NEWSLETTER: freeze go freeze go> a revelation of some length

Peace & Blessings!

Apologies for my disappearance: my body decided it needed to rest, but my ego was having none of that. You can guess how that mind/body split thing worked out for me. So while I was knocked out in bed wishing for muscle relaxant, I was thinking of the looming tax revolt spurred by the "bailouts" of the 5 largest banks in the US. This could get pretty ugly, because from what I have heard from my friends of various political stripes, bailing out the banks seems about as smart as giving a crackhead $10 on a Friday night. "They made this mess. They misrepresented gambling as "investments," they deserve to fail, right?" Well, yeah, in a world where private financial markets are not sewn into government trade agreements, that would be the case. Example of what we are really talking about: when I first went to Brazil, I opened a Citibank account back in 1990, because it was the only US bank in Brazil at that time that had a post in Salvador. I could have my money deposited into my account here, and withdraw it there (Citi was also helping to orchestrate a flight of capital from Brazil that was startling through currency speculation). I could also receive emergency mail through American Express via the consulate. Okay. Peep that. Federal communication could be delivered to me through a private financial institution and US legal tender could be rendered in Brazilian cruzeiros without my having to present actual currency. If the large banks here collapse, the world banking system collapses. There has not been enough time to actually reconcile the ledgers between banks, between governments and--here's the kicker--between banks and investors. The logical move, the move that stabilizes instead of freezes for a bit is to nationalize those banks, but who said we were dealing in logical here? What to do? Get your bartering on. Set a rate of exchange among friends. Cancel all your credit cards and live beyond your FICO score; live through personal commitment and love.

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 is this big long realization that I got to do it to it since as a person kinda left by the wayside of the last few bubbles, I am in better economic shape than most. If this is you too, time to hustle and be of service. We got ta rethink "skill set." A laugh or two or genuine awe are fantastically valuable things right about now. You got a chance to see what I mean this, the last weekend of Black Artist Employment Month.



CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, CA 90037
Friday, February 27th, 7 PM - 10PM; $5- $10 suggested cash donation
"Quiet as It's Kept: CHANGE," A Performance Ritual By Ulysses Jenkins
This portends a night of epic experiences. Though a performance the following is tucked inside: "Quiet As Kept: Change" will serve as a reception for Ms. Hassinger and is a ritual performance which brings together the artist who were presented last year at the Getty panel "African American Avant Garde" in performance with other Los Angeles & Northern California artist in a celebration of the African Diaspora and Black Woman." Live music, Black Arts-era artists and performers, + Viver Brasil should add up to a fascinating evening. Plus there should be folks there from the CAA (massive art school conference in town) and Tavis Smiley's "State of Black America" gathering at the Staples Center. Dress to the nines...artist stylee!


UCLA LIVE
Batsheva presents MAX
Saturday February 28, 8 PM & Sunday March 1, 7 PM; $54, $42, $28
Incredible dancing from a company from an incredibly problematic place. I place this in the newsletter in conflict, but with a clear head: I am not going nor do I recommend that anyone else go. Art should always be the first line of open communication, but between parties that are pretending not to know each other, not as export material during a massive conflagration. This tour should not have happened, as beautiful as these dancers are; they are needed at home to help heal the gaping wound that is Gaza: 14 Israeli dead, 14,000 and counting Palestinians dead. A nation turned into a gang, another turned into its own worst nightmare...Sometimes, the show should not go on. I have a hard time thinking of this tour as a triumph of the human spirit. What do you think?


REDCAT
631 W. 2nd St
Jérôme Bel: Pichet Klunchun and myself
Friday February 27 & Saturday 28 8:30 PM; Sunday March 1, 7 PM; $12/$20/$25
Instead, go check out this choreographic essay on tradition, cultural exchange, cultural imperialism and formal decay. This piece has received good reviews and will likely be rather challenging: here's the stuff we don't like to think about while thinking about dance. My friend Ananya Chatterjea saw that I was going (will be on the next ear full of dance podcast chatting about it) and wrote on my wall (Face Book) that I had to call her as soon as I saw it since she has not been able to stop thinking about it. She also called me in a panic about going to see Batsheva in Minnesota. Omigawd, dance scholars!

also at the REDCAT
Redcat Children's International Film Festival!
February 21 - March 8th, each weekend.
Each program is $5 and jammed packed at around 75 minutes. Most programs are shorts, perfect those wee little attention spans. And your kids will like it too! My picks: Nickelodean Family Fun Day(yikes); then next weekend "Rise and Shine" and "Animated Genusis: The Films of John & Faith Hubley" (jazz scores!). Check out all the programs and buy tix in advance.



HIGHWAYS
1651 18th St., Santa Monica, CA
DreamAwake presents "Simple Matters"
Friday + Saturday, February 27 + 28 @8.30pm; $20
Featuring Vladimir Levitansky, Noah Veil, Martina Oskarsson, Kate Gibson, and Eleni Zaharopoulous, this show should be wickedly funny and entirely thought-provoking. Vladimir Levitansky is "an artistic resource" for Cirque de Soleil and has generated his own special blend of clowning: "Bul-Artoh, a synthesis of Clown, Comedia Dell-Arte, Buffoon, and Butoh." What a tough weekend! You could see Jerome Bel on Friday then this one a Saturday for a complete re-think of art in the social sphere. Or you go to just have a good time.


