NEWSLETTER: party like it's 2009!

Hallo!

I feel like I should say it again, so I will, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yes, the divorce is final and the new wedding plans have finally been finalized (whew did they drag it out or what) so we should get together and sing and dance and act like natural fools! We did it! Now, time to get on-line and keep doing it. A significant part of the Obama effort is hearing out the populace, actually having the government be by the people, for the people and of the people. If you don't make time to interact, do not be surprised when odd-ball policies start gaining momentum. Life in the Big City can be all scrabble and scrape, with little time to reflect and initiate. We have to let that go and realize that we can make time to govern ourselves, otherwise how else will the arts get an agenda? When will classroom innovations for the few become the new standard for all? How else will that little strip of green space turn into an oasis of good eatin? When and how will wars get ended if you don't stop, write in, collaborate with your neighbor, help out at the local school or library? Who will heal Gaza? Obama the magical negro cannot take away the pains instantaneously, but he can inspire us to do it ourselves! Isn't that how it works in the movie anyway, except maybe this time he will get credit as he goes along instead of after he's 80. Uh, yeah. Signed sealed delivered, he's ours and we're his. Don't forget that.


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 possibility! Oh my goodness. Or should I say, the harvest of possibility? This week UCLA struts and crows about its bountiful harvest and UCI follows next month. But right now, daring dance theater, traditional hijinx and uncommon performance spaces show just how busy folks have been making a way when there appeared to be none! Let's eat! Metaphorically speaking...harvest, reap, thresh, yeah....



TONIGHT
WORLD ARTS & CULTURE, UCLA
Gloria Kaufman Dance Theater
Anyone Home Reunion Tour
January 16 & 17th; $10/$8 show, $9 parking in Lot 4 (car pool or bus in)
Eighteen alumni from a span of 34 years descend upon Kaufman Hall to show the young'uns how its done. This is a fantastically cheap show given the bill. Choreographers include: Linda Gold, I Made Bandem, Li Chiao-Ping, Banafsheh Sayad, Tamica Washington-Miller, Jackie Lopez and Amrapali Ambegaokar. Linda Yudin will present part of her glorious company, Viver Brasil. There is also an exhibit with the remaining artist presenting their work. All this for $10?!



UNKNOWN THEATER
1110 Seward Street @ Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA
Rupture: An Evening of Dance Theatre
Thursday January 16 - Sunday 18th, 8 PM/Sunday 6 PM; $18 advance/ $25 @ door
LA Weekly said you better get your backside up and out of the house to see this show. Nuff said. Final Weekend.



TRACK 16 GALLERY
2525 Michigan Ave, Bldg C-1, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Crocheting with Plastic bags: A workshop A presented by IFF
Saturday, January 17th 2- 4 PM
Now, this is truly something to participate in. I know you've got that stash of plastic bags that you keep forgetting to recycle in front of the grocery store. Here's your chance to divert it from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and look stylish at the same time. The workshop is followed by a lecture by none other than Captain Charles Moore, the dude who went out into the Pacific Ocean and came back to tell us that a patch of plastic trash the size of Texas was about to jack up our surf and turf buffet plans. Not to be missed.


UC RIVERSIDE, UNIVERSITY THEATER, directions
Off Campus Drive by the intersection of Canyon Crest Drive and MLK BLVD
Wonderboy, Joe Goode Dance Group
Wednesday, January 21st, 8 PM; $35/$17
Come out on a Wednesday evening--traffic not too bad--to see one of America's most highly awarded living dancers choreograph live bodies and a puppet. Yeah, shocked me too, but Joe Goode was named a United States Artists Fellow for 2008, one of only five national dance artists so honored. Wonderboy has already made itself known as a must-see piece of artistry and revelation. I"m just going to see the puppet dance though.



