Dance Day 2009

Hey there! SO my dance partners slept through Act 1! I'm in Riverside now, gearing up to challenge the parking lot. Spent the drive in thinking of ways to just make dance a daily gift to commuters. Am I a bit too excited? Yes. Yes I am.

Here is a message about the day from the International Dance Council-UNESCO, of which I am a member.

Official Message for Dance Day
29 April 2009

The future of dance lies where there are persons who do not dance.

These belong to two categories: those who simply did not learn, and those who think that they are not able to dance. They represent the greatest challenge for the dance teacher's profession.

In line with UNESCO's struggle against prejudice and discrimination, we are trying to expand the boundaries of dance and to change the current perception of what a dancer is.
Dance performances are not necessarily exhibitions of extreme physicality, accurate precision, or bursting emotion - they can be celebrations of interaction between performers. We can enrich dance concerts with dancers, singers, actors, narrators, mimes, acrobats etc., of all ages and all degrees of ability.

Bringing the 'excluded' into dance is a moral duty, but also opens a great door in times of economic crisis and unemployment. In every country there are millions of persons with physical or mental disabilities. We believe they are ready to dance.

They will create jobs to thousands of dance teachers. They can be assisted by the Ministry of Health, whose budget is many times bigger than that of the Ministry of Culture.
Integrating marginalized persons into the practice of dance is as important as integrating them into the workforce.

CID holds to the philosophy that everyone can dance.

Dance Day 2009 is dedicated to inclusive dance. Let us include all members of society into our classes and our performances.



Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
UNESCO, Paris

$2 tagging

Draw on your two dollar bills with an ink pen, in a corner, snall small...

NEWSLETTER: core of geography

Greetings everyone!

Really. I want to say hello to all my "passive readers," meaning those of you who come across the blog through some odd turn of the trackpad. I have yet to turn GoogleAnalytics on this site (I guess it brings me so much joy and pleasure just to do this that AI don't care yet to know numbers), so I can't tell you exactly how many are reading and where they are located, I am just grateful whenever I come across anyone who has checked this out. So I have some news for you all: stimulus money is starting to become available for the arts in alternative ways to the NEA. Read on to find out more. Next, as much as I love Twitter, I just have to say that it can truly be like shooting a gun in an steel drum: ricochet, echo, and certain death. This fantastic tool can easily become part of the problem we now face with fading news industries. Ironic, ain't it? Twitter can solve a lot of issues as far as news is concerned, especially for us artists types, but it is being hijacked by people desperate to create a "Steady passive income in 12 easy steps on Twitter!" or "Get 40K followers on Twitter in just 4 weeks!" Formulas abound, and the real way it's done is that people send you money to buy your video feed or collection of platitudes. This standardization worked well for realtors, education administrators, public safety officials, and of course, marketers. But it did not work so well for homeowners, renters and the Homeless. Nor did it work out for students, inmates, public protesters or folks just lookin to throw a block party. And it definitely has not worked out well for the consumer. Now Twitter has had to place limits on number of friends. Standardization, I have decided, is the BANE of our existence. Though it is effective for cost-cutting, budgeting and planning, it literally HURTS the human bodymind: we are not the same person. We do not all live in the same place. We do not have even access to the processes nor the makers of The Law: how did Richard Pryor put it? "When they Justice they mean 'just us.'"And now, the Americans for the Arts are headed down this same road, offering services that appear to be for artists, but on closer inspection they are for arts organizations, specifically, for administration. Yes, getting forms and grant questions standardized seems like a wonderful idea to streamline "the process" for the artist (from grant apps to tax and insurance compliance), but all it really has done is create a new industry: the for-hire-art administrator. I should know, I am likely about to become one of them. I am dismayed, however, at the similarities between grant applications from vastly different funders, the funneling of Federal Stimulus money for the arts through layers and layers of bureaucracy and the fact beneath all of this: that artists, esp. performing artists, are expected to not make money. It's maddening. Can we get a lean, start-up like entity going that gets the most dollars into the hands of affiliated artists as it possibly can? Can the amount of funding and the categories sought actually reflect the targeted community as it is, not as some policy wonk somewhere thinks it should be? Am I being crude? Yeah. I am. I am inspired by the green movement in this, the slow food movement, the community banking movement, the local currency movement, the rebirth of DIY movements. While these ideas are percolating everywhere, and folks do get together (mostly online) to talk about how they did it, there is not an overarching sense that somehow everyone should do it exactly the same. These movements are localized, and derive their power and momentum from being in harmony with their biospheres. Can we continue to try and sustain a practice of managing art/dance that ignores the place-ness of each performer, each new whacked out genre? Nope. And I am in love with all the contrarians and freaky people who are not waiting for their bailout, but making a way--just don't muck up the road by following in false foot steps. You got wings. Now fly into greatness.

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 weeks are cheese sandwiches, books, and 21st Century pedestrian dance taking the stage.

BPS at the BREWERY, map
618B Moulton, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company presents Value System
Thursday April 23 - Friday 24th @ 8 PM, Saturday April 26 @ 5 PM; $20/$25
Okay, so just off the title of the piece, I am so THERE. Plus, PLUS, have you checked them out?! It is likely you have seen a number of these work-horse dancers laboring in the pieces of choreographers all over town. If anybody was gonna make a piece about the economy, this would be the crew; they know it intimately. When they come together, they tend to go for it. So Imma finally get my butt to one of their shows. You should, too, if you have not. MUST GO.


