DISPATCH: World Festival of Sacred Music

The catalogs are all over town and postcards litter every gallery, studio and loft. The World Sacred Festival is lifting up LA once again in September. As promised, here are some events that I would not want to miss, though it is likely that I will miss half, wah!

OPENING NIGHT
Saturday 13th
$55/$45/$35/$20
Well, it is the Gala opener. However, my gut tells me the show will be very long and not the best choice if you have kids. It is actually not on my list of shows to see, even thought Waldemar Bastos from Angola will be singing! There's just something wonderful about setting your intention at these big fêtes that I love.


SONGS FOR THE FALL EQUINOX
Sat 13th @ 10 AM & Sunday14th @ 11 AM
Haramokgna American Indian Center; $5 donation/ $10 - $20 for workshops
Maybe because I like symmetry, some times, I am drawn to this event to close out my river meanderings. Opening with blessings at teh headwaters of the Arroyo Seco, this Flute Circle is open to all who come.


CANCIONES DEL ALMA (SONGS OF THE SOUL)
Sunday 14th @ 1 pm
MOLA, Long Beach; FREE
bata, djembe, taiko, gamelan, atabacque, cajones--sacred drumming and estatic dancing. a sumptuous feast. carpool!
Felipe García Villamil, DAFRA, Taiko center of LA, Viver Brasil, Oscar Reynolds. Oh, there's even gospel music sung by Samoans y'all!!! Gotta see this one for sure.


SALAM YATRA
Tuesday, 16th 8 PM
Nate Holden Center
$40 reserved is probably your best bet since this is a small house; $25 gen/$20 student
Go to see what is known as a "living treasure," Mythili Prakash will set your senses on fire as she improvises within the 2000 year old tradition of Bharatanatyam.

SOUNDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AND BEYOND
Thursday 18th, 8 PM
Murphy Recital Hall, Loyola Marymount U.
The roots of Sephardic music get a lovely unearthing through the voice of Stefani Valadez with special presentation by dancer Melanie Karem. Also on the bill is 1st-West Ensemble, and Ava Nahas Percussion Trio. Of course, there will be a l'il bit of flamenco.


MARE SERENITATIS (Sea of Serenity)
Friday, Sept. 19th @ 8 PM; $25/$20
Aranti/Japan America Theatre
Zen archer Hirokazu Kosaku is joined by butoh dancer Oguri to present an evening of purification, expansion, and emptying. I've wanted to see Oguri for a while now but did not want to brave the desert, where a significant part of his work was once based.

SACRED WATERS. WATERS OF LIFE.
Saturday, 20th @ 1 pm; $10 NOTE: this event is delayed due to visa logistics
18th Street Arts Center Gallery
Viver Brasil leads a workshop to prepare you to greet and salute the Sea, which will be the closing ceremony of the Festival once again this year. Songs, dances and instructions on making an appropriate offering. IF YOU CAN: please go to their website and make a donation to help offset the $1000 visa expedition fee that has been levied against Dona Cici's application to come and teach the songs. This is extremely urgent and every bit helps. The application was simply not even opened until two days ago, and then not read. $1000. Who can make that gift to bring the beauty and knowledge embodied by elder priestess Dona Cici?

THE RHYTHM OF AX´E
Saturday 20th @ 8:30 PM; $25 in advance; $35 at the door
Blenkenship Ballet of Venice
Axé! The concept of life force and good vibes is put to you via an evening of ritual-inflected performances. where white and cover your head!!! Just a precaution. Shaman's Dream World Ensemble, Djelia Kadi, Malaika, Mestre Amen & The Batuqueiros;Swing brazil; Hoopnotica with art installation and hopefully some food, as the night sounds long.\

VOICES OF THE WAY
Saturday 20th; $15/ $10
Sacred Heart Chapel at LMU
Yes, I know this conflicts with Rhythm of Axé, but these works will be truly breathtaking and contemplative, soooooo, if you don't want to jump around and sweat in your seat, with DJ breaks to let you stretch your legs, then this show is for you. Sri Susilowati will mesmerize you. Really. A multimediated collaboration, Susilowati is joined by composer Paul Humpreys and documentarian Luis Proença (he documents diasporic Portuguese speakers of So. Cal, East Timor and Mozambique). This will be a surprising night.

