getting better and better, not a local, but has been in town for ten years now and really has her LA all the way on! Leave the pier and head on over to the show!

EAST SIDE LUV WINE BAR y QUESO
1835 East 1st St., LA, CA 90033; 323.262.7442
8 - 10 PM, Thursday August 14, 2008
LITEROTICANA CHICANA, una noche de luz, deseoy e lengua - a night of light, desire and language with Gloria Enedina Alvarez,Reina Prado, Corrie Greathouse, Rafael Alvarado, R. Funkahuatl G. and Abel Salas

Ms. Pat Payne says brang a fan and orda lotsa ice wata to cool yoself off! This is tonight. Scooth on over there and get your verbal freak on.

PHYLLIS STEIN ART
207 W. 5th Avenue at Spring
| Jesse Chapo and Eric Smail| @ "Downtown Art walk"
Thursday, August 14 at 7:00 - 10:00 PM
More things going on downtown! Sometimes I wish I could handle the air, I would move there to be closer to the great things going on there and in Silver Lake area, not to mention the cheaper rent! Oops, I must be dreaming. Get your walking shoes out, but start at Phyllis' place and check out the latest incarnation of the LA ARt scene.


CAL ARTS
Making Strange: Rooftop Sci-Fi at the Westin Bonaventure
Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites
404 South Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Aug 14, 21, and 28, 2008
Thursdays at dusk

Screenings will be held on the Plaza Pool Deck, 4th floor.
Blankets and pillows are encouraged, as seating will be limited.
Street parking, or City National Garage (on Flower Street), $10 with validation.
Hotel valet, $25.
To celebrate the recent launch of Afterall 18, please join us for a three-week rooftop series of sci-fi inspired films and artists videos screened atop the landmark Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in Downtown Los Angeles. All outdoor screenings are FREE and begin at dusk.

Thursday, August 14
Powers of Ten (Charles and Ray Eames, 1977, 9 min.)
Solyaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972, 163 min.)

Thursday, August 21
Ascension of the Demonoids (George Kuchar, 1985, 46 min.)
Sins of the Fleshapoids (Mike Kuchar, 1965, 43 min.)

Thursday, August 28
Double Lunar Dogs (Joan Jonas, 1984, 24 min.)
Space is the Place (John Coney, 1974, 82 min.)
Just in time! Once the free shows in SaMo end, here is a film festival as quirky as its sponsor. I would say like no other, but those of you in the know have made it to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the weekend film series on the vaults. So this is kinda tame!

then later this weekend...

HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
SWEAT! A New Summer Dance Festival; $20/$15
Aug 15 - 16th, 8:30 PM SPILL, SPLASH, and SPLENDOR
The second and final weekend of it's first dance festival in a long time begins tomorrow with a bevy of UCR MFA students and local artists! I am very excited to catch up with my peoples! Hope to see you there. New choreography by Alison Bory, Cynthia Lee, Rosie Trump and Sadie Weinberg, curated by Sue Roginski. Not just solos!


TORRANCE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER, Studio One
3330 Civic Center Drive Torrance, CA 90503
Click here for directions
Open for Dance House, RKDC
Sunday, August 17th, 1 PM - 6 PM
Regina Klenjoski hosts an afternoon of classes and showings down in Long Beach!
She teaches a modern class at 1 - 2:30, then members of her company will show off a smidgen of a new piece and a full duet, "The Museum Project" For more info contact Raelle Dorfan at 310.292.7024 or raelle@rkdc.org

BALBOA PARK
Celebrate Dance Festival
Friday, August 22 at 6:00pm to Sunday August 24, 9:00 PM ( i cannot tell if it's a marathon or not)
Three days of dance of all forms and moves, here's to late summer kinetic events! Anyone wanna car pool? Split hotel?
The 12th annual Celebrate Dance Festival highlights 56 dance artists, organizations, and collectives in FREE performances and workshops over three days.

Friday, August 22 ~ 6pm to 10pm
Saturday, August 23 ~ 11:30am to 10pm
Sunday, August 24 ~ 12pm to 9pm

For directions, complete list of presenting artists, and performance schedule please visit: http://www.eveoke.org/cdf.htm


Looking for something that was mentioned last week? Check the archive to your left.



