Greetings! New moon, Mercury soon to go direct and all California's woes could be solved by legalizing the Holy Herb, WOOOO! Now THIS is how you start off the summer! Kids here in LA would also have to agree: summer school was just canceled for elementary and middle schoolers. Holy shitake mushrooms, Batman! Luckily, the summer arts season is upon us and rather than shrink the season in order to support a few large ticket companies, it seems that we will get to revel in local arts and small indie groups from afar! The paradigm is shifting, but you should still call your local reps no matter what state you live in, to make sure that any and all budget adjustments are made with people and social harmony as the center piece, not industry or real estate or finances. When people are taken care of, at least here int he US, we have a tendency to create new business models, industries and financial markets. These tired-ass vampires that are sucking the life out of our here and now must be released into the past if we are to survive for a future. Though fear has of late driven just about every major policy decision in the last 9 years, we can no longer assume that it is normal nor prudent. Only 12% of us registered to vote went out and voted on May 19th in California Special Election. From that paltry showing, Sacramento is claiming that they heard us loud and clear and are now cutting services that will cost us far more than they will save us. Now, why did only 12% turn out and how is it posasible for legislators to know what to cut when folks don't participate? but how can those same legislators claim to know what we want from a paltry 12% showing? If you want them to hear you loud and clear, get involved with the Constitutional Convention, but also give some real thought to legalizing marijuana. The math works, the medicine works, the statistics of crime shift, the possibility for prevention increases, the protection of our national forests is strengthened (yeah y'all, fools is growin weed on massive plots in the woods, armed to the teeth) and several new legitimate industries will be born. Remember, Prohibition preceded the Great Depression. I'm not advocating that we all get high, just that we get real.
Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro? Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up! That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up, act up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful
Highways Performance Space 1651 18th Street @ Olympic, Santa Monica, CA Oh My Tiger + Ocean/Flight Friday, May 29 - Saturday May 30 @ 8:30 PM & Sun May 31 @ 7:30 PM
Luckman Fine Arts Complex 5151 State University Drive Los Angeles, CA 90032-8116 Tribute to Rudy Perez: Premiering "Enough Rope" Saturday, June 6, 2009, 8:30 pm, $30 Celebrating three decades in Los Angeles and the birthing of 50 different dance works, postmodern master Rudy Perez, who is turning 80, refuses to rest on his laurels. One of the co-founders of New York's experimental Judson Dance Theatre, a coterie of artists who would define boundary-breaking "downtown" aesthetics in 1962, Perez continues to chart an unwavering course where pedestrian moves transcend the mundane to reveal bold, deep ideas. Buy Tickets: Through Ticketmaster or call the Luckman Box Office at 323.343.6600
A lovely little fragment of a newsletter. Catching the wind to get justice by my side and Anatomy Riot's produced...stay tuned. We are taking flight shortly. in love, -Anna
This will be a Memorial Day that will not soon be forgotten here in the Golden State. After the election on May 19, it is clear now that...the sky is the limit! That's right. I am not being facetious either; I truly mean this. So much just went wrong here that it is highlighting across the nation everything that can and often does go wrong when money, personal agendas, and politics are mixed in a glass called "democracy." Now that "voters" have made it clear that there is no way that we will collective agree to have children, the mentally ill and disabled, the drug and gambling addicted disenfranchised in our budgetary process. The pundits are asking if the state is ungovernable, but I think that is the wrong question. I believe that what we are now forced to consider in California (and also in major cities across the US with fluctuations in demographics) is whether or not the residents of California are willing to act as citizens and self-govern. I want you all to the read this amazing article in the Economist about the issue. Please. It is super important: knowledge is power! Okay, that was hokey, but really, we arts types and we educator types and we funky freaky wanna be ourselves types really need to check the VOTING reality to get a better handle on the legislative reality. So I opened this by saying the sky is the limit; it is. We have absolutely nothing to loose at his point. By the time Sacramento gets done trying to look as if it can make a balanced budget, thousands currently in "good government jobs" will be unemployed, at least a hundred health and social service programs will be cut, there will likely be another 10,000 people in the street in LA alone (there are currently an estimated 90,000) and the water battle between No. Cal & So. Cal will go "balls to the wall." Sounds grim? It could be, but I have hope that the Constitutional Convention can quickly put us in a fiscal position that will allow us to turn the free fall into flight. It will take all voters, no matter your political persuasion, working on this. It may mean foregoing your own special issue for a few months: I was mortified to receive a frenzied e-mail from Californians Arts Advocates asking me to call my rep to pass AB 700 after the election. I found that ridiculous, even though I understand that right now we are having a hard time getting NEA stimulus money into the state because there is no true strength in the California Arts Council. That email really underscored the facts discussed in the Economist article: there is a highly self-sorted group of white people (non-representative of white folks generally) who are polarized at either end of the political spectrum who are running the state into the ground bickering among themselves through propositions and narrowcasted bills. Miraculously, these folks manage to make it look like it's the rest of us who are the problem. We can all change this. I urge you all to participate, even if you absolutely hate politics, because you live here; this is your home. Admit it, you love palm trees next to firs. It works for you. So stopping thinkin Icarus and start thinking Phoenix. And yet We Rise...
Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro? Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up! That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up, act up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful
BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO this week is a plethora, a grip, a boatload of things to do around LA for three whole days. Whew! I'm gonna be very tired by the end of this. Get your party on! And give that uncle of yours who ain't been right since he got back from da war (pick one) a great big hug and an apology (just don't sneak up on him)
HIGHWAYS 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 Tim Miller' Lay of the Land Has gotten rave reviews and will finish out its run this weekend as part of Highways 20th Anniversary celebration. This is a timely show, but the nailbiter--the CA Supreme Court decision on Prop 8--is still a week away. Again, pundits are guessing that Prop 8 will not be repealed so get your glitter out and set some major intentions that it will.
MASONIC LODGE My FAV little museum that could, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, is collaborating with my fav mad scientists, Machine Project, to bring you a peepshow/panorama this weekend only. This is a walk-through performance, and while there is a kid price, it is not recommended for the 4yr and under set. Since it's my son's birthday weekend, we hope to be there tomorrow night.
UCLA Reggae Fest is in effect and from what I hear, actually quite bombastic. I think I OD'ed (sp?) on reggae festivals in college....
LA MARATHON Wow, so, um, it might be hard to get ANYWHERE is you live along the route, so just go out and cheer.
and...wow. there is not much to look at recently, but check the archives and find some gems that i never published that are going up now...
i think Monday is the new Saturday.
SANTA MONICA BEACH May 25 @ 2 PM there will be a flash dance mob lead/designed by Christine Suarez. You wanna be there if you can. Last rehearsal is at 12:30 if you want to do it! Where Ocean Park Blvd meets the sand. The action will move all the from there to the Pier. Bring sunblock, water, light snacks.
TROPICO DE NOPAL GALLERY ART-SPACE 1665 Beverly Blvd./near Union Ave. Los Angeles (Echo Park), CA 90026; 213-481-8112 Faces of Nature -- a solo performance Monday, May 25, 6:30 p.m. doors, 7:00 p.m. performance begins, $10 RosangelaSilvestre is finally showing her dance work here in LA! This is not to be missed! "This unique performance will culminate with an invitation to partake in an open discussion about the nature of her extraordinary work and artistry." BLOWOUT COMB! plenty of street parking, but do carpool. www.tropicodenopal.com
HIGHWAYS 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 Queer Mondays is turning folks out over at Highways, last Monday of each month. This Monday should be legendary as the celebration for Highways 20th continues. To sign up: E-mail IAN MACKINNON at imackinn1@hotmail.com Mon 7:30pm $5
REDCAT 631 W Second St, Los Angeles, CA The REDCAT has a lot more programming beginning on Sundays and Mondays these days. I just went to the Spring Studio, which I co-curated with Chi-wang Yang and had a blast! George Lugg claimed I conjured that earthquake, but I think it was the voice of Jasmine Oripilla. Riveting! The next Studio is in the Fall, so prep your new works! For now, we are about to enter summer season there and weekends will reign supreme, kicking off with Dance CameraWEST on June 5. Buy your tickets NOW!
THE OPEN SPACE, on dance map 209 S. Garey Street, 2nd floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Anatomy Riot #32 is going to be a zoo! I am co-curating with Arianne Hoffman. We had a good time at AR #31, Time Clock OFF, and hope to see many of you at this next one, GrrrrrrAnimals or Beasts & Burdens or Pets that I can’t keep. This will be legendary, though I cannot and will not promise an(other) earthquake.
FESTIVALS several series kick off the first weekend in June, and I've got my picks for you. but after i go dance in the sand and then scoot over to watch rosangelasilvestre!
ON GOING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS Well, y'all just missed Rennie Harris give a $15 master class at The Electric Lodge. it was smokin. All house, all the time. Hopefully, he will do it again next month.