UCLA, GLORIA KAUFMAN HALL
(Room 200), 120 Westwood Plaza, map
New Dance and Theatrical Works-in-Progress

Saturday, February 28 @ 8pm; FREE; Parking $9 in Lot 4

As if there were not already too much to choose from, Angela Jordan and Michael Sakamoto open their process to the public this weekend in preparation for their joint show in the department of World Art and Culture. This is a great opportunity to engage artists as they move towards a "final product." Angela Jordan’s “Trio” and “Don” blend modern, West African, and postmodern dance to explore love, gender relations, while Michael Sakamoto presents “Vestiges of Creation,” a series of dance theater vignettes filled with: mysterious characters, dark netherworld, ritual embodiment, cultural conventions, and of course audience expectations.


Looking for details from last week? check the archive. If you join Afrologica, you can look at a live calendar whenever you feel like it!


WORKSHOPS & ONGOING CLASSES
A few weeks back I announced all the international dance camp notices I received...so I thought! My daughter deleted that part of the newsletter apparently, so I will have to build it from scratch. Basically, I was urging you all to go to one of these by setting aside money in a local credit union in preparation for your trip. Yes, you can help your community while you get your self together to travel. For most of these, you will need to sock away $400 +/mo to be ready to get on the plane. Just keep thinking "beyond the FICO score."

Congolese Drum and Dance Workshop in Maui, Hawai'i starts today!!!! AND IT"S 30 YEARS OLD!!! Somebody send me! I need a break. Really. Okay, then. You go, you need a break too. Hot dancing, smoking drumming and fantastic food all over looking the ocean on a lush camp ground. I have been to this workshop a few times with my son. We had a blast. The drumming is clean and sweet; the dance instruction sensational. Disclosure: I was in Fua Dia Congo back in the 90s. Friday, Feb 27 - Monday, Mar 9 2009. You can attend for a few days or jump in for the full run. $90/day; $800 for entire thing. Air & car travel is on your own, there sometimes there is a shuttle from the airport on Maui into Camp Kenae. Dancing is inside. A few bunk dormitories, but camping highly recommended. Pack lightly; wash frequently. Lots of info on their website and you can pay via paypal there, too!


OUAGADOUGOU Dance and Drum! Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project & DAFRA Drum Ensemble in association with Napam Beogo/Center for Artisans and Visual Arts invites you to study West African Dance and Drumming in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso this Summer, August 1-15th, 2009 Fee: $2500, covers all workshops, lodging, three delicious homemade meals per day, local travel with group, and excursions outside of the city. Airfare to and from Burkina Faso is not covered. Dance: Traditional Manding, Gourmanche, Gourounsi, Warba; Contemporary African Dance and Improvisation. For further questions and more information email: bakertarpagadance@gmail.com; Phone: 323-641-7476
$250 Non Refundable Deposit Due By: May 1, 2009
Full Payment Due By: June 1, 2009
Please mail deposit to:
Olivier Tarpaga
2631 West 17th St
Los Angeles, CA 90019

Salvador, Bahia Brasil with Viver Brasil!! One of the longest running arts edutours to Latin America concerned specifically with the arts of the African Diaspora, "Roots and Contemporary Development of Afro-Brazilian Dance & Music Workshop" will connect you with the top dancers, choreographers and researchers in the City of Seven Gates. As disclosure, I am on the board, but as a researcher of this field in particular, I can tell you that this program has great integrity. August 1-17, 2009: Package Price: $3495, based on double occupancy price includes travel from LA, NY or Miami to Brazil, airport transfers, all course-related activities and events, translators, double occupancy accommodations (upon availability) and breakfast. If you are traveling from a city other than LA, Miami or NY, you will be responsible for flight costs from your departing city. $400 Deposit (check or money order) due upon registration (no early bird info). Deposit is non-refundable. Full Payment Due: June 15, 2008. You can have all your questions answered and even pay your registration fee via paypal on the company's travel program page!


Contra-Tiempo ahas a CUBA trip, but I can't find details. More info to come on that.

Camp Faretta will happen in July I believe. That is a West African Dance camp in Cali, data to follow.

Congo Drum & Dance returns to the mainland in August, check their site.

Tambacounda is likely to happen this year to help lift up djembefolla Abdoulaye Diakite. Stay tuned for that.




LOVELY!
I am very excited by this glut of work to see and experience this weekend! We can continue to expect each weekend to get more challenging because there is a lot for artists to make work about. And since we are experiencing a "Recession" (wink wink nod nod), artists will need to put up more and more work at less and less cost to the consumer in order to continue making work. You know that bumper sticker: "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go"? I can't stand but, hot damn, here we are a toiling in the mines getting to pretend like we wanted to give billions of our national rainy day fund to a bunch of thieves. This is not the way out of a recession, but it is the way out of indentured servitude. THAT'S what these folks in the gov'ment are really seeing when they decide to bailout the banks first and not to award the small local banks and credit unions. Those banks did not fall for the hype, continued to serve their communities, and now shoulder far more than their fair share of the FDIC expense to cover the bad bets of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, Wamu, Wachovia, Bank of America...the list grows everyday. Mainstream press has stopped reporting. They have not stopped trying to divert our attention to good old standbys like racist engravings and sexists proclamations over motherhood. You feel it though, that sensation that you are looking directly at something without seeing it, even though there appears to be quite a bit of information coming your way. The tax revolt is coming as a global tidal wave. It won't be Republican. It won't be labor revolt. It may or may not usher in a socialist reality here in the US. It will not be led by the Greens or pushed by a clamor for a green economy. It likely will never be characterized as communist. The tax revolt is coming because the largest number of investors in these companies drinking our taxes like a cactus after a rainstorm is, well us!!! We poorly invested our money and now that we are not getting dividends, now we have to pay for our bad investments because they are costing us money. Paying three times is not sitting well with most of us, and since we owe ourselves, we are likely to say, we ain't gonna pay, and hopefully then, once we have recognized that value lies not in instruments of investment but in exchanges between people, we can then go about building a society that is just and fair, that acts locally while thinking globally, that provides mechanisms for citizens and non-citizens alike to be treated with respect and grace. That recognizes that people have to flow just as easily across borders as "capital" does. A society where artistic practice is not considered leisure, but a road map to a stable, vibrant economy. Watch what happens in Sacramento in the coming weeks. It will be monumental. Get up there and place your voice in the chorus. Bring some percussion.