QUIRKY THINGS LOOKING 4 YOUR PARTICIPATION
I could probably come up with a new title for this, but these are not job openings, and not necessarily classes as you know them, so please read on and participate!

VOCAL TRAINING FOR ACTORS WHO WANT TO SING
AND FOR SINGERS WHO WANT TO SING BETTER BY MAIA
MONDAYS, 7 - 8:30PM BEGINNING AUGUST 25, 2008
Lucy Florence Coffeehouse & Cultural Center
3351 W. 43 Street, Los Angeles, CA 90008
(IN THE 2 ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM)
$60 per 4 classes or $20 per class (Advance payment preferred. Does not include materials).
This course is designed to build confidence in ones singing voice, help develop and strengthen the voice in general for actors/dancers; and to introduce singers to the world of music from a theoretical perspective. The classes include scale study (ear training), breath control and phrasing, basic music theory, chorale singing and song interpretation. Classes last for 1 and half hours per session. Maia is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and actor.
To pre-register contact MAIA (maxecalif@hotmail.com) or just show up at the first class.


YOUR UNFINISHED SWEATER CAN BE FAMOUS
Help Kristina Wong Expand the Set of "Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" By Donating Your Unfinished Knitting Projects
Your unfinished sweater, 5 inch scarf, or one-sided poncho can be famous for 15 minutes or more if you donate it to Kristina Wong's set of "Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Don't be ashamed you never finished what you started. Donate now and feel good for letting your abandoned project transform into a live piece of art. All donators will receive "set construction" credit in the program wherever this show tours.
Sweaters accepted between Friday, August 15, 2008 at 8:00AM and Monday, September 14, 2008
Please MAIL your unfinished knitting piece to:
Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
C/O Kristina Wong
PO Box 251664
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Instructions:
1) We love yarn and knitting projects that come in any color OTHER than black and white.
2) Remove your needle or hook from the piece. If possible run some waste yarn through the loops. No need to bind off. I'd prefer if it wasn't!
3) Write a note describing yourself, why you knit, and what the project was supposed to be and why it never came to be.
The show will open in September! Look for, hopefully, a preview review before then.

AFRICAN DANCE CAMPS & SUMMER INTENSIVES
My goodness! Sabar anyone? Not quite a festival, but Aziz Faye turns his class over to Pape N'Daiye this Sunday, Aug 17th @ 1:30 at the Dance Arts Academy, $15 at the door. This one will be very intense!

Early registration ends tomorrow, Aug 15th, for the Magbana Drum and Dance Retreat in Upstate New York. With the recent airfare slashing announced by almost all carriers, you should really consider venturing out to the land of apples, waterfalls, and foliage.


DanceBANK Summer intensive is simmering at the Open Space:
Sara Wookey
11am-2pm. Saturday, August 16th (one day only) / $20

Rebecca Alson-Milkman
11am-1pm. Tuesday & Thursday, August 19th & 21st / $12

Hana van der Kolk
7pm - 9pm. Thursday, August 21st / $12

These classes will be held at
The OPEN Space
209 S. Garey Street, 2nd floor
LA, CA 90012
- at 2nd St., 3 blocks east of Alameda off 2nd St.

drop-ins welcome!


ONGOING CLASSES
Shelby Williams is back at the Dancer's Studio and Viver Brasil is still splashing up a tsunami at Dance Arts Academy and the Dance Garden. Sarita's class in the park looks lovely (i went and had peek). And I just got word of a new class that looks fabuloso!