UNKNOWN THEATRE, map & parking
1110 Seward Street, Los Angeles
Mongrels by Samantha Giron Dance Project
Thursday April 16th, 2009 - Sunday April 26th, 2009; Th - Sat @ 8 PM & Sundays @ 6 PM; $18 advance on-line sale, $25 at the door
A stripped-down and tripped out investigation of LA's electronica club scene, Mongrels seeks to get the rabid beasts off the street and onto the stage, but don't be surprised if they have filled all the seats in this small house. Lucky for you, it's a two-weekend run. This weekend, Sabela Grimes joins the line up!!


114 W. 5th Street (b/w Spring & Main), map
IT’S (A)LIVE: BRAVE LIVE ARTS FROM LOS ANGELES
Friday April 24 7pm – 10pm; no tix info but i do believe that donations are welcomed at the door, plan for $15
Stakes a very big claim in their press release: "is an amalgamation of artists who claim, write and redefine the real, constructed and imagined territories of Los Angeles. The body, gender, race, sex(ualities), history and play are examined and celebrated through dance, movement, literature, storytelling and music." Curated by Dino Dico, what I most like about the promise of this group show is that it is situated in the history of Downtown LA performance scene. So this is uber alternative, kiddies. Go check out part of the luminous darkside. Artists include: RICARDO A. BRACHO : BUTCHLALIS DE PANOCHTITLAN : HEATHER CASSILS : SIR HEFFINGTON & THE FINGERED DANCERS : ICY LYTES : BIANCA OBLIVION : DORIAN WOOD


BEATROCK STORE & GALLERY, map
4158 Norse Way, Long Beach, CA
Because Your Mama Said So: Group ArtShow dedicated to Mr. T
Sat Apr 25 2pm – 11pm, Opening reception
Alfie Numeric can throwdown y'all and this will be quite the jam. Yes, "Mr. T, dammit!" If you are in your 30's, okay, maybe 40s, you know you were lovin you some Mr. T on the A-Team. Come on now, don't try and front! I had to drop it 80s style just then, sorry. Ahem. Mr. T., crazy lookin character that he was, would always tell us kids "Don't be a fool, stay in school!" And so, I did. Cause if that's what lookin foolish was like, I was definitely staying in me some school! Alfie Numeric and massive crew celebrate this giant icon with a day long series of events, and of course, a commemorative t-shirt. For more information, please contact Dave Araquel at dave@beatrock.com or Alfie Ebojo at alfie@alfienumeric.com


REDCAT
Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project: the break/s: a mixtape for stage
Wednesday, April 22 - Saturday April 25 @ 8:30 PM, Sunday April 26 @ 3 PM; W - F $25/12; Sat & Sun $30/16.
Now last week I lost my mind about this, and I will once again: THIS IS THE BIG BLOWOUT COMB. Taking HIP Hop theatre to a whole 'nother plane, Bamuthi imagines the stage as a needle on a record. MUST GO.


PERFORMANCE LAB, UC RIVERSIDE, map
Cake in My Face: New Dances about Betty Crocker and Misbehavior by Melissa Hudson, MFA candidate in Dance
Thursday, April 23 - Saturday April 25; $6 BUY TICKETS NOW! (951) 827-4331 or www.ticketmaster.com, walk-ups available 1 hour before show, but space is limited, no late seating; parking $5
I laughed so hard, I nearly fell off my chair and down the stairs, which is easy to do in this venue because the seating retracts and is plastic, so, do the math. Melissa Hudson's exploration of the absurdity of a fictional character giving advice to people on how to live "perfect" and therefore, fictitious lives is startling and about as fun as plucking a chicken or scaling a fish. Ew & Ouch. Did we really write in those letters asking those questions of a marketing device? Yet is WAS hilarious, great integration of text with movement with props with clowning with choreography. Yes, there was a lot going on, and it all mattered. Fantastic. Please, please please, go out to Riverside and see this show. I am working to get a little bit of it to LA, but don't count on that. Tis likely that it will also make its way up to the Bay Area, where Hudson is from. The zany, zippy, and surprising cast includes Hudson, Hannah Schwadron, Melissa Templeton, Szu-Ching Chang and Ann Mazzocca. Schwadron stands out as the fictitiously real Betty who has escaped General Mills, while Templeton, Chang and Mazzocca function as a madcap, ever-changing cast of characters...animals...and cakes. MUST GO!


Los Angeles State Historic Park, map
1245 N. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA‎
1st 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitatonal
Saturday, April 25 12- 6 PM, competition begins @ 1 PM; $5 gate entry, $10 competition entry
Let the Cheesening begin! I heard about this last night from a friend whose friend is competing. The CAARS sent it out as their pick. And the website is so fabulous that even though I am lactose intolerant and very close to being a celiac, I am recommending that you go to this event if you are looking for some laughs drenched in nostalgia and wonderment. Kraft Singles, anyone? Organizers recommend that you take the Gold Line into China Town and walk on over. Don't forget your camera, sunblock, and seltzer water.