GLOBAL MALA
Sunday Sept 21 1 PM; $29
Sunken Garden at LMU
I have always wanted to go to this. I do not think I could do 108 sun salutations let alone 108 poses, but I could likely walk around something 108 times! Part of not only the festival but the International Peace Day, Global Mala seeks to make a ring of peace & love around the world through 108 acts of yoga-inspired action. This is a 6 hour participatory event.


EMERGING VOICES dance and music from Hawai'i and India
Sunday 21st 6 PM; $25/$15
James Armstrong Theater Torrance Cultural center
Halau Keali'i O Nalani and Shakti Dance Company share a bill designed to reveal how dance is a sacred text and historical record, always and forever more, no matter how many times you drop it like it's hot.

SOULULAR MEMORY...THE RECONNECT
Monday 22nd 8 PM; $10
Temple Bar, Santa Monica
d. Sabela Grimes. I said, d. Sabela Grimes. If you don't know, then act like you do and show up to this night of Ovasoul love in collaboration with Essential MC and Gina Rene. The mystikal side of Hip Hop, explored.

INTERSECTIONS OF SOUND AND SPACE
String Theory at the Fowler Museum
Friday 26th 6:45 PM; FREE
GOTTA GO!!! It's a sculpture piece, wait it's a set for dancers, wait, it's an instrument! NO, silly it's all three and you can be there for free.


ANATTA
Saturday 27th 8:30 PM; $20 & $15
Highways
Rather elusive description, but this collection of collaborative works will challenge your sense of reality. SO come get shifted by Michael Sakamoto, Waewdao Sirisook, Amy Knowles and Bob Bellerue. Buddhism, movement, sound, improvisation...existence.

HONORING THE SEA
Sunday 28th, 3 PM until sundown 6:41 PM
Santa Monica Beach, where Ocean Park BLVD meets the sand
Get your reconnecting ritual on, in many languages. Check the website to see which traditions will be present. But please, just come and get lifted.


well, that's it! there will be a map up for these things in the newsletter tomorrow--I must be nuts!---and I was. you'll just have to wait a wee bit longer.

Also, there were two events that were of interest, but involved no dancing--my main criteria--Guardians of the Sound and Spirit-Lesa Terry and the Women's Jazz Orchestra on Friday 26th @ 7:30 PM and One World Many Voices on SUnday 20th @ 2 PM (mostly for the Bulgarian folk singing, which I adore)

Reach out ad let me know where you might be headed and when during this magnificent event!

in love,
-Anna

The "Yoga" effect

Lately, I've noticed an explosion of one hour dance classes.

One hour? What can you possibly do in one hour, other than warm up?

Well, if it were an audition, you could conceivably show the routine twice and cut over half the people in the room.

But if it were a yoga class, you could actually do an entire 21 poses. Well, an hour and 15 minutes.

But why model a dance class on a yoga class? They are rather distinct things.

It seems that the answer lies not in kinetic research, or physiology, or even some sort of wild psychological take on action and time. No, the answer can be found in the phrase, "market rate."

Here in LA, especially on the West Side, the explosion of Yoga studios and wellness spas has lead to a paradigm shift in the concept of time/space/place/body. It used to be understood that the body needed time to get warm, to get ready, to then move, and then to calm itself, or at least acknowledge the other bodies in the space. With Yoga classes designed more to maximize space to profit, classes of any movement genre have had to follow suit, or loose out all together.

Do I have a lot of research to back this up? Nope, I just have a hunch. And this is only part of the hunch. But it's a big part of it.

The spaces solely dedicated to Yoga would have been multi-use spaces 10 years back, giving the clientele an opportunity to get out of their comfort zone and try someone else's moves; or they would've been spaces held by a dance company, used primarily for their company classes, and rented out on occasion at rock bottom prices to fledgling companies or extremely interesting teachers/choreographers.

These days, there is a plethora of Yoga "techniques," leaving little room for dance classes, but additionally, these spaces are retrofitted to accommodate a movement practice that has no leaps, turns, or pivots: the floors suck, in dancer terms.

But we try to use these spaces, and find ourselves in pain, but still getting by so we think, because we are a bit safer ensconced in a yoga studio than trying to tough it out in a gorgeous, light-filled dance studio with a sprung wooden floor and, gasp, a shower...and a client base of production companies, movie studios, and TV choreographers.

This is the other part of the big hunch.