Liquid Pop w/ Alexandria Yalj
Sunday, August 17, 2008; 2:30pm - 5:30pm, by donation!
The Open Space, 209 S. Garey Street, Los Angeles, CA

Also, I've mentioned that I will begin to list and venture into spiritdancing or prayerdance "classes" and so I wanted announce Jo Cobbit's series of classes!
Devotion on Wednesdays
Live music with:
This week: Temple Bhajan Band
August 20th: Raven
August 27th: Nadine Risha & Band
September 3: Andrew Behla
September 10: Vic Hennegan
Blankenship Ballet Studio; 132 Brooks Ave
Venice CA 90291 7:30-9:30 $15
info link
These classes are more facilitated than taught, so they can be irritating for the trained dancer on the first go 'round, but after that, it's a great place to rediscover why you keep at it. For the non-dancer, these are loving open spaces to just seek movement. There's also a FANTASTIC Sunday class that I beleive is on hiatus while the teaching duo is at Esalen. More info as I have it.
All of these classes, plus some I have not mentioned are here, on the dance map!

Quick poll: would you come out to a donation based African dance class in Ozone Park (it's on the map) on August 27 at 10 AM or at 6 PM? I am itching to see you all! We could potluck picnic afterwards. Let me know ASAP.


LOVELY!
There is so much vital, healing energy literally hovering in the air. In the coming week, drop in and tap into this and magnify it! Send it out to your loved ones and to places in the world where other humans have forgotten that this exists for them as well. Open your arms as wide as possible so that your heart can lift us all.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: extend the leg

Peace & Love!

The Olympics are upon us and already they are in trouble. Gone are the days where safe passage is offered to contestants in the Games during a world wide truce. We have seen protesters launching themselves at the torch bearers, locals shoved out of their dwellings and trained how not to have a conversation with visitors, athletes denied visas at the last moment because of their political activity--where is the love of the human spirit? So very complicated, playing games. To be truthful, I could not believe that China was even allowed to host, but they are, so the Games should go on, in their true spirit. No, I"m not saying forget Tibet, forget about all the valleys that government has flooded with their hydraulic dam systems, forget the exceptionally polluted air, the persecution of Falun Gong members, the aiding and abetting of genocide in North Korea and Darfur--no, I am asking that we utilize the amazing energy generated when we humans congregate and use our ENTIRE bodies to think and experience the world to create the process and determination to end systems of domination, whether they be in China or stamped in the Patriot Act. The Olympics are the ultimate body-based performance. If you ever doubted that we are sacred creatures capable of acts of boundless determination, just tune in and git lifted.

Here at home, I am staging an olympics of sort on the sidewalks of Hollywood. Want to be a contestant? Write me back.

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is you '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--sign up, get your community on.

I must issue a mea culpa about last week's newsletter: I forgot the links for the mapped dance classes and the new Afrologics blog -- an archive of these newsletters. My bad. The heat got to me. BLOWIN' BACK THE FRO this weekend are late summer festivals and staple performers, think well stocked pantry!


TONIGHT!
SANTA MONICA PIER
Twilight Dance Series (which does not present dance shows) presents
Oliver Mtukudzi and Rocky Dawuni, AfroPop from Zimbabwe and Ghana
FREE, 7 - 10 PM
Finally there is something of afrological interest at the Santa Monica Pier. Actually, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra was of interest, but that was on a weekend where I just needed to get bodies to dance concerts! SO...free, beach, picnic, free, dance, beach crazy parking. Take the bus or park on the east side of town and ride a bike across. I am so serious. After being stranded after the Glow Festival, I do not have great trust in the transit system when it comes to crowds, that said, if you plan it right, you should be able to take a Wilshire bus across or take the Venice express bus 3/33 which will drop you right in front of the pier. That way, your contact high will not interfere with your driving. SPeaking of contact high, Toots & The Maytals close out the series on August 28th--it will be monster!

BARNSDAL PARK
4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90027
(between Edgemont and Vermont - free parking is first come, first serve)

Invertigo Dance Company, "Revelries & Reveries"
Thursday Aug 7th, Friday August 8th; Saturday August 16th, Wednesday August 20th
All dates are at 6:30 PM
Sarita Louise Moore sent me the heads up for this free event to "raise the curtain" on the Independent Shakespeare Company performance of Twelfth Night. She's in it! The Pre-show dance event that is. Go Sarita!

The event is FREE but you must MAKE RESERVATIONS with the Independent Shakespeare Company.
www.independentshakespeare.com
Outdoors next to the beautiful Hollyhock House
Bring a blanket and a picnic!


HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
SWEAT! A New Summer Dance Festival; $20/$15
Aug 8th - 9th, 8:30 PM PLEIADES
Aug 15 - 16th, 8:30 PM SPILL, SPLASH, and SPLENDOR
There is a dance festival on over on 18th Street! It's a small house, so tonight may already be sold out out, but it runs through the weekend.
Pleiades takes a spin on Hassan Christopher's Combustion: instead of 24 hours, these seven women dancer-choreographers had 7 days to put together a performance for you. Flora Weigman at curator-controls with Carol McDowell, Rae Shaolan Blum, Sarah White and some un-named astrids.

The second weekend is curated by a UCR MFA, Sue Roginski--yay!!!! New choreography by Alison Bory, Cynthia Lee, Rosie Trump and Sadie Weinberg. Not just solos!


ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
American Ballet Theatre "Rabbit & Rogues"
$105 - $25, August 6 - 10, 2008; 7:30 PM Wednesday -Friday; Saturday 2:00 & 7:30; Sunday 2:00
Last week I wrote about this one, well ABT is here in the OC with the West Coast Premiere of Twyla Tharpe's lastest piece. There may be some tickets left for tonight, but the run is quick, so who knows.


and coming up...

GRAND PERFORMANCES
August 8, 12 PM, FREE!
Jaipur Kawa Brass Band is gonna bring the funk for you, subcontinent stylee. I had my doubts from the description, but I listened to some tracks and found it very compelling. Too bad they are gigging at noon on a Friday. I'll need to leave Thursday night to make sure I get there on time.

but never fear, you can go shake it that night at

THE MUSIC CENTER
Friday, August 8th
directions to the Plaza
Dance Downtown presents ZYDECO! Featuring TLou and his Superhot Zydeco Band
Dance lessons begin at 6:30; the band takes the stage at 7:15 PM. Everything is FREE, limited space.


WORLD STAGE JAZZ FESTIVAL & BBQ
Leimert Park at the Fountain
4395 Leimert BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Sunday, August 10th, 10 AM; $20 in advance--includes tour and lunch
Now what tour you may wonder? LA Commons is doing a food tour of the city! This weekend they head to Leimert Park to taste authentic barbque. If I had not just come back from Mississippi, this would not be so funny to me, but let's just say, that my olympics dovetails nicely with this. The lovely and talented Maia brings out her vibraphone to gig with Jesse Sharpe around 2:30 PM as part of the actual Jazz festival. I think that the music & parking are free and the food is not. On the bill:
The Roy McCurdy Quartet, The Gathering with Jesse Sharps, Bobby Matos & his Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble, The George Harper Quartet featuring vocalist Karen Evans and Nate Morgan's Swingin 'N Exile. SHINE Mawusi, an all-female drum and dance ensemble,, under the direction of Rene Fisher, will share this star-studded bill. Gifted artists from the World Stage workshops will perform.


UNKNOWN THEATER
Fables du Theatre, a collaboration with Immanence Artists
August 15 - September 27th; Thursday - Saturdays @ 8 PM; Sundays @ 6 PM
"Sex. Death. Clown." this is how the event is described. This will be the season finale for the unknown, and I think we should turn out as thanks for their stellar dance season this year, and also to learn a thing or two;->


JAPAN AMERICA COMMUNITY CULTURAL CENTER PLAZA
244 S. San Pedro St., LA
Nisei Festival
Next Generation Remix Concert, FREE 6-7 PM "cultural", 7 - 10 PM "contemporary"
Here is one of those events that you just know will surprise you, so you best show up. Boasting everything from team hip hop dance crews to folksy alternative rock and some traditional dancetheater pieces, the Remix Concert has something for everyone, even if the premise is to become a viable market for transglobal entertainment industries--I'm not making that up. You can watch their promo video here and see for yourselves. Still, the show looks VERY interesting.

coming in September: Baker/Tarpanga Project at the Ford!!