NEWSLETTER: quem não vai já morreu

JUMP UP!! Hold da Line! Mexe mexe!!!

It is Carnaval time around the globe!!! The feast before the the famine, it is totally appropriate that both the stimulus package and Californians record-breaking late budget were both just signed. I could not help but laugh at the odd coincidence. The other "odd coincidence" happened this week, in a newspaper. It is likely by now that you have heard about and even seen the political cartoon that the NY Post ran ostensibly about the animal actor that skipped his Xanax, went berserk and mauled a woman in Florida, except the cartoon showed two white police officers standing over the shot and bleeding chimp saying "I guess we have to find someone else to write the next stimulus package." Wow. That would've been funny if on the previous page they had not covered the actual signer of the stimulus package, Barack Obama, and oh yeah, we had not had the last 400 years of brutal white supremacist images. Yeah, then that would have been fuuuuuuuneeeeeee! Wooo! But this is the feast before the famine, and I am sure that after the current uproar, it will be a while before Murdock and his buddies try something this extravagantly racist. I was all ready to just skip over this, I mean, I have a hard time getting behind anything Al Sharpton is running, until I watched my son suffer through 24 hours of very subtle racist decisions that were practically subliminal. Like I said last week, we have to keep the love up, and high! Not just for the kids, but for ourselves. We all deserve a world free of ignorance and lazy comedians. Everyone has to step up their game. Taking racism to new highs always turns out to be the quick road to annihilation, rush that it is. So your assignment as we approach Fat Tuesday is to find the wonderful, put a beat to it and jam in the streets of our political commons aka the Internet (how did that happen) and Old World Stylee, challenge the opposing Crewe to "dance off" for right of way. Don't just shake your head, or dash off a letter to the editor, or sign the petition that Color of Change is running. Get out there on the blogs and videos where the racists doth gather, and don't reason, just bring your wonderful for about 10 minutes, then crank up some carnival tunes and shake it. Yes, this is counterintuitive. Engage. right now there is a veritable feast of events laid out on the table before us.

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 is my need to support my son (little man took some hits to the ego) versus my desire to head out to the Inland Empire and find some wonderful. But there is that fiery feel of chaos that I loved of Carnaval engulfing the city's soles. Hot feet and hearts pounding as one...

TONIGHT
3587 Main Street (at corner of 6th downtown - former jazz club), Riverside, CA, map
You Belong To Me, Part 1
Ursuala Rucker with James Luna in downtown Riverside. I could not figure this out, but Jennfer Doyle is the answer. Ursula Rucker is amazing. That show starts shortly. Spend the night and catch the panel the next day with Rucker, Luna and performance artist Ron Athey. Then Athey performs on Saturday night.


PERFORMANCE LAB, ARTS 166
900 University Avenue, Riverside CA
decaDANCE: 10th Annual Graduate Student Dance Concert
Friday, February 20 & Saturday 21 @ 8 PM, Sunday 22 @ 3 PM Cruise out to see our MFA's and PhD candidates perform/create works about topics you thought you understood: you may think you know, but you have no idea...and you'll be entertained. Really. This is a zany crew. Carol Abizaid, Duanzi Cheng, Melissa Hudson, Hye Won Hwang, Adanna Jones, Ann Mazzocca, Tim Rubel, Hannah Schwadron, Asheley Smith, and Prema Thiagarajan


REDCAT
International Children's Film Festival
Saturday, February 21st, Noon, through March 8; $5/ticket/program
WHOAH!!! This thing is huge! And while it appears cheap, it is not if you love movies and have kids. There are several programs per day, each for $5. There is no festival pass that I can see. But I guess, most kids could only handle 80 minutes at a stretch anyway. It is a bargain compared to commercial screen prices, half to be exact. I'm just being greedy! Rise and Shine looks like my fav. And I might have to wait until March 7th to see it, being fiscally responsible and all. Go to the website and check out the offerings, they are too numerous to mention here. But the "added value" is that CAARS is producing the live events part, so expect lots of wild big fun outside of the screenings. The festivities include interactive jump-roping, balloons, snacks, REDCAT tattoos, photos and fun.



FARMERS' MARKET
3rd Street @ Fairfax
Mardis Gras Festivities
Friday, February 20, 6:30 - 10 PM; Saturday February 21, 12 PM - 9:30 PM; Sunday February 22, 12-7:30 PM; and Fat Tuesday, 24 February, 6 -8 PM
Laissez les bom temps roulez! Something for everyone at good times during the day. It's free, but you will spend lots of money if you don't eat before you go! Parking is a hassle, so take a bus or park in the garage for the adjacent mall, which is not cheap. The cajun cooking joint, however, is not to be missed. You gotta at least have some chicory et beignets. Great fun for kids.