So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, Dance Wars, The Freshest Crew (or whatever inane name it has) have begun to exert a centrifugal force on dance space in the city. My brother used to dance for a cruise line, Royal Caribbean. To give you some idea of the type of money we are talking about here, they would fly in ALL cast members for ALL ships docking on West Coast, put them up at The Plaza near Park/LaBrea, and rehearse them for 2 - 3 weeks each cast, before shipping them off. When DWTS went mega, all of a sudden, the studio near their swank, but shared housing, became unavailable, opting to host the show.

Now if Royal Caribbean would rather give their dancers a bus pass and make them show up almost near Universal City Walk to rehearse, what are the chances that a dancer/choreographer trying to stay in the game and eat at the same time can get a studio space that reflects what she or he feels and represents through her/his dance?

This is a VERY big problem.

McYoga on one side, and wannabe stardom on the other, and then underneath, the Industrial market (commercials, infomercials, rehearsals for film musicals, music video shoot and rehearsals) and soon, there is very little space for dance that does not generate capital as its reason for being.

I propose that studios go back to charging a flat fee for monthly classes, rather than an hourly extraction of rent. Our labor attracts people to their space, and most of the time, our students become patrons of the yoga, Pilates, tai chi, or whatever. Moreover, since we carry all financial responsibility for advertising the class, it seems maniacal to pay an hourly rent.

Yes, this idea needs some more thought and some numbers, but with the current upswing of fantastic dance companies and choreographers in the Los Angeles area right now, a new paradigm is due: one that includes dancing in all its forms and styles.

Part two will examine DANCEBank and SHOWBOX a start points for the dance space revolution.

NEWSLETTER: forward strokes

HEEEEEY!!

June is almost gone, and summer is blasting us not only with heat (and some unfortunate smog) but with wonderful music, exceptional dance events, street fairs and just a sensibility, almost fragrant, that there is still so much possible here, even with the economy tanking, even with the price of gasoline, even if...Every cloud has its silver lining and I am thinking that our windfall will be each other. Take and make every opportunity to get to know your fellow travelers!

Here is one, and maybe the last for a bit as the summer takes me to conferences, workshops, and family reunions:



West African Dance with Anna Scott, 1:30- 3:30
Shakti's Elements, 717 Broadway @ Lincoln, Santa Monica.
$12 cash love offering; $10 if you ride the bus. children welcomed!

Best place to park is in the 7th ST public lot. 1st Two hours free!

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro?
Multiple, fractal, improvisational, polemical but always moving with spirit and in the service of lifting it/us all up. That's the logic of the Afro.

BLOWIN BACK THE 'FRO this week is serendipity! As you may recall, back in April Mami Wata swam into the Fowler Museum, where she is still holding court, btw. Viver Brasil helped celebrate her, Marcus Quiland-Nazario brought buckets and buckets of walking ponds to honor her in a parade, the LA Tap project launched, I had my students do water actions at UCR, the Governor declared a drought, and then the LA River was declared not really a river, and my neighbor, editor of the La La Times, George Wolfe made the LA Times when he commuted to work in a kayak and suite and now we have a fantastic series of water-based performances washing into town this week!!! I know, that was a run on sentence, but it was fun. But before I dive in, Ms. Pat Payne has this to say:

WHAT RECESSION?! The NEST presents a SILENT ART AUCTION,
Sat. June 29th, 2-6pm
3025 Exposition Place #2
Los Angeles, CA 90018-4015
(323) 292-3375
http://www.mapquest.com/mq/8-FOi_LA4o
I-10 to Crenshaw exit, south
The NEST'S SILENT AUCTION will feature original fine art/photography, art books, performance artifacts and custom home furnishings created by yours truly and other talented So-Cal artisans, with prices to fit every budget. Payment plans and/or deliveries can be arranged for large purchases. Light refreshments will be served.
Previews will be online at myspace.com/spunkyxipe

Now, if you have never seen the lovely Ms. Payne in action, you are so sad. But see, she forgives you and is inviting you to her Live/Work space for a delightful afternoon of art, friends, tea, and your money getting placed into her cash register. I got a preview, and the work is quite interesting and stirring. I really dug it. Stay tuned for her upcoming Salon in July.

REDCAT
June 29-July 6
STEPHAN KOPLOWITZ: TASKFORCE
This week-long series of site specific performances responds to unusual, inspiring and challenging sites connected by water--from the Farmers Market at The Grove, to The Water Court at California Plaza, the Los Angeles River and beyond. Bessie and Alpert award-winning choreographer Stephan Koplowitz and his new TaskForce -- a collaborative team of dancers, performers and composers -- explore an enduringly important and controversial resource in Southern California.
redcat.org/season/0708/dan/taskforce.php

Catch what you can, before it floats away. (ok, that one was yucky) Hassan Christopher of the Open Space worked as one of the producers. He is VERY excited about this work, and so am I!