UCLA, bus lines, map
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Saturday & Sunday, April 25 & 26
Truly a festival, there is something for everyone, but do wear your walking shoes because parking is far far far away! Take the bus even! I only made to an eensy weensy bit last year and we managed to have a great time. Tickets sometime required for some of the events. Check the listing. Here are some performances/readings I think you should see if you are planning to do the festival all day Saturday:
On the Target Children's Stage 2:40 p.m. Eric Carle, Author and Illustrator, “Hungry Caterpillar 40th Anniversary” and “Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book” 5:10 p.m. Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Players, Pop Fly
On the Los Angeles Times Stage 12 p.m. Danica McKellar, Author, “Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who’s Boss”
On Poetry Stage it all looks good?
On Hoy Cultural Stage 12 p.m. Mariachi & Folklorico Cielo Nuevo, Mariachi Musical Performance 1 p.m. Sajama, Musical Performance

All day on Sunday:
On the Target Children's Stage 12:15 p.m. Judy Schachner, Author, “SkippyJon Jones and the Big Bones” MUST SEE! 1 p.m. Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Players, Pop Fly 1:35 p.m. Jon Sciezska, Author, “Knucklehead” 1:55 p.m. Kim Wayans and Kevin Knotts, Coauthors, "Amy Hodgepodge: Digging Up Trouble"
On Etc. Stage 1 p.m. 826LA, Teeny Tiny Vaudeville Not a lot of dance like last year. Look down to see the likely culprit.



WORKSHOPS & ONGOING CLASSES
Dance Week Special! I JUST got the email a few hours ago from Lula Washington that:
"The Lula Washington Dance Theatre celebrates National Dance Week April 24th, 25th, and 26th with three days of free dance performances; master classes; a panel discussion on the future of dance; and multi-cultural guest artists from around the world and down the street! "Inside View" performances are sponsored by the Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs. On Saturday, April 25th at 8am, people can sign-in for classes. Space is limited. You can RSVP starting today! For information, contact: luladance@aol.com. At 9am*, dance enthusiasts will gather for a round table panel discussion to share ways that dance is continuing to survive during the economic crisis."
Yup. FREE! Better than $2. But the problem is finding an actual schedule schedule. Viver Brasil will be int he house at some point. And, their website is down right now! You can reach them @ 323-393-5852. I do have a call out to LA Dept. of Cultural Affairs to find out if anyone else has a similar deal in another part of the city, but no one called back.

Ester Baker-Tarpanga is at DANCEBank this weekend. Saturdays 11am-1pm, $12
April 25, May 2, May 9 - Esther Baker-Tarpaga
Metabolic Studio / Farmlab, 1745 North Spring Street, #4, LA, CA 90012
Pay her in $2 bills marked with something like this (it's an afro with a D in it)

Stop laughin! I tried to get my son to make a true logo like thing, but he was dumfounded that I thought I had something for him to do. Okay, laugh.

Next on the list to pummel with $2 bills at the door is the fabulous Juan Carlos Blanco Riera. His mixed-level Cuban class @ Studio #1- West LA, 2037 Granville Ave, West Los Angeles is on Sunday Apr 26 2:30 PM – 4 PM. If you keep saying, "I gotta go," you really do because he will give only two more classes this season, then he's out for some research...

Studios to check out and spread the $2 love can be found on this map. Remember, no special deals, just pay with two dollar bills. This one is curated by me. If you want a map that just has everything on it in LA, check out the Dance Resource Center. If you are elsewhere and feeling this, let me know how it goes!

And finally for Dance Week, is International Dance Day April 29th Metered Dance Action. Look to the blog for a live map that you can add your location with time.


GRANTS
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-8650.htm
This one is a wee complicated, but if you qualify, it is worth going after. Goodwill is making a comeback! Well, at least as defined throughthe Fulbright/Hayes doctrine. From deep inside the RFP

Emerging Cultural Leaders

Program Contact: Jill Staggs, tel: 202-203-7500, e-mail:
StaggsJJ@state.gov.
The `Rooted in the Arts' program provides opportunities for U.S.
performing artists (ages 25-35), teachers and students to build long-
term sustainable linkages with their counterparts in selected
countries. The project should connect economically and socially diverse
populations of high school social studies, music and/or art students
and their teachers in the U.S. with comparable populations in the
selected countries. The project must include two-way physical exchanges
of artists and teachers (but not students), each two to four weeks in
duration. It must also include virtual or distance projects that will
provide the high school students an opportunity to communicate with
their counterparts abroad. Projects must present an opportunity for
participants to explore and learn about their own and another country's
history and culture through the performing arts. Activities should
include artistic performances, workshops, lecture demonstrations,
contextual learning, and on-going virtual (internet) dialogues and
other virtual exchanges.
The overarching goals are:
1. To articulate identity through artistic expression, gain respect
for the identity and artistic expression of another culture;
2. To learn about their own and another country's history through
the performing arts;
3. To incorporate cultural awareness and build mutual understanding
and respect for other countries;
4. To foster continuing personal and institutional ties between
participants and partner countries.

(lot more then i jumped to here)

Eligible Countries

East Asia: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
Western Hemisphere: Mexico, Venezuela

Alright, so it is SPECIFIC, but OH SO L.A.!!!! Get to writing.