PASADENA CIVIC AUDITORIUM, map
300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101 Pasadena Dance Festival Saturday, February 21, 11 AM, 1:30 PM, 4 PM showcases; professional stage 8 PM, workshop all day; $40 festival pass; $25 for evening show; $25 day pass no show. Online pre-sales are done, so you just have to show up, but there is no way you will be disappointed! Not only are there master classes from great instructors (hello, Lula Washington is giving a master class at the end of the day), but there is a lecture series geared towards the professional dancer. Check out Cedar Sinai's "Dance Therapy" presentation at 3 PM. Do not miss Antics Dance at the professional showcase.


HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
6215 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
THE 9th ANNUAL BRAZILIAN CARNAVAL 2009
Saturday, February 21, 8 PM
Viver Brasil. Katia Moraes. Live feed from Brasil. No need to say much more. Get your samba all the way on, in different candences, tempo, and sotaques! The pricing é um pouco complicado: The Hollywood Palladium Brazilian Carnaval 2009 is for all ages. Advance tickets are $38 for general admission and $55 for reserved table seating and $65 for VIP seating, plus group discounts are available by calling (818) 566-1111. Purchase General Admission and Reserved Table tickets by calling (818) 566-1111 or visit www.BrazilianNites.com or www.livenation.com/venue/hollywood-palladium-tickets or www.wantickets.com Tickets, if available, will be sold on the day of the event at the Hollywood Palladium from 4:00 pm on for $48 general admission, $65 reserved table seat and $75 VIP table seats, cash only at the door. Parking on site is available for a fee.



MURPHY RECITAL HALL, LMU, map
1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA
Dance is Social Action 2009: Memory, Performance, and the Holocaust
Sunday February 22, 3 PM; $15 general / $5 students & seniors
A Fundraiser for the Interdisciplinary Genocide Studies Center Library in Kigali, Rwanda. Performance, dialogue and fundraising, the event features Kristen


ZANZIBAR
1301 5th Street, Santa Monica, CA, map
Big Fatty
February 24th, 8-10pm, $10
For those of you on the West Side who can't bring themselves to drive to Hollywood, or, if you are looking for the value menu of carnival events, then this is for you. I can't believe that it is only for 2 hours! Maybe that was a typo? But Vida Vierra and Swing Brasil are gonna throw down for you with a bevvy of guests in this global festival of the Fat. Arrive early as it always sells out.


HIGWAYS
1651 18th St., Santa Monica, CA
DreamAwake, "Simple Matters"
Friday + Saturday, February 27 + 28 @8.30pm; $20/$15
Bring on the clowns! A weekend of intelligent slapstick (don't believe me, google Dick Van Dyke or Jerry Lewis) meant to save you from your own spiraling confusion and posible despair over the state of things these days. I think I needed this in pill form today.

Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater, UCLA
120 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA New Works: Angela Jordan’s “Trio” and “Don” ; Michael Sakamoto presents “Vestiges of Creation” Saturday, February 28, 8pm FREE I am very excited to view these two throwing down! I have had the pleasure of watching Sakamoto a few times and i have to tell you that you cannot miss him. I have danced around with Angela Jordan and her explosive power and wit is worth checking out. Hope to see you there.




WORKSHOPS & ON-GOING CLASSES
Dance Bank hosts Rae Blum at Metabolic studio for her workshop F i e l d. Why is it written like that? This workshop helps you locate yourself in the spaces that exist between resonance and presence, solidity and ephemerality, expanse and restriction. Don't miss it. Saturdays 11 - 1 for the next three Saturdays. Shall we once again list all the travel programs being offered? Yes we should and we'll add

Contratiempo, Cuba. This is an annual if not twice annual trip to Cuba for this hot dance company.


so yo:
this episode of the newsletter did not hit the in-boxes due to muscular issues. I was rather sad that I could not get the shoulder and hip to agree with the deadline; there was something deeper in the muscles than just an insistent spasm. As the weekend wore on, and I found myself in the bed trying allow myself the space to have the muscles release, I could not stop seeing the cartoon image of the chimp, the cops, the blood, the not so witty remarks...I could not stop thinking about the actual dead animal, the mauled woman, the distraught friend/pet mommy...Now to be clear, I own one of those bodies that is always on the verge--of being bountifully healthful or collapsed in a non-mobile heap--so a series of things can stack up my spine and set me down real fast. But this one creeped, which gave me time to think about it. What really is at play here? I had the gut feeling that other things were amiss than a crazed editorial cartoon. A few days later a mayor was busted for emailing another cartoon with a field of watermelon planted in the White House front lawn. Yet, 64%. 64% approval rating. That's hard to touch directly, but perhaps easy to destbilize if the subconscious can be redirected, mobilized through a lifetime immersed in racist images and words, often without awareness at the level of immersion. An attempt to create an undertow is taking place. Rather than offer actual intelligent fiscally conservative recommendations, news media outlets--in print and on-line--have resorted to scandalous behavior. I actually saw an article entitled "Hope is a Four Letter Word" about the economic package/bailout. Yes it is. It is a powerful word, and that 64% still has it, but would like an opportunity to engage and shift the dialogue away from "bailout" to "stabilize." From "catch," to "launch." My body had to take me off-line so that i could "feelize" this reality: the far right is misreading the discontent with the financial situation as discontent with Obama's decisions and equating those decisions with blackness as a failed consciousness. But they are mistaken. The far right is not accustomed to active, productive dissention and in return active, if not a bit parsed response in kind. So lift up the O!! And lift yourself up. Don't rage or despair. We got this.