GRAND PERFORMANCES
The next event that I'll recommend of this fantastic series is part of the event sponsored by the REDCAT

06/30 - 5:00 PM: Stephan Koplowitz: TaskForce perform Liquid Landscapes
This area has some of the most beautiful, yet wasteful uses of water in the city. Not to be missed. If you missed Seun Kuti, you missed a great moment in LA civic history. My pics did not turn out (boohoo), but I'll still post one of revelers jammin in the moat on Afrologica. It's as if they knew that the TaskForce was coming to do just that.


VENICE BOARDWALK
Venice Eco Fest
Saturday June 28th, 10 AM - 7 PM
1800 Oceanfront Walk, Venice, CA 90291

It's as if Mami Wata is determined to make a point! Eco Fest comes late to Venice, but that's great for you if you did not make any of the other festivals hosted by Earth Day LA back in April. This one co-hosted by Venice Chamber of Commerce. Vegetarian fare, music, school dance teams, and a world premiere by Blankenship Ballet! Free! But parking is not and will likely make you go into convulsions, so, please take the bus, Metro 33 or 333 will get you right there. There's a Culver City bus, that gets close, too (don't know the number) and the Big Blue Bus #1 will take you to Lincoln & Venice where you can catch the 33 or 333 OR BBB #2 will take right by Venice Main post office. Bring the kids! I'm coming after my class.

SKIRBALL
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, LA, CA 90049
OPENING THIS WEEKEND: Tere O'Connor and Rammed Earth.
June 26 & 27 8 PM; Sat 7 & 9 PM; Sun June 28 7PM
$20 gen, $18 mem, $15 student

Get tickets now for %15 off using the following code for on-line pre-sale 99522
No late comers will be seated, so get up there early and hang at the café! This is guaranteed to be one of those dance community reunions, so get yo' hair did, yo' toenails done and your clothes perfectly LA frumpy! Oh, and accessorize. Free parking or go Metro Rapid #761

CULVER CITY HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM
4401 Elenda Street, Culver City, CA
Friday 6/27 & Saturday 6/28 at 8pm; Gen Admin $15, kids $5,
Pop Rocks
This comes recommended by Grover Dale. The LA Dance Company presents two evenings of pop-music driven choreographies accompanied by a live DJ in a setting like a rock concert. Looks like a really fantastic event on the very broad LA Dance scene! Choreography by Jolieba Jackson, Kate Hutter, Leslie Scott and many others.


UNKNOWN THEATER
110 Seward ST, LA, CA 90038
11 Missing Days, Meg Wolfe/Show Box
July 3 - 13, two weekends, different bill each one
The mystery will unfold soon, but you won't get to solve it if you don't have tickets...

SANTA MONICA PIER
Ocean Blvd @ Broadway
The Thursday night music series begins tonight! The schedule is a tad ho-hum until mid-July, but there may be something of interest to you. The 4th of July has a Hawai'ian theme, which, to be honest, turned my stomach a bit as there is right now a very intense lobbying effort to free this island nation from US control. But, it looks like a good line up. So if you like hula and ukelele, check it out on the 3rd of July. The GLOW Festival will be here, more to come on that. Parking is a NIGHTMARE. Please take the bus, or better yet, if you're local, ride your bike. The city provides valet parking right there on the beach.


SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL
Thursday June 26th - Saturday June 28th
This famous section of the boulevard launches its own festival this year with a very ecclectic mix of bands. This is a venue-based festival, kinda like the music festival in Austin, but waaay smaller. If you're over 42 yrs old with a significant amount of burned out brain cells, most of this will be heaven for you. I recommend checking out Dialated Peeples (whaat?!) for all the Gen X Hip Hop heads on Friday, June 27th at the House of Blues. But get ready for Sunset Junction, the mother of all urban music street festivals in LA, in August.

FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East Los Angeles, CA
Viver Brasil, "Omi Odara/The Gift on the Water"
July 5th, 8:00 PM, $28/ $5 for kids

Oh yes, more water, more water, more water! please get your tickets. This show will sell out soon. It's a great venue for families, especially since Target has underwritten $5 for children! The open dance class was a blast--thanks to all who showed for that. Let's sit together! Hit me up if you are going and we'll plan a section.