UC IRVINE CENTER FOR GLOBAL PEACE
UC Irvine Student Center, Doheny Beach Rooms B, C, D , directions
"Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa" A two day conference
Presented by The UC Irvine Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies and UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center
January 16 - 17 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
I did pledge to increase knowledge of Africa on my Face Book page, so I am urging those of you so inclined to go and learn something about how to be of better service to the residents of the continent of Africa. I had a grad student from Indonesia who had quite a lot to say about the "pity factory of philanthropy" which I found extremely interesting. I anticipate that and other scathing assessment of uneven global aid efforts into the countries of Africa. The event is happening now and its Friday (yucky traffic) but tomorrow is still on its way. Co-sponsored by:
University of California Humanities Research Institute, UC Irvine Office of Research, International Center for Writing and Translation, Center for Ethnography, Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, and Center for Research on International and Global Studies



later on


FIVE THIRTY THREE
533 S. Los Angeles St., 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA
Still Point: Harmony, Justin and Hana
Friday, January 23, 2009 & Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 8:30pm; $15 at the door, no reservations.
A choreographic analysis of a poem by TS Eliot, Four Quartets, Still Point will instead feature six solos that examine stillness. At first, cocky me imagined everyone standing still for 90 minutes, but the sparse industrial backdrop of the gallery space offers opportunities for the audience to think about how we engage noise whether we want to or not. From their web page: "Performers Justin Streichman and Harmony Bench were integral to the development of the work and join choreographer, Hana van der Kolk in the performance. Composer and violist Cassia Streb joins the cast, performing her original score." I have the feeling that this will be a magical and memorable night, the kind that creeps up on you while you think you are getting bored. More details to come once I shake them out of Harmony.


HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, (at the 18th Street Arts Center), Santa Monica, CA 90404
THEN, an evening of new dance works and works in progress
Friday & Saturday, January 30th & 31st, 2008; 8:30 PM, $20/ $15 DRC members & students
Curated by Carmela Hermann and Stephanie Nugent
An evening of new and in process choreography by Louie Cornejo, Keith Glassman, Terrence Luke Johnson, Stephanie Nugent & Kristen Smiarowski. Professional dancers are invited to come out and talk to other professional dancers about the act of making professional dance.


STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Roble Dance Studio, Stanford University, 375 Santa Teresa, Stanford, CA
Parijat Desai Dance Company
Saturday, January 31, 2009, 5:00PM, FREE
My favorite critical dance theory copy editor has a rather amazing dance company of her own. Parijat Desai presents Malaysia (excerpts), Listening #5, and Quiet/Fire (excerpts). She is at our alma mater in residence for this quarter, so check her out if you are up that way. You will not be disappointed. Also, if you need a badass copy editor, shoot her an e-mail! Performers: Desai, Aditi Dhruv, Penelope Kalloo and Riyo Mito.
info@parijatdesai.org, diversityarts@stanford.edu http://www.parijatdesai.org/


coming up:
check out a series of speakers I've assembled on the topic of "Dance as Civic Duty." Joe Goode kicks us off this Tuesday evening 4:10 in PE 102 at UCR. more info to come on my "professional" blog, The Gesture and The Citizen.




INAUGURAL BALLS
Yes yes y'all, party on after one of the single most defining moments in our country's history. There are is a link to the balls in DC, should you be on your way out there and there are a few in San Francisco and here in LA. LIkely you'll need to be so-called A-list for some of the LA ones, but I think that paradigm has shifted with the new administration. Who's more superstar than the O right now? Even Oprah had to give up that letter for Barry.

Washington D.C.
For DC only http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/inauguralballs.htm
I think my favorite wild sounding party is the "Chant for Change" a kirtan party for all the yoginis out there hosted by our own Shiva Rhea...in DC no less!

San Franciso
My dear friend Aimee Allison and a bevy of other social activists in the bay Area are hosting "Inauguration West" at The Metreon, 4th & Mission Streets in San Franciso. This looks like THE party y'all. I had an invite, but have to come back for work...but I does got me a j o b ! http://inaugurationwest.com/

Face Book
If you are looking for a viewing party, it is likely that all those new-fangled video billboards will carry the thing live (just guessing, they did carry the returns when he won) and Face Book and CNN are hosting a virtual party, but you will be able to see the actual swearing in and festivities.