LOVELY!
Oh my dears, this has been a very productive afternoon, but now I must away to the freeway to land in a seat somewhere to watch something fabulous. It can certianly feel like you are escaping heading off to shows when 29 banks have failed this year alone and a new strain of flu is killing peple in Mexico City. I do try, however, to bring you events and shows that build the grey matter just a bit, or at least get you cleared with laughter so you are ready to focus on giving your neighbor a hand. If you want to support Afrologics, follow me on Twitter and tipjoy.com @doctoradancer; you can drop this endeavor some spare change. On the list of items to take us to the next level: a flip video camera and a Lomo 35 mm fisheye camera. And yes, I am pining for an iPod Touch so that I can tweet with greater ease while out and about. I'm saving up for a new laptop...or live/work space, LOL! A big thank you to new members of Afrologica! If you are seriously interested in building something sustainable, wonderful, productive, collaborative and of service that is people-centered through the arts, please contact me directly through afrologic at gmail.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: step on the one

A BEAUTIFUL evening to you! This weekend in Los Angeles is sopping wet with ... sweat! Dance sweat that is. You must plot your trajectory so that you can catch a bit of it all. yes, that is a lot of money to drop in one weekend, but everyone gets a tax refund, right? Okay. I happen to be one of those people that almost always gets a tax refund (except when I am living in NY), but I am always incensed by the marketing that occurs trying to pry my dollars out of my hand to consume random stuff, just cause I got some dollars! This year, it was a wee different with creditors trying to dump me, even though I pay regularly, cause I am not a big money borrower. I got pay off offers that were almost as panicked as I was when I clicked "submit" the other night at the end of my TurboTax session. During review, I had questions tossed at me for my Schedule C that I had never ever heard...It should not be this complicated to have your own business, especially if your business is dance-related. Of all the arts, dance is the most difficult to monetize and likely has the highest amount of hidden costs. You have your home office but you drive to a studio where you pay rent to give a class where you "earn" money (I can hear all the dance teachers laughing right now). You can write off your mileage, part of your car value, car service etc, etc. How many of you do that? You are flown out to dance with someone, but you are doing "work for hire." You incur costs beyond the per diem (if one is offered) which you might not be able to write off since you were being told explicitly what to do and needed supervision and and andARGGGHHHH! Meltdown. Tax code needs some work. It especially needs to get a true distinction between high concert dance companies and dance laborers. Americans for the Arts are meeting soon, and I bet they will spend their time trying to get money out of the government, rather than investigate ways that money is extracted from performance-based artists at rates that are unfair given the amount of ongoing investment required to run "the business." And while everyone likes to complain about their tax rate, witness the tea parties today, our rate of taxation is the lowest it's ever been in history. What gives? Why do we all feel cheated? because we are in large part not investing that money in each other, but rather into systems to manage us. We gotta change this! Could you imagine being able to select what you want your tax owed to go to? The same way we are up in arms about the bailouts, we should just as actively be about identifying and initiating a shift in how taxes are assessed, collected then distributed. I KNOW we'd all feel a lot better and have more cash to go out to enjoy each other. Vibe on that. Focus. Now step on the good foot and Manifest it.

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 THE FRO this week is dance programming on almost every stage in town, with two major shows (or as they have called them "queer dance week) that look like NYC imports but are actually local. I'm also astounded and grateful to find myself curating three dance events, one of them, I am seeding to our collective unconsciousness to go viral in time for Int'l Dance Day. Now let's figure out how to get from the west side to downtown then to Hollywood and maybe to mid city for class.


HIGHWAYS
MEG WOLFE /SHOW BOX presents TENDER / Sharon Sherman's DEMOLITION BOY
April 17 - 19
Fri + Sat 8:30pm
Sun 7:00pm $20/$15
OPENS TONIGHT!
I will see you there in just a bit! My pick. (This was an extraordinary night of gritty, intelligent and surprising performances. Here is where queer releases the self-referential and turns its body-intelligence on the brutality of the everyday in overdeveloped society, with tongue firmly in cheek , or against cheek, or between cheeks. Ahem. This show was not only enjoyable to watch--even its more grotesque exchanges-- it was scathing social commentary that was well placed and designed. I really liked how focused each piece was: Sherman's on the rating, valuing and judging of art and bodies and Wolfe's+Barnett's on the physicality of relationships. The dancing was full-on dancing when necessary with only the occasional nod to a postmodern pedestrian palette. And that is as it should be. These dancers do not live in a walkable village and what is an everyday movement now seems like science fiction when compared to "high" Judson Church antics. I hope that the show can find its way on tour.)



REDCAT, map
April 15-17, 2009 The Sharon Disney Lund Dance Series
Dance by Neil Greenberg presents Really Queer Dance with Harps
Thurs 4.16.09 8:30 pm $25 $20 $12 Fri 4.17.09 8:30 pm $25 $20 $12
SOLD OUT! I went and saw it last night. I loved the Coda, but was kinda sad that the men and women did not dance together more: they were truly inspired when they did. As it turns out, that section was a bit of an inside joke between Greenberg and his dancers to finally give the audience what they wanted. Oh well. I thought that section was lush and still smart. The harpists would make Sun Ra proud. I had no idea that a harp could make all those sounds! Flavorpill's pick.