Also in town for special workshops and events is the inimitable (though many try) RosangelaSilvestre, a great example of perseverance, dedication, and a whole lotta gumption! She gave an INSPIRED class, also at The Electric Lodge this Saturday as a guest in Kimberly Mullen's slot. Next class with Rosangela is Tuesday, May 26 @ 8 PM at the Dance Art Academy.
Next class series that is likely burning a new whole in the minds of the participants is Michael Sakamoto in the DANCEBank. The last Saturday is next weekend at 11 AM in the Metabolic Studio / Farmlab, 1745 North Spring Street, #4, LA, CA 90012. This brother really will rearrange your perception, so go take this class. A steal at $12.
At the CENTER THEATRE GROUP, DANCE GOOD DAMMIT, is offering a special workshop at the dirt cheap price of $10, Gregory Barnett is one rare bird and I have to say that you will feel sooo liberated afterwards that looking back at how you thought about your body and its place in the world, you go "WTF?! You mean I coulda done_____ anyway?!" Yeah, free your mind and your ass will follow. Except I think Greg would say, "release your ass and your mind will thank you." Sundays, 2 - 5 PM June 7th, 21st, 28th. Class is limited to 15; few spots left. Contact him now (dancegood.damnit@gmail) 310-749-0348 and specify which date(s) you will attend. NO DROP INS due to security: they need a list of who they're letting in the building. once confirmed exact location and entrance to use will be sent via email. All locations on the Afrologic Dance Map!
LOVELY! I've got some cool grants to tell you about and some more ideas about liberating ourselves from lack consciousness, but I gotta get to walkin so I can make rehearsal out on the beach! I want to urge you to join the Afrologica network at http://afrologic.ning.com and PARTICIPATE. My Twitter feed is live over there and soon I will upload a grip of videos from here and there. I hope you can join us since there is about to be big movement on several fronts around a number of the things I like to preach about here, lol! Seriously though, it's time to connect reader to reader to build networks that can help sustain us through this very difficult transitional move. Yes, it is just transitional, but it is complex, polyrhythmic, weight-bearing and zone-shifting, so please, do not hang onto your hat: hold somebody's hand...and smile, all eyes are on each and everyone of us!!!
Wow, 20 days and several mostly done but not posted newsletters...I am switching to daily updates on the blog, commentary on the calendar posts, and a shorter email blast. However, I will likely also switch over to a 3 times a week blast instead of just one. OR you'll all join Afrologica and that won't be necessary...yeah yeah yeah, destination fatigue, I get it. School is almost out, so I will be done with the 320 miles/week commute, freeing time to dance, research, write and blog. Oh yeah! I have some footage from my recent trip to Oakland that I will post soon. Below please find my Tweets from earlier today as I went over the propositions on the ballot today. Basically, if you have a hard time getting to the polls because you are disabled, mentally ill, or a child, you are loosing money on this ballot. And if you are person with a dependent and too busy to read the propositions all the way through, you are loosing money too.
Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro? Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up! That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful
BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO right now are scary propositions to balance the California state budget...
Good morning Californians. Please go and vote today! 20 minutes till polls open. yeah, 1A &B SUCK, but it's that or bankruptcy.about 5 hours agofrom web
1A is absolutely perverse and 'bassakward' in its reduction of the dependent tax credit. Real issue is pre-1978 property & Prop 13about 4 hours agofrom web
How insanely putrid is 1B? Stinks so bad my eyes hurt reading it. Prop98, which guides 1B, is the stinker. Cynical does not cover it.about 4 hours agofrom web
Heading out to vote, wishing we were having the constitutional convention instead. CA is run like a very old poorly maintained switch boardabout 4 hours agofrom web
AHH! I was leaving and looked at 1C. NO WAY! Why is education under attack? Lottery to balance budget? Whaat? Driving addiction as policy?about 4 hours agofrom web
It's appropriate that prop 1D is so titled. This will not pass. The trend? Take money from kids cause they can't vote. Save 1st 5, no on 1Dabout 4 hours agofrom web
1E: Robbing Peter to pay Paul. Strike the 3 strikes law & terminate contracts with private prisons, then come for kids and the vulnerableabout 4 hours agofrom web
just back from voting. completely empty polling place. how much are we spending on this special election? at least I was called "dear."about 3 hours agofrom web