AFRICAN DANCE WORKSHOPS
Okay! Le Bagatae is turning on more heat in Chicago, IL. Congo Camp is a wrap and so is the Denver, La Merveille. But don't hang up your lapa just yet. Still to come, a camp in Upstate New York in September--ahhhh foliage--and then Mama Nzinga Camara will host the annual African Dance Conference at Debbie Allen Dance Studio sometime in the fall as well, so be ready. Just to make you cry, I have posted the list of classes for Le Bagatae at the bottom of this e-mail...United just announced a sale. FYI.

SUMMER DANCE INTENSIVES
On deck next week for DANCEbank is Mira Kingsley, August 9th & 10th, 11 am - 2 pm
These classes will be held at Farmlab + Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
directions on their website:
http://farmlab.org/2006/12/more-information-coming-soon.html



ONGOING CLASSES
Again, here is a link to a map I made. If you know of classes that are active and cool, let me know and I'll send you an invite to collaborate on the map. Likely, I'll make one for national African Dance Camps/Festivals.

LOVELY!
WOW! Ever get that feeling that something itsy bitsy in your life is about to become slightly unmanageable? Well I have that sensation more and more each week as I work to figure out the best way to bring this information together and out to you. I want to thank all of you for reading the newsletter and dropping me a line form time to time! If you have any suggestions about where it should migrate, let me know. For now, ning is the place, so join up on Afrologica because I am getting close to being evicted from my .mac account, lol!

Class will resume s o o n.

in love,
-Anna

Conference Schedule www.lebagatae.com

Dance

Thursday August 7, 2008

Youssouf Koumbassa (Guinea) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Djenaba Sako (Mali) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Idy Ciss (Senegal) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Friday August 8, 2008

Djenaba Sako (Mali) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Biza Sompa (Congo) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Marietou Camara (Guinea) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Saturday August 9, 2008

Youssouf Koumbassa (Guinea) 10:00 - 11:30am

Mariama Basse (Senegal) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Marietou Camara (Guinea) 2:00 - 3:30pm

Moustapha Bangoura (Guinea) 3:30 - 5:00pm

Sunday August 10, 2008

Biza Sompa (Congo) 10:00 - 11:30am

Mariama Basse (Senegal) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Idy Ciss (Senegal) 2:00 - 3:30pm

Moustapha Bangoura (Guinea) 3:30 - 5:00pm



Drum

Thursday August 7, 2008

Abdoul Doumbia (Mali) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Alysco Diabate (Dununs * Guinea) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Fode Moussa Camara (Guinea) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Friday August 8, 2008

Talla Faye (Senegal) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Marietou Camara (Women Dununs) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Fode Moussa Camara (Guinea) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Saturday August 9, 2008

Titos Sompa (Congo) 10:00 - 11:30am

Marietou Camara (Women Dununs) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Madou Dembele (Ivory Coast) 2:00 - 3:30pm

Bolokada Conde (Guinea) 3:30 - 5:00pm

Sunday August 10, 2008

Bolokada Conde (Guinea) 10:00 - 11:30am

Alysco Diabate (Dununs * Guinea) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Madou Dembele (Ivory Coast) 2:00 - 3:30pm

NEWSLETTER: on the road

Greetings from Mississippi!

Well, it has been so hot, that I actually have not wanted to sweat since I got here! Now that's funny. I got my sweat on today since there was finally a lovely breeze this morning. Right now, thunder and more thunder has been teasing us all day. I feel like I am in an epic Bollywood film, waiting, hoping for the rain to come, lol! Instead, more thunder, and the clouds roll on past. My hunt for dance is turning up, well, jook joints mostly, so if I can manage it, I'll make my way out to "da club" somewhere in the bush and report back, or maybe just use the phone to track down the few companies I have found in Memphis. But I do hear that real estate is cheap if any of you wanna relocate and own the dance scene out here!

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is you '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--sign up, podcasts are dropping like gum drops out of small child's hand.

BLOWIN BACK THE 'FRO this week is the fact that I am not at home. No, really. I'm all grown up. Venice is my home and I miss all of you very much. I am especially missing the Redcat Festival which closes this weekend and several excellent music events and one awesome gallery event that you need to go check out before it closes.