Los Angeles
It looks as if fabulous has gotten on the jet and gone off to DC. Since "el lay" is a city of players and performers, everyone will be back east workin' the floor, shakin' hands and grinnin', pretending like they didn't endorse Hilary Clinton early, often and dirty. But never fear, that "Everyone" meant "all the people who think they got juice but will soon discover that they don't" so come out to a parade in Silver Lake then a Bush beatdown in Echo Park and if you are still standing, head downtown for an actual Inaugural Ball, art scene stylee.

*FREE Inauguration Viewing Party at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, 7 AM, and get this FREE Parking
*19th, Double Happiness Parade Silverlake Reservoir Recreation Center - 1850 West Silver Lake Dr. - Los Angeles January 19 : 10:30 a.m. Celebrate MLK & Barack!
* 19th, Bush Bash: It's Over Remy's on Temple, 2126 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90026; 213-484-2884. January 19 : 7 p.m. - 1 a.m. FREE don't forget to bring a shoe to throw! http://bushbashla.com/press.html
*The Art of Change Inaugural Ball, 1038 S. Hill St. - Downtown, January 20 : 7 p.m. Hosted by the Mayan, this will be a musically edgy event, plenty of dancing and a recap video of the inaugural speech are promised. $10


Marcus Quiland-Nazazrio has to be hosting one somewhere. Come on, querido, don't hold out on me. Where's the happening party?



ONGOING CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
International workshops have already been an announced for a number of styles! This is great, because you have enough time to join a credit union with good, stable liquidity, and stuff away $150/month towards the trip. Uh, oops. Make that $350 - $450/mo... hmmm a car note. Well they can repossess your car, but your muscle memories will be all yours, so get that account open and start saving up!

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Baker/Tarpanga Project takes you to one of their homes away from home for intensive traditional and contemporary dances of the Old Mali Empire. $2500, August 1 - 15th. Hosted by Napam Beogo/Center for Artisans and Visual Arts. $250 non-refundable deposit due by May 1, 2009
http://www.btdanceproject.com/content/view/13/29/lang,en/

Salvador, Bahia-Brasil with Linda Yudin/Viver Brasil. This is a trip that just keeps getting better, so every dollar is well spent. Now in its 12th year, the trip includes a stop in São Paulo at the Museum Afro on your way up to Africa West, aka Bahia. $3495, double occupancy, air travel included from LA, Miami, NYC (additional city leg is at your own expense) August 1 - 17, 2009. $400 registration fee. Pay over Paypal!
http://www.viverbrasil.com/HTML_2008/travel_programs.html

Caribbean Dance Cruise (Guinea style) with Youssef Koumbassa. August 16 - 23, 2009; $500 deposit was due on 12/08, so call to see if they are still accepting registrants. Total depends on room type, $1400 - $1700, all double occupancy. Airfare not included. Departure Port is Puerto Rico. http://westafricandance.com/




LOVELY!
This was an effort! Every week, I watch with horror as my in-box fills up with ...newsletters! Then I just have to laugh because I signed up for most of them and use them diligently to bring you a little bit of the word storm as a gentle rain. So keep 'em coming! But please begin to send them to afrologic@gmail.com. Time to get the tributaries into one river. Make sure you go out and party hard this week. Take off work! Declare it a holiday for 2 whole days. Wave and smile at people you don't know. Break out your T-shirts, make Obama Playlists for your MP3 player or phone. Sing out loud. Skip while you walk. Whistle while you pee in a public bathroom. Do little dances while you wait to cross the street. PARTY! Cause it is likely that before that man's hand gets off that bible, we will all need to figure out a new game plan for several old problems that won't go away (with a quickness as they say in the vernacular). Until Tuesday, dream of peace, ask for grace, give hugs and take action for love.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: back that thing up

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! or as my son has been saying "NAPPY WHO HEAR?"