UNKNOWN THEATRE, map & parking
1110 Seward Street, Los Angeles
Mongrels by Samantha Giron Dance Project
Thursday April 16th, 2009 - Sunday April 26th, 2009; Th - Sat @ 8 PM & Sundays @ 6 PM; $18 advance on-line sale, $25 at the door
OPENS TONIGHT
A stripped-down and tripped out investigation of LA's electronica club scene, Mongrels seeks to get the rabid beasts off the street and onto the stage, but don't be surprised if they have filled all the seats in this small house. Lucky for you, it's a two-weekend run. Grover Dale's pick.


UCLA’s Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater, map
120 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday Apr 18, 8 PM; Sunday, April 19, 2pm. $10/ $8 call (310) 825-2101 or online
CUP of JAVA
I am so over the title of this show, but the dancing will be without parallel. If you are looking for solid dance drama performed with the music and not in spite of it, this is your type of show. Seven of the most highly regarded performers of Java will take the stage with Gamelan, puppetry and dance; giving a level of enticement to "spectacle."


Next week is gonna be BUSY! If you know of a special Dance Week event, hit me up on Face Book so I can list it.



BPS at the BREWERY
618B Moulton, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company presents Value System
Thursday April 23 - Friday 24th @ 8 PM, Saturday April 26 @ 5 PM; $20/$25
Okay, so just off the title of the piece, I am so THERE. Plus, PLUS, have you checked them out?! It is likely you have seen a number of these work-horse dancers laboring in the pieces of choreographers all over town. If anybody was gonna make a piece about the economy, this would be the crew; they know it intimately. When they come together, they tend to go for it. So Imma finally get my butt to one of their shows. You should, too, if you have not. MUST GO.


114 W. 5th Street (b/w Spring & Main), map
IT’S (A)LIVE: BRAVE LIVE ARTS FROM LOS ANGELES
Friday April 24 7pm – 10pm; no tix info but i do beleive that donations are welcomed at the door, plan for $15
Stakes a very big claim in their press release: "is an amalgamation of artists who claim, write and redefine the real, constructed and imagined territories of Los Angeles. The body, gender, race, sex(ualities), history and play are examined and celebrated through dance, movement, literature, storytelling and music." Curated by Dino Dico, what I most like about the promise of this group show is that it is situated in the history of Downtown LA performance scene. So this is uber alternative, kiddies. Go check out part of the luminous darkside. Artists include: RICARDO A. BRACHO : BUTCHLALIS DE PANOCHTITLAN : HEATHER CASSILS : SIR HEFFINGTON & THE FINGERED DANCERS : ICY LYTES : BIANCA OBLIVION : DORIAN WOOD


BEATROCK STORE & GALLERY, map
4158 Norse Way, Long Beach, CA
Because Your Mama Said So: Group ArtShow dedicated to Mr. T
Sat Apr 25 2pm – 11pm, Opening reception, exhibit through
Alfie Numeric can throwdown y'all and this will be quite the jam. Yes, "Mr. T, dammit!" If you are in your 30's, okay, maybe 40s, you know you were lovin you some Mr. T on the A-Team. Come on now, don't try and front! I had to drop it 80s style just then, sorry. Ahem. Mr. T., crazy lookin character that he was, would always tell us kids "Don't be a fool, stay in school!" And so, I did. Cause if that's what lookin foolish was like, I was definitely staying in me some school! Alfie Numeric and massive crew celebrate this giant icon with a day long series of events, and of course, a commerative t-shirt. For more information, please contact Dave Araquel at dave@beatrock.com or Alfie Ebojo at alfie@alfienumeric.com

REDCAT
Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project
the break/s: a mixtape for stage
Wednesday, April 22 - Saturday April 25 @ 8:30 PM, Sunday April 26 @ 3 PM; W - F $25/12; Sat & Sun $30/16.
Now last week I lost my mind about this, and I will once again: THIS IS THE BIG BLOWOUT COMB. Taking HIP Hop theatre to a whole 'nother plane, Bamuthi imagines the stage as masterblaster boom box. MUST GO. I will be there. Connect with me on Twitter to figure out the day.

So I got a lovely call from the Dance Ninja which got me in to see this show on Wednesday. OMG! Fantastic craftsmanship, excellent use of projection and lighting, inspired use of live and canned sound, and the turntabelist? Forget about it! Now, having said all that, after I stood to give bruh his standing ovation, I did start to wonder at all the rferences in the piece that reminded me of other pieces I had seen before...Alright, well, that's hip hop right? Everything is in the mix, sampled, segued, otherwise shapeshifted and repurposed; no big whoop. But I liked the way thet Rennie Harris used Prince's lyrics in Rome & Jewels better than Bamuthi's remix. Then I realized that he never quite answered his own questions, which is all fine and good, but why were they asked, since they were rather polemical most of them? And women...dude's still working on his thang with women. So why did we never hear from his mother? Were his questions now ringing as the eternal quesitons of Hip Hop? The irriducible prime numbers at its core? And that was a long time to watch somebody work through their fantastic, yet personaly troubling life, even though it was wonderfully directed. But dammit if it was not BEAUTIFUL! SO yeah, he was pullin on them white liberal heartstrings to tug the dollars right out of their pockets with some of the most negroidal stereotypes around while playin at the edge of antiracist thought, but he did it with the utmost skill. It was mesmerizing. You should go, but maybe if you do, could you please ask him what the hell is "post hip hop any damn way"? Thanks.