REDCAT
631 W. 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA
Program 3 launches tonight and closes this year's edition of the NOW Festival
The final program of the annual New Original Works Festival brings together a cyber-erotic song cycle from Alpert-award winning composer Anne LeBaron and librettist Douglas Kearney, incisive and comic stories from writer/performer Kristina Wong and the emotionally powerful imagery of the newest work from Rosanna Gamson/World Wide.
redcat.org/season/0708/dan/now3.php


THE BOX
977 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Los Angeles Poverty Department presents,
Skid Row History Museum
Here's a company that does some amazing work, both challenging to themselves, their audience and the eventual participants. Catch this show before it's gone. Closing reception + perfromance--you know an exhibit is a good one when they decide they have to have a public farewell party--on Saturday, August 2nd @ 6 PM. Donate some money while you're at it.


FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068
Imani Winds, "Afro Blue"
August 1, 2008, Friday; 8:30 PM, $25/$12
This is a must see! A very unusual wind quintet that brings together jazz, classical music and Afro-Cuban music. And they can DRESS! Go check this out. The Ford was built for evenings like this one. Take a very elegant picnic and get there around 5:30 to have a fantastic pre-show experience. Save some vino for the show!


THE GETTY
1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, CA
Family Festival is here! August 2, Saturday, 6 - 10 PM
Hike on up to the Getty for a day of fun, arts & crafts, music and storytelling. My pick of the day is Katia Moraes at 11:10 AM. Parking is $8, event is FREE. The festival is built around the art of botanical renderings--really, no kidding! And women in particualr as the artists. SO go get your eco-friendly family feminist fun on!


ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
American Ballet Theatre
$105 - $25 (yikes!), August 6 - 10, 2008; 7:30 PM Wednesday -Friday; Saturday 2:00 & 7:30; Sunday 2:00
Twyla Tharpe just debuted Rabbit & Rogues in NYC and brings it straight to the OC, her old stompin ground. Well actually, that would be Riverside, where we have none of her papers in our archives, but I digress (speaking of which, we are always looking to make the future dance scholar and archivist happy, so if you are forward thinking, donate your papers to UC Riverside). Danny Elfman does the score. Should be an evening of wit and wild angles.

MUSIC CENTER
Today is the last day to get a season subscription before single ticket sales begin for the Fall season of dance at the Music Center. The line up is standard-fabulous, so if nothing else, click your way over there and pounce on those few tickets you want as soon as they go for sale individually. Of Afrological interest: Ailey (sporting a registered trademark, watch out!) and the Kirov doing the Nutcracker. Really. The Kirov will be in town to dance the Nutcracker.


SUMMER INTENSIVES
DANCEbank: Summer Intensive begins!
- get a taste of something different every week with this ongoing series of classes led by some of Los Angeles' finest movers, dance experimenters, improvisers, interdisciplinary boundary blenders, and somatic investigators...
Rae Shao-Lan Blum
Saturday/Sunday, August 2nd & 3rd, 11am-2pm
Simone Forti
Tuesday and Thursday, August 5th & 7th, 11am-1pm
These classes will be held at Farmlab + Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
directions on their website:
http://farmlab.org/2006/12/more-information-coming-soon.html

ONGOING CLASSES
are all on the map. So surf on over there and check it out! If you want to add one of your classes to the map, e-mail me and I will send you a collaboration invitation. Meg Wolfe has a master list of studio spaces. Likely it needs some updating. Anyone wanna help?

LOVELY!
Hey, check out a blog I put up to house these newsletters! Most of the links will "die" since they are connected to events, but any maps I put together and links to Afrologica will stay active. Just a way to store things. They also appear on my FaceBook profile.

AN ATTIC AN EXIT was AMAZING! I am polishing up a rather long review of it that will appear on Afrologica. Also in the proof reading phase: a review of Viver Brasil's "Gift on the Water," a review of Kolpowitz's TASKFORCE water pieces; an entry on the impact of yoga economics on dance production,; and in rough draft a review of GLOW festival and a longer entry on 11 MIssing Days plus guests. More podcasts to come, too! I am not on vacation, but the electrical storm just now has reminded me that everyone needs to recharge! Gotta go before my battery power runs out!

in love,
-Anna