Okay, so I had such a good time in Mississippi with family I had not seen for years that I completely let slide my 100 things I would switch up. I also ate everything I saw, and so it was likely I was in a food coma when I was not laughing really hard with one of my brothers. But I did have the eye open and ear to the ground. In spite of my good time, and a general sense that folks were very happy to see each other, no matter who, there was not all that much "holiday cheer." Fewer lights, shorter lines in the grocery store. it seemed that folks opted instead for the right to trample greeters at Wal-Mart for flat screens rather than spend their money on extraneous stuff like food and electricity. Cheers! I kinda thought that maybe the restraint was not so much a monetary result as it was people were saving up to party hard at the Inauguration. I mean, HanukaChrisKwanza comes every year, but swearing in a black man to be president of the world, that's likely not gonna happen again for a while. Did you see that Russians are betting on the dissolution of the USA by 2010? Did you notice the intensification of crazed retrograde behavior? If you are ignoring the Gaza dilemma, you should not. This battle will be the thing that distracts and takes money away from initiatives we have going here in the US for a Department of Peace and a Minister of Arts. These are important ideas that need to happen to begin to spread this almost-forgotten thing called "good will." To ignore Gaza is to do so at your own artistic peril. You'll get no blame game out of me; no one has the right to shoot anyone, even when it seems like the most expedient option. On iPeace, a sister in Tel Aviv blogged about realizing with a Palestinian sister that neither one of them had any idea what they wanted to happen other than they did not want all the murder to continue. That's deep. In the absence of imagination the wrong thing can keep happening, over and over, just because we are used to it happening. We are used to the arts being ignored. We are used to peace getting called impossible. We are used to sitting quietly while our straight jacket gets buckled up nice and tight. We even smile and say thanks in our confusion. This is the year to step out of the fear, out of the "always like this," to let go of "forever and ever amen" and leap into "I don't know, let's see what happens if we get still and listen." Let go, back into Grace, and come out flying into possibilities: take action with 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


Jumping heart first into 2009, there is plenty BLOWIN' BACK DA 'FRO this week. Artists are on the move, alternative markets are burgeoning, and well, we'll all just have to work a little bit longer before retirement. Stop eating out so you can keep making it to these shows!


TONIGHT
UKNOWN THEATER
1110 Seward Street (cross street is Santa Monica Blvd.), LA
Rupture: An Evening of Dance Theatre
January 8-18, Thursdays - Saturdays @ 8 PM & Sundays @ 6 PM; $18 online, $25 @ door
Kingsley Irons takes to the stage in a few minutes with a crew of dancers ready to break open your head with her analysis of discipline and punishment. The fantastic production team of the Unknown awaits to make your night a memorable one. Go check this out. Parking lot located north of the theater on Lexington and Seward.


ELECTRIC LODGE
1416 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291
iDfest 2009: UK in LA
January 6 - 11 is the Workshop sign up here. January 10 @ 8:30 1st show; January 11 @ 4 pm, second show; $20 Gen, $15 Student / DRC, Friday Pay-What-You-Can UK in LA, well, almost. Venice is technically LA, but...Anyway, I am very excited that this festival is in my backyard. Shows every evening with a different bill each time, this festival of improvisation takes its theme seriously. Special guest artists Kirstie Simson, Caroline Waters and Simone Forti anchor the event.


HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Street Cred 101
Saturday, January 10 & Sunday January 11th 8:30 PM; $15/$10
"Who you callin faggot!? I know how you like it when you at County!" Yes yes y'all Khalil Amani, S.A. asks: can a gay rapper earn his street credentials? This will likely be a RAW show, so if ya takin the kiddies to help them get an early start on loving everybody, be ready to answer LOTS of questions. With a roster of 7 hard hitting out rappers, the evening will burn in your memory for years to come. Stop H8TE. Brought to you in part by Outhiphop.com


USC FISHER MUSEUM OF ART

823 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, map it

El Mexorcist 4:America's Most Wanted Inner Demon
Wednesday, January 28, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm, FREE
El Mexorcista is BACK!! If you've never been excoriated, I mean exorcised by Guillermo Gomez Peña, tonight is the night. Hopefully it's gotten an update to included the antics of the shrub (Bush). Hosted by El Centro Chicano @ USC.