WHEW!! Loving U!
Liked to lost my mind and kinda sat on this one! Actually, weird weird things happened in my Twitter account as I discovered just how little imagination remians among a good swath of people when it comes to the possibilities of the internet. When did we become Ferangiis? You know, that Star Trek "race of aliens" that only live to profit and profit to live? Yuck. Oh yeah, the thrice weekly 140 mile commute (that's 420 for those counting) is taking its toll; seven more weeks to go. I am throwin this newsletter up on the blog and even shipping it out. Yes I have some nerve! But then I am posting a fresh one TODAY, albeit with some of the same stuff, but with a special dance week section. I am feeling a big shift, change, push, lurch into a vision of collaboration. As the picture becomes clearer, I'll share it with you. Intersectional, ambition, collaborative, expansive, loving...yeah yeah yeah. All of that and a bag of dehydrated collard chips (yes, those really are good).

in love,
-Anna

The Rules: Susan Rose sends us the original score for "IN P"

Hello people!

So with this amazing follow-up for the Metered Dance International Dance Day Challenge, I will launch a separate blog just for the event. Where?! I am fast getting blogged out, LOL! The true issue is that the space needs to be interactive so that you can let me know what you are up to and where. Maybe my secret ning.com space needs to go live... Anyway, let's get those rules out:

From: roses
Subject: Re: Your parking meter dance and Dance Day
Date: April 15, 2009 9:09:26 AM PDT
To: anna

ok. so the rules for the piece are this:
pay for your space and dance till your time is up.
the dance is over when the group occupies one whole block with dancers, no
cars.

the strategy is to notice when spaces open up, move into them by dividing the
group into enough parts, smaller and smaller, to keep the spaces full.

it gets trickier when there are less dancers in spaces, as the cars get bolder in
their efforts to occupy the same space.

this piece "IN P" was first done in 1972 on westwood blvd. that is the footage
you saw. i'll look around and see if i can find that. i have given the
original film to the lewitzky archive, as bella is in it, as the first car to leave
parking space. i was always so impressed at her willingness to not only
participate in her student's piece (me) but get there early, secure a parking
space, and get the whole thing rolling.

for me it was a time/space study, an assignment from one of her comp classes.
buy the time, occupy the space.

in that version, there were no directions about what to do in the space. just a
duration thing. somehow, i still seem more concerned about when than
what.

more later,
s.

Okay y'all there it is! Notice that the best strategy is to actually start with a dance-friendly car. Now my version was kinda chicken! If you can get the numbers, go for the entire block, baby!!! And btw, you do NOT need to be a dancer to organize one of these.

Idea: partner with a green business, esp electric car to get the word out.
Better Idea: talk to your local public transportation board to make this mobile!

April 29th is Dance Day. How you gonna shake it?
in love,
-Anna

ps: more madcap adventures from VISCERA are on the way for Dance Week, stay tuned along with a money action/investigation from Afrologica. Follow me on Twitter @doctoradancer

CHALLENGE: Metered Dance, an International Dance Day intervention

So Dance week is upon us here in the US. Usually a series of somewhat hokey studio offerings, this event was initially planned by UNESCO as a one day dance intervention. There was to be dancing on the sidewalks, in public plazas and buildings, parks and thoroughfares. Dancing literally in the streets if one could manage it.

So I'd like to bring that energy back.

My colleague and friend Susan Rose made a piece back in the 1970s for parking meters. It was very intense and extremely instructive on many levels. Therefore, I am issuing a Metered Dance Challenge to you all.

How it works: on International Dance Day, April 29th, with a team of at least 6 dancing bodies (in the footage of Susan's work, teams of 3 were often ignored and in danger), scope out meters on a busy street. When a car leaves, pump in your change, and proceed to dance there for the amount of time you have purchased. Don't forget to videotape and upload here, vimeo and on YouTube. Extra bonus points if you join afrologic.ning.com and post there, too.

I will curate a sampling of the videos on a blog celebrating our investigation of the "value" of dance.

Tag me on Twitter if you think you want to do this: @doctoradancer . Follow on Twitter via #meterdnce . I would like as many places on the planet as possible to participate.

I'll see about getting a DVD transfer of the Super8 film of the original dance uploaded for all to check out.

thought in motion::love in action,
Anna

NEWSLETTER: re-le-vitate

Peace & Time!
These last two weeks have been a phenomenon: challenging, invigorating, exhausting, frustrating, and illuminating. I've missed you guys so much! I just want to thank you all for the comments on the last entry and for the vibrations that you send my way as you await the newsletter in your in box. I FEEL YOU! I have been writing, stopping and starting, trying to get better information, hoping to get out of blog-syndrome, then ultimately not posting. I stumbled across two massive dance projects that required research of the type that I used to dread. I've had a dear mentor make his transition unexpectedly and find myself making up new teaching strategies as I go along for a group of 65 frosh. The plate is full, the cup runneth over, yet I have had no appetite. But I am back y'all, on the upswing, or the lift off as it were. This close to 40, with my big daddy gone, it is clear that I have to fashion myself as a warrior, and advocate; become a change maker, a DOER. And I'll be hot damn if I wasn't already doing it with Afrologica! So I want to thank you all for enduring me initially in this experiment, then supporting me with all your loving notes, and finally asking me to be there for you with the steady stream of invites and requests for postings. I get it. I'm here, and we're gonna turn this mutha out.