NEWSLETTER: radiating outward

Peace & Time!
First, let me get my hippy thing done: it's Friday the 13th (awesome) and tomorrow, on Valentine's Day, at 7:20 AM, the planets line up just like in the song "Age of Aquarius!!!" This is great because, lawdy, I have been trying to get back on the Love Train all last week. After a test run of blogtv as a possible site for an interactive show for American Ways Network, I really started thinking about all those guns that were purchased when Obama was nominated. Really started thinking about them. And after the insanity that resulted in an indeed wasteful stimulus package because it can't possibly stimulate anything at that size and with those restrictions, I was really thinking "where is the love?" I wanted to run away! But then I did the dishes after a rare sun salutation, and the sun did shine in. Love is the answer. We do have to let the sunshine in: we have to confront racism. It is the core of our financial catastrophe here in California. It is embedded in the very laws of our nation. So many of our problems can be traced back to hate and fear: sprawl, disinvestment in public schools, freeways cutting up neighborhoods, overpopulated prisons with black and brown folks, limitation of the arts as pure leisure and inconsequential...PROP 13. Wow, the whole sink was empty. I know this sounds wacky, but we need a love-in, right after a truth and reconciliation convention of about a year in length. Then we need to fire all of our representatives in Sacramento, ban political parties for 4 years, and change the structure of governance to something more like a swarm mind and hold elections through instant run-off since we can't afford to do it old stylee. Yeah. Forgive to live. Peace so we are not in pieces. Let's take this higher.


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 this week are new members over in Afrologica--oh yeah!--web 2.0 delivering on its promise--hell yeah!--pink pantie protest for gender freedom in India--oh no she didn't!--and wacky artist lovevision.

TONIGHT
HIGHWAYS

1651 18th St., Santa Monica, CA
Delicious by Blu13
Friday, February 13 - Sunday February 15th; 8:30 PM; $20

For a very unusual valentines, check out Blu13's Bollywood mayhem. The description of the show sounds all kinds of wrong ie: this could be the perfect kitchy Valentine that you were looking for. "Tongue in cheek, and other places." They are as bad as I am! Not sure how they will pull it altogether, but that is the beauty of Bollywood, it is not about coherence, rather the experience of mind alteration in real time, without chemical assistance. Just pure "wow!"

THE BROAD
1310 11th St. Santa Monica, CA 90401
String Theory
Saturday, February 14, 7:30 PM; $125, $100, $55, $45
Finally open for biz, this Santa Monica-based stage is pretty delicious. Though I am telling you to go and check out String Theory there, you likely cannot: it is sold out!! And tix were not cheap. String Theory will turn the entire space into ONE large resonating instrument. Maybe some medical issues there, but there will be a healing. Sound is healing, and this group not only brings sound, but dance, song and projections. So if you don't have a ticket, go get in the rush line and see if you get lucky. This is a not to be missed show. Alas.
Next week, Diavolo is up on the 20th!

AVENUE 50 STUDIO

131 NORTH AVENUE 50, Highland Park, CA
INTENSIDAD: Painters & Poets

Saturday, February 14, 2009, 7:00-10:00 PM
I had to list this, cause Peter J. Harris will be on stage, with his sho nuff nasty self! If you wanna get your Valentine (turned)on, this likely will be a GREAT evening, thought provoking, too. Four poets respond to the visual work of four painters, work will be on display, and likely, for sale.
POETS: GLORIA ENEDINA ALVAREZ, RUBEN FUNKAHUATL GUEVARA, PETER J. HARRIS, & ABEL SALAS. PAINTERS: BARBARA CARRASCO, ELIZABETH PEREZ, JOHN VALADEZ & J. MICHAEL WALKER.


MACHINE PROJECT
1200 D North Alvarado, Los Angeles, CA 90026 tel:213-483-8761
Valentine Concert with PremaSoul
Saturday, February 14, 8 PM; no price listed, but I'm sure donations will be accepted
This is a delightful band fusing jazz and tabla. I got to see them when Machine Project took over LACMA. They are definitely a good choice for some Valentine Day groovin. If you are not feelin the love jones, then Machine has you covered...
Sunday, Feb 15th , 8 PM FREE
"Please join us as February artist in residence Emily Lacy presents a tragic post valentines day evening of songs on the topics of breakups, heartbreak, affliction and regret. Crying encouraged, BYO Hanky.Featuring Christian Cummings, Corey Fogel, John Hogan, and Emily Lacy"


7W
7 West 34th St, New York , NY
National Black Fine Art Show
Friday, February 13, noon - 8 PM; Saturday February 14, 11 AM - 8 PM; Sunday, February 15, 11 AM - 8 PM; $25 2 day pass or $15/day (children under 16 free with adult)
WOW! Had to shout this one out. If you are in NYC, go check it out. Although I'm bummed about the stroller ban. I understand, insurance yadda yadda, but plenty of new parents wanna buy themselves some art. Well, maybe not right now. Over 40 galleries will present artists work. Hopefully I can dig up a blog report from someone...