ONGOING CLASSES
It would be great to get updates from folks if your class has moved or your studio has closed. I did get word via Face Book that a new studio has opened! Congrats to the brave Yossi Conde! Her epononymous studio is located at 1734 SOUTH VERMONT AVENUE and you can enjoy a free salsa class this Sunday, 11 JAN from 10 - 11 AM. Shake that thang!

DANCEBank is ON with Mira Kingsley as instructor Saturdays 11am-1pm, January 10, 17, 24 $12

Rae S. Blum is now at Dance Arts Academy on Thursdays 7:30 - 9:30! Offered by Donation, so go get lifted.

A good number of the Viver Brasil Crew is in Bahia getting their learn on, but while they are away, you can expect guest teachers in the Tuesday night class at Dance Arts.

All on the dance map!


ACTION
This just in from Chicago...

Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.
http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html


LOVELY!
They say the New Year is all about out with the old and in with the new, but apparently the Blogjo did not get the memo and decided that divide and conquer race politics were still a good game plan. Why Mr. Burris thought he should accept the opportunity to become a black senator from Illinois from a corrupt, embattled governor is beyond me, but he did. Though we all count ourselves among the unlucky for the atrocity that is Gaza, Mr. Burris considers himself lucky for the cover. 2009 is all about implementation of the shifts we put into motion in 2008. Since that is the theme (cause I said so), it goes without saying that we have a year of work ahead of us, especially since not everyone wanted to come along on this fantastic voyage or they did, but did not realize how much old behavior that used to work, will no longer serve them. Scrape that gum off your soul and you'll discover a higher bounce. Looking forward to making anew world with you in 2009. Thanks for reading!

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: slippin & trippin

OI!
My goodness gracious! We are almost done with 2008! So I "should" put together a list of tops and bottoms for the year. Whoops! Did I say that? I meant "best" and "worst" but as you can likely guess, that is so not my style. Maybe "expansive" and "contractive" (or would that be regressive). Anywhoo, I don't want to do that just cause I got some love from each and every event/performance/museum/gallery opening I went to in 2008. I also learned soooo much! I want to thank each of you for being the teacher when it was your turn. I likely will venture a "10 things I would do if I were _________" list everyday on the blog for the last 10 days of 2008. Item #100: If were sane, I would not make such propositions. But I ain't, so check out the blog to see what I'm up to and post your own lists! Remember my insane analogy of mold, Blogo and Obama? Well it appears that Emmanuel is likely going to have to do that hustle "hisself" to get out of the skank. We shall see. I foresee a bizarre collapse of a good poriton of Obama's cabinet in the early days during appointments, forcing him to look to more liberal minded folks for a hand. With that in mind, who are the frenemies on the Inauguration Committee?! Rick Warren?! Alright, I can tell you exactly who they are and will do so in the action section of the newsletter. You've got some e-mails to send. This is OUR inauguration, not the Democratic Party's. A place at the table?! Maybe they are afriad of all those guns that got purchased right after the O made history? Additonally, the axe has begun to fall locally in LA on the lovely neck of the Arts. Aside from MOCA mucking up its own budget (oooh, I just thought about the Madoff runoff, omigawd), LAUSD just stopped all payments to all arts providers in the schools. Wham. Just like that. Er uh, I thought when you got fired, you got 2 weeks notice? Time to bake some cookies, host a video watchin party, dj for free to raise those funds, or just send some cash directly to your local artist; by the look of things, aside from the dudes sweeping out all the abandoned personal property after foreclosures, the other growth industry is performance art. Check 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 DA 'FRO this week is the massive potential of the incremental. Check dat! We might very well have to change that phrase "go big or don't go at all." It's more like what Muhammad Ali said "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," except now, you got to be a whole swarm with a DIY portable cocoon that you slip into ever so often for the costume change. Fractally fabulous.