LOVING OURSELVES What about 1F you ask? VOTE FOR IT. Perhaps when you mess with their paycheck, the legislature will finally look hard and look at the actual problems--too many prisons, too many laws to imprison those who need treatment of some sort or just a job, too much profiteering on real estate, educational system designed for the 19th century Industrial Revolution; no current industrial revolution; too many folks/dollars forced into higher ed when a vocational school would serve their true passion; ditto for art and education; not enough family-focused child policy; rampant industrial farming polluting air, ground and water while devastating water table; stifled innovation through laws to protect outmoded "industries," rules that inhibit going green; wasted dollars chasing drug dealers when legalization would be good business & policy--and stop putting these whack propositions in front of us. Basically, we need them to admit that Proposition 13 from 1978 is having unforeseen and deleterious effects on our state. And the arts? With Michelle Obama kickin it in NYC yesterday to watch extravagant ballet performances, I am wondering if folks in the "places of power" are making the same connections between sustainability, localism, and scaled labor in the Arts as they are in the automotive sector. I am guessing no. As beautiful as grand spectacles are, they do not represent the "norm" of art production, nor the main aspiration. In fact, they lie well outside where and how most dance artists make their work. Looking at these ballot measures under the shadow of the ABT gamin dancing at the Met reminds me of a phrase attributed to Jean-Paul Satre: "You do not speak of philosophy to a starving man." Or is that a violin playing amidst the rising smoke? The crazy thing about an artist is that we will make our work no matter what, at least that's the myth. How many of us have hidden themselves, choosing stability over booms and busts, simply because the model of the grand spectacle is untenable? California is a testament to this faulty logic. Excess is not art nor is it innovation. And being simple- and single-minded is simplistic, not elegance in simplicity. You know, we are always talking about finding the middle road; what if it is not on the same plane as the hard left or right? What if we need to elevate, rotate, and move against the two? I'm just sayin,' goin round and round ain't so merry. Go vote, and get it together for the constitutional convention.
Yes! That's been my theme today since listening to as many songs as I possibly could last night where the word "love" figured prominently in the lyrics. Sappy, but therapeutic. I am right now making a mad dash for UCLA to catch some short films being screened by my colleague Cathy Cole. I will not even say, "and you should come too" because if you are not anywhere near UCLA at this very moment, you will not make it anyway. Friday. This week has been really wild with the Swine Flu starting to appear in the US and the 100 day mark for Obama passing with the bankruptcy of Chrysler. While these things are shifting our ability to think about non-vital activities (this is usually where people plug in the arts,but especially dance), a few bills promoting and supporting the arts are wending their way through national and state senates. In particular, California has a bill going through that demands your attention and faxes. I'll have more details on that later tonight. So stay tuned!
Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro? Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up! That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful
BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO tonight a lot of action at UCLA. But there is much more all over and you will hear about it later on this evening.
DANCE UNDER CONSTRUCTION Follow this link for info on the conference, Dance Under Construction, $25 registration fee, all day tomorrow. I present in the afternoon on this newsletter experiment with Arianne Hoffmann who will talk about ear full of dance podcast. Se the link in my side nav bar to check out her programs. Our panel is called "Alternative Transmissions." Glorya Kaufman Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 120 Westwood Plaza, 90095-1608. (map) Pappas and Dancers in Monster 8 PM tonight, tickets at the window Part of DUC conference
Look for some parking meter antics somewhere in Westwood tonight and tomorrow...follow us @meterdance on Twitter
UCLA Royce Hall Ballet Preljocaj presents Les 4 Saisons Tonight Friday May 1 through Saturday May 2 $54/42/28 students $15 Looked the clips and I have to say this looks amazing. Not your typical ballet by a long shot.
LOVELY (for now) It has not gone without notice that today is International Worker's day. I think it is kismet that Dance Week encompasses this very important day this year. I'll have more to say about dance and labor, but I just want us to think of ways as consumers who are demanding smarter, leaner, greener industries can lovingly embrace and support the unemployed laborers and those who have just recently had a lot of their hard-won benefits reduced or stripped altogether. We are at a critical moment that could signal an extreme rupture in our society if we do not love and respect each other AND lend a helping hand, not a hand out. In this climate of lay-offs and anti-union, anti-art, anti-poor sentiments every one must join together and celebrate the fruits of our labor, which to my mind should always be the joy in our hearts.
An inclusive, yet selective, weekly newsletter/calendar of mostly dance-based performance in the Los Angeles area and beyond. Nurtured by Anna B. Scott. Become an Afronaut on the One. Discover where we all intersect.
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I'm Anna B. Scott out in the Other Reality, performance artist & instigator, dance theorist and performer, mother of two madcap scientists and your extra special new best friend forever.