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


With all the transitions and change-ups, my 'fro has been on permanent wrap down, but David Rousseve got me to take that rag offa my head and shake it, shake to the lovely absurdity that is life. BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO this week is a PLETHORA of dance-based art, international Dance Week taking shape LA-stylee, and grants to make you holla.


UNKNOWN THEATRE
1110 Seward Street Los Angeles, CA 90038
Hysterica Dance Co. presents Crust
April 2 - 12, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 6pm; $18 online, $25 @ the door
I could not get in to see this piece last weekend, so I sure hope there are some tickets left! An investigation of dress, getting dressed, redressing, uncovering, this piece situates bodies in the stratum that is life in society. MUST GO.


ROYAL/T CAFE
8910 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90332; 310-559-6300
Cirque de So Lame
Friday, April 10, 8 PM; $5 , ONE NIGHT ONLY
OK. Pat Payne called me up frantic that we had to go see this. SO the shit has to be good. No real details to be found, Scratch that! I just found their website. I'm good like that! From a review I located from last year, this sounds like awesome lameness all around. MUST GO! Bob Baker Marionettes, David Lieb Hart ventriloquist and circus attire requested?!? $5?! GO. Brought to you by Zippercut. They's sho nuff crazeee.


REDCAT, map
Caden Manson/Big Art Group presents, SOS
Wednesday April 8 - Sunday 12, 2009 West Coast premiere; W-Th $25/20/12; Sat - Sun $30/24/16
REDCAT Has been ON FIRE! Go George! Tonight, a bit of lovely mayhem is planned for you in the form of a multimediated stage full of performers with live musicians. Caden takes a journey through the live feed to explore themes of rebirth, sacrifice, and ritual. The description sounds absolutely delectable, so I also have this on my MUST GO list. I need a clone! Look further down for TWO more must go events from this power presenter.


UCR PRESENTS, map
Neil Greenberg Dances presents, Really Queer Dances with Harps and Quartet With Three Gay Men
Friday, April 10, 8 PM; $34/17 + parking $8
This highly acclaimed show comes to Southern California in a mini-tour. My colleague is bringing a bit of the NYC Downtown scene to you over two weeks. Look for special programming at the SHOW Box with his entourage.


Missing something? Wanna see those posts that I never sent to you? They are all in the archive. You can search to by key word!



HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Meg Wolfe presents, Tender + ShowBox guest Karen Sherman presents Demolition Boy Friday April 17 & Saturday April 18 @ 8:30 PM Sunday April 19 @ 7:00pm $20/$15
This will be a profound evening of work by the dance ninja herself, Meg Wolfe. She is joined by Gregory Barnett of Dance Good Dammit! in a searing exploration of those parts that hurt from the pressure of missing gestures and overabundant touches. They are recommending you reserve tickets RIGHT NOW. Just got mine. MUST GO.


REDCAT
Neil Greenberg Dances presents, Really Queer Dances with Harps
Wednesday, April 15 - Friday April 17 @ 8:30 PM; $25/20/12
Neil hits LA with a short run downtown. Unbelievably, these tickets are cheaper than Riverside. Get your tix if you don't have them, car pool, get there early and have some drinks in the fabulous Lounge. All they need are some hot salty snacks. This is Neil's "debut" as newly minted member of the LA experimental dance scene, so come on out and welcome him!
Next @ REDCAT, You gotta get TIX NOW for
Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project, The break/s: a mixtape for stage
Wednesday April 22- Sunday, April 26, 2009 @ 8:30 PM, but Sunday @ 3:00; W-F $25/20/12; Sat-Sun $30/24/16
OMG, you cannot miss this, and all the hip hop heads in town that know anything about the science will be trying to get in da door, so get your tix right now!


UNKNOWN THEATRE
1110 Seward Street Los Angeles, CA 90038
Samantha Giron Dance Project Presents: Mongrels
April 16th, 2009 - April 26th, 2009
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 6 PM; $18 online $25 @ the door
Back to back dance programming, WOOOO! About the things that come out at night no less! Something must be in the air, cause my girl Meida McNeil is doing a show at Brown University called Urban Folk Dance about the House Music scene. Here in LA, Samantha Giron brings us an investigation of the the moves of the LA Underground Club scene. I got to see a bit of this and costume mock ups, if she kept all that hair swingin', the piece should really evoke its name quite well. You miss her here, I do believe you'll get to see her at the NEXT Festival.




ONGOING CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
It's Dance Week soon! I mentioned a month back that we need to do something with $2 bills and this special week of programming. I will almost spam your inbox if I can get sites involved with the idea. At the minimum, I am asking that if you make it to any special Dance Week events, you pay in $2 bills. If you are a class provider and are paid in $2 bills, when you go to your dance/yoga/pilates class, pay in your $2 bills! The pay scale I had hoped for likely will not happen, but if you can spend that week taking classes, attending events with $2 bills, let me know!