TONIGHT
THE UNKNOWN THEATER
1110 North Seward Street, Hollywood 90038
Killing Game by Eugene Ionesco, directed & designed by Chris Covics
Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 6PM CLOSING DECEMBER 21ST; $18 advance, $24 @ the door
If you have not noticed, I've got a big streak of the absurdist a-runnin through my brain. Ionesco is a favorite absurdist, though after 8 years of dubbya capped off with a pair of size ten shoes (still giggling!), will you really think the play all that absurd? All the more reason to go.


MUSEUM OF LATIN AMERICAN ART, directions&info
628 Alamitos AV, Long Beach, CA 90802
En La Noche @ MOLAA
Friday, December 19th 6 - 10 PM
Contra Tiempo is in da house for this, the last event in what looks to have been a hot series. Hopefully this is the last of the year and not, well, ever. Salsa class with CTD, then a DJ Saoco spins Latin grooves and finally the night concludes with a performance by Esprit Afrique. Long Beach aka Strong Beach doin it to ya Afrodiaspora stylee. Now, where did I leave my helicopter?


MACHINE PROJECT
1200 D North Alvarado, Los Angeles, CA 90026, map a location
Poetry Delivery Day
Sunday, December 21, Dawn till Dusk Call the Poetry Hotline (213 448 7668)
This is for all of you folks out in Echo Park/Silver Lake: If you live within a one-mile block of Machine Project Headquarters, you can dial up and have a poem deliverd to your doorstep. Now, I think if you look around on the map link I have provided and find a comfy place in which to hang, you are within your rights to dial up a poem for delivery. I'm just sayin'. That's what I would do if my kids would cooperate. Joshua Beckman and Anthony McCann are your bards to order.


IN THE AFRIVERSE
OAKLAND/BAY AREA
DANCE MISSION THEATRE
3316 24th ST, San Francisco, CA at Mission
AQUI E AGORA & SEMPRE, concept, choreography and direction by Isaura Oliveira
Saturday, December 20th 4 PM; $10 - $15, sliding scale, children are free.
My first instructor in Brazil is pouring honey all over the bay and invites you to come and have a taste. This is the culmination of a month long workshop held at The Dance Brigade's Dance Mission Theater. If you are headed to the Bay, or were looking for a reason to go up, here is a good one.
"This creation vividly evokes the rites of Orisha and Caboclo traditions through dance, theater and music in an experimental Brazilian piece."
-Isaura Oliveira, Artistic Director and Choreographer

coming up...Dance 4 LIfe, Fundraising concert for Djembefolla Abdoulaye Diakite, Jan 21st @ La Peña

NYC
coming up...Alexandria Yalje at JCCM premiering "TOV," Jan 15th


"Now, where was that other thingamabob I wanted to see last week?" Check the Archives, search by location or artist, or just re-live the bright moments by reading older entries!


coming up back in LA area
"Dance As Civic Duty" a lecture series @ UCR organized by yours truly, FREE, Jan - March
Joe Goode's "Wonderboy" Wednesday, Jan 21st @ UCR 8 PM, tickets now
Kingsley Irons' Rupture @ Unknown Theater,Jan 8th- 18th, tix now
Street Cred 101 @ HIGHWAYS Jan 10 -11, tix on sale now
Any One Home - The Reunion Tour at WAC UCLA, Jan 16 -17
Booty LA with R.A.I.D. will be back with commanding performances for all
i.e. Dance is cooking up some all-ages dance fun, stay tuned
Raphael Xavier is bringin b-boy pain and power moves in workshops and shows
Michael Sakamoto will magically appear
Marcus Quiland-Nazario will already be there when he shows, really


ONGOING CLASSES/WORKSHOPS
While the performance community catches its breath before the mamma jamma of all events, New Year's Eve, dancers can rest easy that they can still get a class or two before the year is out.

Linda Yudin has live drummers for the last class of the year at the Dance Garden! Friday @ 6:30 PM, $15

Simone Forti is setting your kinetic kite loose on the wind of language as part of DANCEBank this Saturday @ 10:30 AM, $12
All class locations can be found on the dance map.