SUMMER INTENSIVES
Here comes the DanceBank summer intensive, accompanied by a workshop from the SHOWBOX, both Dance Ninja (aka Meg Wolfe) inventions. Please go to her MySpace page for many more details, esp. pricing as it varies by the number of classes purchased.

DANCE BANK
Sat/Sun 11am-2pm*:
8/2 & 8/3 - Rae Shao-Lan Blum (at Farmlab)
8/9 & 8/10 - Mira Kingsley (at Farmlab)
8/16 & 8/17 - Sara Wookey
8/23 & 8/24 - Olivier Tarpaga *(5-8pm on 8/24)
8/30 & 8/31 - Liz Casebolt & Joel Smith
Tuesday/Thursdays 11am-1pm:
8/5 & 8/7 - Simone Forti (at Farmlab)
8/12 & 8/14 – Liz Maxwell
8/19 & 8/21 - Rebecca Alson-Milkman
8/26 & 8/28 - Taisha Paggett

Thursday nights, 7-9pm:
8/14 - Hana van der Kolk
8/21 - Hana van der Kolk
8/28 - Meg Wolfe

SHOW BOX presents the July Guest Artist Series
July 5th: Faye Driscoll (NYC)
July 12th: Sam Kim (NYC)
July 19th: lean to productions - Leslie Seiters (San Diego) and Rachael Lincoln
July 26th: Modern Garage Movement (NYC)
These classes will be held from 11am-1pm, at
Farmlab and Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
Phone: 323.226.1158

Handicapped Accessible
Free & plentiful street parking


AFRICAN DANCE FESTIVALS/CAMPS/WORKSHOPS

Fareta has closed early registration, but you can still get in on the action and even pay with Pay Pal. This camp is hosted by Youssef Koumbassa July 6 - 13 at Camp Hye Sierra, Dunlap CA and features an All-Star line up of dancers from Mali & Guinea, with a few reps from Senegal. Yousseff has such good energy, if you can, check this out.

Alamuta at the Lacy Studio Lofts (OMG, they look so beautiful) in LA, July 11 - Aug 3, is set to kick off coming soon to LA in July, tickets still available. The line up includes not just dances from West Africa, but throughout the African Diaspora. let's thank them for organizing this by turning up and paying in full in advance...

Travel north to the Congolese Dance and Drum Workshop hosted by the Kongo dance community of Oakland, CA. Not to be missed! Held in Pike, CA near Nevada City, this camp truly transports you to the essence of the musidance. Their children's camp is worth its weight in gold. July 25 - August 3rd, but you can purchase by the day!

Le Bagatae in Chicago has announced a summer dance festival. Won Na Won Malan, by the lake in beautiful South South Shore district. August 7 - 10; Pay before July 24th $195 buys all 12 classes, concert and camp t-shirt. THE LINE UP IS HOT!!!! I will upload the registration form in Afrologica as it came as a PDF file. Youssouf Koumbassa, Djenaba Sako, Biza Sompa--just to give you an idea. This will be fierce.

Papa N'Diaye in Boston invites you out to the NDAJE Festival
June 26-29, 2008
The line up is AMAZING!!! For more details, please check http://www.papendiaye.com/ndajefestival
For more information about West African dance in the Boston area, please visit www.WADaBo.com!
Questions? Send an email to: ndajefestival@ papendiaye. com


RASANBLE! A Hatian dance camp in Oakland!!
July 11- 14th, in two locations so check out Rara Tou Limen's MySpace page for complete line-ups, fee schedules and events. You can also request info at raratoulimen@gmail.com

You can still travel to Salvador- Bahia, Brasil with Viver Brasil Aug 1 - 16! Just a few spots left. This is one of those relaxing, yet intense dance workshops. Linda Yudin and her staff have quite a time planned for you. $3395 includes double occupancy, all classes and airfare. This is a great way to go the Land of Magic if you have never been.

ONGOING CLASSES
section will be back next week after a foraging round. who is teaching what and where?! here are few items that are one time events

Zé Ricardo at the Dance Arts Academy Tuesday Nights,July 1 & 8, 8:00 PM, guest of Viver Brasil $15
Rosangela SIlvestre at Electric Lodge in Venice Sat at 10 AM, guest of Kimberly Mullen (unconfirmed)




Lovely!
So, I'll see you in class this Saturday, no? Consider it the warm up for a very exciting weekend.

in love,
-Anna