Initially, Dance Week was one day, initiated by The International Council of Dance at UNESCO back in 1982. I've scrounged out the official Dance Day Message from 2008 from UNESCO for you to check out. It has great ideas for promoting the day, most of which are not focused on dance studios at all!! So, I challenge those of you with companies, or freelancers/stylers to do an intervention (you know I am making this up as I go, right, lol!) OK. Susan Rose showed me a film of a piece she did in Westwood a while back that I think bears repeating, especially right now: find an empty meter on a street, put in the amount of time you need and proceed to dance there. I do recommend having a possee. In the film, teams of less than 3 had a hard time holding down the spot. Don't forget to videotape. I will send blog links for these, ahem, initiatives.

SHOWBOX
Here is one place that will gladly take your $2 bills! With special programming the Week of April 13 - 21, SHOWBOX is bringing special classes via DANCEBank, a movie night, an itch launch, master classes with Neil Greenberg's dancers who will be in town for their Redcat gig. Now, some of these things are listed a low to no cost, but please, drop two $2 dollar bills in the box at the door! Bartering is also in effect.
April 11th - guest artist, Paige Martin*
April 18 - guest artist: Christine Elmo*
April 27th: Monday Movie - it's a socialist musical documentary!, East Side Story, brought to you by my favorite German former-squatter, Ari Hoffmann (at Show Box http://showboxla.blogspot.com/) free ! (okay, right there? disregard and take that woman something: green cleaning supplies, TP, industrial mop, something!)

LULA WASHINGTON DANCE STUDIO, April 24 - 26
There is a whole day of events planned at this fantastic studio. If you have never been, time to fix that! With discipline, respect, and determination, Lula's students are a joy to watch, and actually to take classes with, so get ready for some intergenerational fun. More details next week.

I kinda thought that Dance South LA Project would have something going, but nothing turned up. It is likely that they are working with Lula Washington. If they are not, can somebody ask them what they have planned next?



EARTH DAY FESTIVALS
Earth Day is sooon upon us on April 22, the Wilshire Center will host it's second Car-Free Day from 11-2PM, but mysteriously...there will be no street closures! What? Here's the link for you to go down and recycle your e-waste for free. But f you want to help me out, hold on to your e-waste: I will need it for props and sets for a big show I have coming up. More details to follow. LA's big festival is not until June 27 (?) and will be in Venice. I won't put another question mark ^^ just raise my eyebrows.

Santa Monica
Arguably the largest one in the area, this Earth Day event had vendors, exhibits and hands on workshops up and down the Promenade in downtown Santa Monica. ¡BUT research is showing that it has been folded into the Venice Eco-Fest!

Everywhere
If you want to find out other things happening for Earth Day, here is a network with a search engine. Maybe you can find one that is actually a festival on the 22nd!




GRANTS & ART OPPORTUNITIES
AMI Productions
One of my spiritual communities, Agape, is lighting up the world in a grand way: with their communication wing, Agape Media International, they are announcing AMI Productions, a Film, Television & Theatrical production company. They are not playing around and production values will be HIGH. Click here for the open call for screenplays, television pilots and/or plays. Your work should be transformative, promoting unconditional love from a deep knowing place. Wanna hear something from Agape? Go to their site and find podcasts, video clips, songs and of course, the schedule for meetings. http://www.agapemedia-film.com/submissions.html

DanceUSA Audience Development Grant
Engaging Dance Audiences is a big effort, but the dollars are worth it: $25K - $150K grant size. This one is intricate, with three different categories, a built in data collection system, but it is open to organizations and individuals. Must be a member in good standing. http://www.danceusa.org/fundingguidelines




LOVELY!
Alrighty! I am not gonna rail too much about the pirates off the coast of Somalia while we do nothing about the pirates in our banking and financial system. My heart sinks every time I see a WaMu become a Chase Bank. But less I despair too deeply, it is important to keep in mind that this system of owning value separate from labor and attempting to define it as a tangible thing in a piece of paper, is coming to a close. Even Dance Week in the US is a complete fabrication to support an industry and not an activity. That link above will take you to a central website that is running under a .org denomination, meaning it is not-for-profit, however, it does appear that it is "owned" by The United Dance Merchants of America. Does this change the love, fervor and grace people have invested in this week? No, at least I hope not, but there is a very real way that the types of dance promoted on the site directly increase the demand for their products. The good ole American Way; but hey, it's efficient. My parking meter challenge up there is a way to bring the attention back to the dance and the bodies channeling it. If you take public transportation, you should make sure to dance a few phrases on the bus or train! Now don't have no shame: put your hat or bucket out and collect those tips! Let's support and promote people and their precious bodies. There are lots of ways to do it. I am happy to announce that Echo Park has set up an Time Bank! They launched in the summer of 2008 and have really taken off since the collapse of December 2008. If you are in the area, check them out! More importantly, they host workshops and are ready to help you set up your own system to barter/trade time for goods and services. I just missed their last workshop, but I will go to the next and report back! So keep up with me on Twitter @doctoradancer for breaking news types of things. You can also find my digital hat/bucket/basket/flower pot set out there! I'm signed up on tipjoy.com. If you're feeling me, drop me some change: it will be invested to bring you more performance analysis, video, podcasts and webcasts! Look for announcements about my consulting venture, Vita Vibrare, where I am Thinking at a Higher Frequency to lift you to your greatest good. DO YOU FEEL IT?! YES!, Alright now, I"ll see you around town.

in love,
-Anna