In Oakland, Regina Calloway is bringing to a close her month long celebration-fundraiser of/for Abdoulaye Diakite, our master drummer and former co-artistic director of Ceedo Senegalese Dance Company. He is still in the hospital(!), so if you will be in Oakland, go take class at Malonga Casquelorde Center for the Arts @ Alice & 14th Streets, 4:30 - 6 PM on Sun, 21st, $12 with Regina, Renée Puckett & Bontlé Willis, all my Ceedo homegirls! Then Regine Ndounda will give a smokin Congolese class on the 22nd @ 7:30-9 PM, $12. The Kongo class will be drum fire for sure! For updates on Abdoulaye: www.abdoulayeupdate.com



HOLYDAZE FAIRS & BAZAARS
Well...if you ain't got gifts yet, bettah make them little cute cupon booklets like you did in middle school: "this cupon good for one breakfast in bed" etc.
Really, end of year donations have a LOT of power this year. Seek out a beloved performance space/group/artist and make a pledge for a monthly donation of $10 - $15. That's the incremental I was talking about. Or be a badass and give a monthly amount equivalent to the founding year of the company: 1985= 19.85/mo. Get it? You can make these donations in the name of someone you love, or love to try to convince to behave the way you want them to!



ACTION
Now, I know this is rude. I is from da Souf and I does have hometrainin, but you don't let no snake up in yo house an' expect da party to go right. Unnerstan?! With that said, y'all need to call and e-mail the members of the Inauguration Committee and let them know that you think Rick Warren should be asked to step aside as the celebrant of the invocation and in his place...a praise dance piece should go in. If I had ALL my druthers, I would say Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith should deliver the invocation, but I am biased. Bruh can LIFT IT UP! So the folks:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe

Sen. Harry Reid
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Sen. Bob Bennett
http://bennett.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm

Rep. Nancy Pelosi
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

Rep. Steny Hoyer
http://hoyer.house.gov/contact/email.asp

Rep. John Boehner
http://johnboehner.house.gov/Contact/

5. Post your letters on the discussion board. Let the whole world know why are you disappointed and outraged!
If you are on Face Book, join: No Rick Warren at Obama Inauguration
Why am I feeling this? Though he is doing much needed work against AIDS/HIV in Africa, he is only there to support "the innocent." This reverberates back in his "holocaust" of abortions. So, to be clear, Rev. Rick Warren is very vocal about his support of Prop 8, by his own admission ignored HIV/AIDS pandemic until the innocent were involved (?!), and does not support a woman's right to choose. Is this the change you voted for?

LAUSD stops payments to artists and art providing organizations.
If the admiral, or whatever his rank was, can get half a million to walk, I KNOW the folks who actually did their jobs can get their checks on time. Call, e-mail, and write to LA Times, Weekly and City Beat.
"Arts for LA has initiated an advocacy campaign urging LAUSD to release the district-wide budget freeze that has halted the delivery of arts education to thousands of students and is crippling arts organizations who provide services as part of the Arts Community Partners Network.

Take Action
Sign the Petition
Get Involved"
Arts for LA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts advocacy organization. Our mission is to foster a healthy environment in which the arts and culture may thrive and be accessible to all in our region.

LOVELY!
My goodness. This past weekend we did a marathon of dance madness. I finally got to meet Mecca Vazie Andrews, YAY! Her paddle boat dance as part of Thank Tank 2008 was most inspiring. Later that evneing I went to check out Lula Washington's show at the Broad in Santa Monica. Fierce dancers as always, but dang it, they were not working with much material. I'm hoping for better repertory shows in the future as Ms. Washington makes space for her in-house choreographers. I wrote a l o n g blog about the experience of the day on Face Book. It will migrate to Afrologica presently. Well, the day today was full of obstacles that pulled out moves so graceful, I did not recognize them as my own. I wish you the same as you get into the driver's seat of these momentous changes, cause honey, it is dangerous down there by the tires. Get up! get focused, and drive to your destiny!

in love,
-Anna