BACK TO THE GRIND
3575 University AVE, Riverside, CA, 92510, map
Ursula Rucker with James Luna
Friday February 20, 8 PM - 11 PM; FREE!
Ursula Rucker is simply an amazing poet. Bumpin' before slam was a genre, Rucker was part of the resurgance of Philly soul via a hip hop route with bands like the Roots and our own beloved DJ OvaSoul aka d. Sabela Grimes. James Luna is a prolific performance artist, and a frequent contributor to the scene at UCR. Now, in order to attend this if you are coming form LA, you will need to come out very early so that it won't take you 4 hours in the car. This show is worth the drive, though. And coming out early will be rewarded by hanging at the California Museum of Photography and the Sweeney Art Gallery. Also, don't miss the Life Arts building at Lemon Ave & University. Tonight is the Athey event, but you'll get another chance on the 21st. More details to come contact jennifer.doyle@ucr.edu with any questions.



Looking for details from last week? check the archive. If you join Afrologica, you can look at a live calendar whenever you feel like it!

coming up: 

Ailey at the Dorothy Chandler. tix already on sale.
Michael Sakamoto & Angela Jordan at UCLA in a free showing Feb 26 @ WAC


ACTION
Twestival
For those of you all hooked up on twitter, and those of you looking for a tres cool model of microfinancing a project, twitter is running a fundraiser for charitywater.org via tipjoy.com. It is called a "Twestival" and donations are collected via your twitter account! The "event" is based at http://www.twestival.fm/. Musicians have donated music which you can download as a donation "gift," or you can just give the money. And if you don't twitter, know that you don't have to do it from your phone! If you sign up or already twitter, you can follow me at doctoradancer.

Hearings on Arts at the Committee on Education and Labor
US Rep. George Miller (D-CA) will hold hearings on the arts and their economic status in early spring. Congrats on getting heard!! Now, let's hope we get an actual invite to the proceedings.They do make use of webcasting, so it will be available as it happens. I hope to get info on when exactly they will occur so those of you who can will be able to go to DC. No word back yet on how to participate. Here's the press release. If you know who will testify, let me know, I'll try to get them to blog for Afrologica!

Arts Recovery Funds Restored in Economic Stimulus Bill
"February 13, 2009—Today the House of Representatives voted 246 to 183 to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The bill includes $50 million in direct support for arts jobs through the National Endowment for the Arts and language that would have prevented museums, theaters, and arts centers from receiving stimulus funds was removed." This news from Americans for the Arts. YAY! way to get heard, BUT, I am still not convinced that the NEA is the most efficient way to get money out to artists. Art institutions, yes, but not artists. There is still much to talk about. Lesson: the Republicans are like a water hose on high with no one holding it; just pick it up and aim it properly and the water will go where you need it. Go'Bama. Chess, not checkers.



LOVELY!
Whoah. I'm feelin all kinds of spacey right now. A solid 7 hours of "Age of Aquarius" blastin' through my laptop has taken its toll. But it could also be the cupcakes I made for the holiday. The turn about on art funding today in committee is welcomed! Whew. It's time for a dance party soon...we'll see what VISCERA can whip up for you. But now to get the plan together on how to receive the money. Yes, a plan is needed! That money will not just be given out, instead the NEA will likely send out calls for proposals. Maybe we should write them now and let them know the types of things we would like to use the funding for? I'm just sayin'. And as for the state of California...some times the base has no choice but to topple the superstructure, even when we would rather just keep getting done in. So far, the plan here has been to make a giantass credit card of each tax payer. That's not working as wages are in steep decline. I'm serious, we need to love each other into stability. First act of self love, stop those folks in Sacramento from playing chicken with our lives. Artists in California will likely not be able to make good use of the pending NEA money because of the madness of the state budget and its effects on art institutions. It's letter writing time, YouTube vlog time, blog time, twitter blasts, phone calls. (WAIT my son just walked in and asked if we could shoot off a confetti cannon I got in China Town on President's Day because it's Obama's Day--purrfect) It is also love time, hug times, heart warrior time. Be aware of your inner racist--we all have one, if you grew up on US soil--and ask it, what really is it afraid of whenever it threatens to topple your equanimity, your cool, your center. Ask, then listen without judgement. There we begin to be the love that we need. There we make room to thrive and release the need to survive.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: hit and run

Right now I am writing to you from the passenger side of a car between Hacienda Heights and Los Angeles. This past week has been a wild ride and a bit of a blur. Did I not say that Obama was gonna have some trouble getting his cabinet confirmed? I'm still waiting for the exodus of Rahm Emmanuel, simply because there is no way that all these tax-evading folks cleared without it being the case that he did not perceive it as being a problem. Ahem. So Obama has taken a few hits, mostly cause he is not surrounded with that shield of love that got him elected. Now that he's in office folks are kinda hangin' back and waiting for the miracle. Hello people. Now is not the time to stop wishing on a star. Focused group visualization has served us well so far, why stop now? Where are all those song writers and choreographers now? We need some "Obama Work That Confirmation" songs and maybe an Obama Hustle world record shattering gathering in the streets. Something. With the massive layoffs that have happened in the last few weeks and the news media pretending to dribble every agonizing detail your way, it's no wonder that folks are not dancing in the streets and making records with Garage Band. However, now is not the time to stop. We have not had enough. So I am putting up some playlists over on Afrologica, not to avoid the economic meltdown, but to focus your energy and vision, so that you may reach the sublime, find that unsuspecting sweet spot. California is bankrupt. National banks are hoarding bailout money. Art institutions of the bloated elitist type are going the way of the Dodo. Newspapers that have spent years ignoring local issues in favor of the bottom line are crumbling. Fill in the blanks! Localism with an eye for the global is where it's at right now. PUT ON YOUR RED SHOES AND DANCE THE BLUES.


