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

Peace & Blessings!

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

Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro?
Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up!
That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful


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



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


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


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

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



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


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

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

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


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


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

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


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

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


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

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

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

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




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

NEWSLETTER: full stop

A glorious good evening to you!

I should be in Roanoke right now. But I am home, in Venice, marveling at how the universe can make the tough decisions for you. In the midst of a grand mamma week-long scramble for childcare to cover a trip to a conference, I have been having lively conversations about art making, politics and making plans around all of it. Not to mention, I have been performing as well. My ass is right where it should be: preparing, playing and making reality out of dreams. I got word yesterday that flights were turned back, and many who tried to attend the conference could not. I would have been among them. This week we should give thanks for those odd obstacles, the ones that should not be there or are "never an issue," because these events/moments/laws are calling us to really be about what/who/when we are. One such obstacle is Prop 8. I will be at City Hall on Saturday, staking a claim for civil rights, joining in with a NATIONWIDE call to end the legislation of hate. This obstacle is choreographing some amazing netroots and grassroots power. But let's not forget, that such an amendment is really about false faces, about pretending to be about one thing when really feeling another. It is personal. Though boycotts appear to be vindictive, they are the correct response in the absence of dialogue. But truly, we should seize this "missed flight" as it were and get down to having those conversations that make us all uncomfortable. There is only so much an Obama can do, and if his administration picks thus far are any indication, there is only so much he is being allowed to do by his party. The battle to repeal Prop 8 is not about fighting "the power," this is about revealing your heart, choosing love and respecting yourself--even if you are not gay, especially if you are not. We are all being called to confront our beliefs that we hide from our "Others:" our words that we speak when "they" aren't around; actions we take mistakenly thinking we are protecting ourselves when we are just abusing someone else; our desire to avoid confrontation by foreclosing debate through inhumane rules, regulations, ordinances, laws, and propositions. We are the light and the change that we thought we had elected. We gots ta BE it at all times. So mobilize your smile and open your heart and stand for love.

Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro?
Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up!
That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful


BLOWIN BACK THE 'FRO this week are some items on the East Coast, Repeal Prop 8 Protest, and business as usual. Really. The fact that most of are behaving as if the dollar has not become a relic is blowin back my 'fro. This is a great time to be an artist and a fantastic time to watch what they come up with.


TONIGHT
VELASLAVASAY PANORAMA (at the Japan American Museum)
1122 W. 24th St. Los Angeles, CA 90007
Vaudeville Night
Friday, November 14, 2008; FREE
Some of the amazing local artists that you know and love will be on this bill or worked on the project: Scoli Acosta, John Fleck, Todd Gray, Harry Dodge and Stanya Kahn, and Michael Sakamoto. Curated by Kris Kuramitsu and Rita Gonzalez, produced by Meg Wolfe. And its all free! Hope you made your reservation because seating is limited. I will see you there!
reservations: events@panoramaonview.org
http://www.janm.org/django/exhibits/20years/programs/
www.panoramaonview.org


HIGHWAYS
1651 18th St, Santa Monica, CA
Farid Mercury
Friday, November 14th - Saturday 15th; 8:30- 10:30PM $20
This is a must see show as well. The set up is such a confabulation that I want to go just to witness this actor work this all out in under 2 hours. Don't miss this show.


UC RIVERSIDE, UNIVERSITY THEATRE
Friday, November 14th; 8:00, $34/$17
Urban Bush Women & Jant Bi perform The Scales of Memory
If you don't have tickets, this ship has sailed...but it's next port of call is UC San Diego, tomorrow.


"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!