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 this week, aside from my students having no idea that their education is threatened by economic collapse (no really) is a dance in a highrise, black dance at Irvine, Afrosheen Appreciation Month (not really, I just made that up) and a slew of dance workshops.


KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE
9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City
Got Gentrification? by Danny Hoch
Jan 21 - Feb 22; Tuesday - Friday 8 PM; Saturdays 2 & 8 PM; Sundays 6:30 PM. Price varies according to seat selection...
OBIE Award-winning solo artist Danny Hoch returns to Center Theatre Group with his riveting new work, TAKING OVER, a show that we all know too well, and can't seem to stop living in. Set in his 'hood of Williamsburg, if you just change the accents on a few of the characters, names of streets, back ground beats, you would sear that you were just about ANYWHERE in Venice, Echo Park Silverlake, Downtown LA, Leimert Park, Grand Lake district in Oakland...ANYWHERE. SO, um, he has hit an appropriate nerve, just in time for white folks and upwardly mobile folks of color to rethink what exactly are they looking for in a good ethnically mixed neighborhood...


SELF HELP GRAPHICS
3802 Cesar E. Chavez Ave., 90063
Handmade Love Just For You
Saturday, February 7th, 12 - 5 PM
If you were missing Pat Payne and her inimitable antics, she is back, working her badass intersectional self to death just for you. Go get your lovejones quenched with her "Unauthorized Use" line of custom housewares and delicious erotic chocolates by Reina Prado. Poets, love potions-wielding curandeiras, and some musica round out the mix. A delightful evening for those of you done with leaving your love life to chance...


JULIAN DIXON LIBRARY
4975 Overland Avenue, Culver City, CA
We Tell Stories presents, "The Spirit of Black Folklore"
This 45-minute performance includes three folktales to celebrate Black History Month. Geez, I almost forgot it was Black Artist Employment Month! If you have little ones, go check this crew out. In the meantime, don't forget to put up your personal shrine to all things Black and Proud this month.


CALIFORNIA AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM
600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles CA 90037
Black History Month Events, general
As it is THE MONTH for this venue, there is a lot going on, so please go check out their website. The Black Motorcycle Culture exhibit is still up and so bizarre, that you just have to see it. If you are into bikes, then you don't want to miss this very rare exhibit. Also of interest is a 4-weekend long workshop called "African-Americans, Naturally." While you will not get to learn how to get your hair to kink up and love it, you will learn how to make art with natural and found objects. The theme this month is Earth. Every Saturday in February, twice a day, 12:00-1:30 PM and again at 2:00- 3:30 PM with master artist Angela Briggs. Call 213-744-2024 to make reservations ASAP. Stand by for MANY fantastic programs coming at the end of BAEM, and several right at the top of March....like "Quiet as Kept" Written and directed by Ulysses Jenkins with the participation of Afronauts from across the city (including Bettye Saar and Viver Brasil). February 27th, 7 - 10 PM. Reservations required, suggested donation of $5 - $10, free for members. 213-744-7678. This is a special performance, so it is NOT listed on the website. But don't let that stop you.



THE GETTY CENTER
1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles CA 900449
Collecting African American Art in the 21st Century
Project for the Study of Collecting and Provenance Annual Lecture (PSCP)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009;4:00–5:15 p.m., Reception to follow, FREE
Museum Lecture Hall, The Getty Center
Keeping in theme with black history and art, this is arguably THE year to be a black visual artist, or at least an artist really good at making a likeness of Obama. To help you get your collector on, GRI is bringing in Alvia J. Wardlaw, Art Historian and curator @ The University Museum , Texas Southern. I want to see how she explains the plethora of post-black artists working in experimental and multimedia as "African American." That should be interesting given that she plans to put them in the tradition of historically black colleges and businesses. Where would she place a John Sims? a Damali Ayo? a Navin Norling? a Pat Payne? a William Pope.L? or Mendi+ Keith Obadike? Go and find out. Reservations are required.



okay, here's a question: if you are black, have you ever been wished a "Happy Black History Month?" If you are not, do you ever wonder if you should wish a "Happy Black History month" or have you? I just want to know. Cause as you know, we now have an unofficial Black President's Day. Check the archives if you are missing something from last week. Go vote on this and other topics at Afrologica.


7+Fig
735 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, 90017
A Material World, Collage Dance Theater w/ Heidi Duckler
January - February Open Rehearsals ALL FREE
Art Walk, Feb 12, 5- 9 PM FREE
A Material World Show, Feb 18th 12:30 PM and again@ 5:30 PM FREE, no reservations
MUST GO! They've been at this all January, and I swear I have had it on my mind to let you know about this project, but each week, I just space after finding too much else. So here it is. The open rehearsals are coming to an end, but the show is not until next week. And it is free! What interests me about this show, and this company period is the potential to use their working style as a template for transformation, for working in wild locations with tangible results for "retrofitting" "repurposing" not just space/sites/locales, but ideas, ordinances, economies. Meet me there next Thursday. I'll be fresh off the freeway and looking for a revelation.


reminders:
18th Street Art Open Studios is tomorrow-Saturday--but it may be rained out...
IRVINE BARCLAY THEATRE, 4199 Campus Dr # 680, Irvine, CA, Dance Visions, A celebration of Donald McKayle, Thu Feb 5 8pm – Sun Feb 8 6pm; $16 gen/ $14 seniors & UCI staff & faculty/ $9 UCI students & children
MACHINE PROJECT tree give away Sunday Feb 8th
ANATOMY RIOT #30 @ The Open Space
look in the archive for last weeks recommendations...

coming up:
-blue13 Dance Company, "Bollywood Delicious" [WORLD PREMIERE!] at Highways Feb 13th - 15th get your tickets now!
-decaDance, Grad Concert at UCR Dance dept--will be hilarious! Feb 20th - 22nd tix
-The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour comes to LA, Comedy Central Stage, 323-960-5519. Dude told the first Obama joke EVER in 2005! Call to reserve.




ONGOING CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
Get your carpools together and check out these local dance workshops!
Brazilian Dance and Drum Workshop, Center for Worldance, 230 West Main Street, Alhambra CA Feb 7th & 8th, 1 - 10 PM $25 each or $45 for 2 classes. Laila Abdulla from Viver Brasil is not to be missed. HOT!

Afro-Cuban Dance Workshop in San Diego, Stage 7 School of Dance, 3980 30th Street, San Diego, CA Friday February 6 @ 7:30 - 9:30 PM; $20 with Freila Merencio & Juan Carlos Blanco, formerly lead soloists with Raices Profundas in Havana.
and then...they get on the road and come up here to us! Saturday February 7 @ 5:00- 6:30 PM for Yoruba and Congo; then 6:30 - 8:00PM for Arara & Franco-Haitian. Studio No.1 2037 Granville Ave, Los Angeles CA, $20 for one $35 for both. THIS IS REAL DEAL ACTION. Make it if you can. Ladies, bring your big white skirt.


DANCEbank Winter/Spring session, Saturdays 11am-1pm, $12
Feb 7, 14th - Hana van der Kolk ; Feb 21, 28, March 7 - Rae Shao-Lan Blum; March 14 - Eva Aymami @ Metabolic Studio / Farmlab 1745 North Spring Street, #4 LA, CA 90012



GIGS
Urban Bushwomen have a search on for an executive director. Here's the link to the job description! http://www.urbanbushwomen.org/downloads/Executive_Search.pdf

"Walla!" an MFA thesis exhibition opening at USC
8-10 Actors (NO ACTING EXPERIENCE NECESSARY just enthusiasm) needed for "Walla!" MFA thesis exhibition opening at the USC Roski School
of Fine Art (located at South Flower & 30th Street, a few blocks from main campus).
Auditions will be held Saturday, February 7th from 4-6 pm at the USC Roski School of Fine Art (located at 3001 South Flower & 30th Street, just a few blocks from main campus). Please RSVP by Friday, February 6th if you are interested : 503-853-1374 / emast@usc.edu a looping theatrical play to be performed (over and over) in the gallery space for one night only. The play involves two to three live musicians, five characters + eight to ten actors who play (very reactionary) live audience members/opening goers during the three hour duration of the play (think John Cassavetes, "Opening Night"). I think this is paid with footage for your reel, no cash.




ACTION
Start a local currency. Really. Get busy. Convince your credit union and a handful of local businesses. If nothing else, start with $15 as the base unit to equal one hour value, and print up cupons to exchange within your small community of artmakers, providers, vendors, set designers, etc...This does work. Check it out. Two distinct models:
Berkshares
Ithaca Hours
I want to start Dogtown Dollars. Who can help? Who knows of a local credit union that may have interest? Venice was hammered by the mergers of banks.
Also, here is a thorough website all about the process of creating a local currency:
E.F. Schumacher Society




LOVELY!
So I was listening to Obama give a speech to his Democratic buddies at their convention, and I was deeply amused. And then not. This economic stimulus package is weird. It does not seem to reflect the hope that billions of people world wide held for the big change bound to come upon his election. The reason for that: it was written while he was still campaigning, while elected "officials" were still holding out for the great big band aid fix. Quite frankly, it freaked me out when he said "creating thousands of new jobs, all in the private sector" like that was a good idea. The way this package is structured, we will continue to be held hostage by failing industries and corporations.News reports out of London confirmed that bankers there, too, were scurrying to pay out bonuses with their corporate stimulus check before the oversight rules kicked in!? The other mind boggling, but not surprising, chunk of weirdness in the package are provisions that will increase nuclear power industry and "clean coal." Obama likes these. He said that several times during the campaign. Most folks, especially those who live near this crap, can't stand'em. SO...phone and write, have neighborhood meetings, tape them puppies and throw them up on YouTube, FaceBook and any other site you can think of. I don't know about you, but when they said "create thousands of jobs to get America back to work," I really did think a second-coming of The New Deal was nigh. I mean, I damn near had t-shirts designed for the 21st Century WPA project. Private sector?! So please come and visit Afrologica and sign up so we can come up with a fantastic viral protest as well as some critical things we can do right now to create possibilities for "glocal" economic stability. I'm thinking we all post videos with the same title and then send out a press release. Enough is enough. Our economy is gone as we know it. It's time for the elected folks to have some vision and audacity and help us create one that will function for longer than 10 years at a time. People-centered, full of love and creativity.

in love,
-Anna