LACMA, directions
Wilshire, between Fairfax a& Curson
Machine Project
Saturday, November 15, 12 noon - 10 PM; $12/$8/FREE under 17
Echo Park-based gallery collective takes over Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the entire day! This is your post-protest destination. There are over 60 projects in the house, including in the elevators. The price for admission is the same as regular. TIP: if you go with kids, you get in free and so do the kids! Here's a lot more info on the day, including participating artists. Highly recommended that you take public transportation. Like FREEWAVES Festival last month, folks will talk about this for years to come. Be among them.


and out in NYC, cause I know some of y'all bicoastal and all

WILMER JENNINGS GALLERY @ KENKELEBA
214 East 2nd St, New York, NY 10009
SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto, a John Sims Project
Opening Reception, November 16th, 3 - 6 PM
If you are ANYWHERE within 100 miles of this gallery, you MUST go see this show. I'm thinkin of trying to get a plane ticket to head out and check this before it closes. A black mathartist who works with Amish quilters in Sarasota, Florida based on visualizations of Pi, John Sims' exhibit will be accompanied by his video doppleganger, Johannes-Curtis Scharwazenstein presenting "SquareRootPoetics." Mr. Sims has also concocted a sound installation (he wants to get you in just about every orifice on your head) "Pi Notes: Sonic Mathematics." He will be in NYC with the exhibit through Turkey Day. Artist talk on November 20th. Show closes on Feb 14, 2009. Next big project: linching the Confederate flag in Tampa, FL. NO, I'm not making this up. One to watch...


UNKNOWN THEATRE
1110 Seward Street, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Dance Series Benefit Party and Performance
Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 8:00pm - 11:00 PM; $15 gen/$12 in advance; $20 CASH at the door
One of my fav places to hang out with the dance scene is having a party to launch its upcoming Dance Season! Go and mingle and support this years recipients of their seed grant: Heidi Duckler of Collage Dance Theatre; Kitty McNamee and Ryan Heffington of Hysterica Dance Company, Samantha Giron Dance Project, and Kingsley Irons. DJ, mini-performances, dancing, community.


DIAVOLO DANCE SPACE
616 Moulton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90031.
California Touring Project
Friday and Saturday, November 21 – 22 at 8pm Sunday, November 23 at 6pm; $20/$16 in advance, cash at door
This evening promises a night of thought provoking choreography, texts et al. My colleague Susan Rose will have you on the edge of your seat as she pushes an entirely improvised duet. Take class with her when she's in the DANCEbox. Caseboldt & Smith, the evenings hosts, continue to show why attention to detail always pays off, in ways you least expect it. The bill is fleshed out with Cid Pearlman and Yolande Snaith. From the looks of the press release, you should come prepared to dance... GO SEE on Friday.



UCLA's GLORIA KAUFMAN DANCE THEATER, directions
120 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA
Sheetal Gandhi and Krenly Guzman in Concert
Friday and Saturday November 21st and 22nd, 2008; $15/$8 or call 310-825-2101
You just have to give thanks for the fantastic artists that come into LA via the World Arts & Culture Program. In fact, all the MFA programs in the area really sustain the dance community here. Caseboldt&SMith are UCR MFAs and hold it down. But this is the time of year I look forward to, when the MFA concerts @ WAC begin sprout all over the place. This double bill will delve into the contemporary reality of so-called traditional cultures. Two fantastic artists, breaking into their own kinestic banks and making off like bandits. GO SEE on Saturday.




ONGOING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
A birdie told me that Rae Shaolin Blum is starting up her contemporary dance class on Jan 9th at the Dance Arts Academy! Dance mapping....

I also have word that a six week course called Rising Star is about to kick off here on the West Side. This project includes, yoga, meditation and dance as well as a look at your finances! Whaat?! Better not sleep, everything is choreography. And that's on the Real. Check out their web page, Rise2Manifest, and sign up.


i'ma call it...

LOVELY!
This edition is conference-style late, many apologies. I want to let you know how you can hook up with the repeal Prop 8 work. Here is a national, yes NATIONAL movement to not only address Prop 8 here, but the anti-gay laws that passed in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. The site is called jointheimpact.wetpaint.com, and is a clearing house for all planned actions. This is everyone's fight. Like I said last week, I want my Obamaforia free and clear. I want to be jumping up and down, having a good time, being moved deep in my soul without wanting to throw up from grief because only some of us are free now. Please join in and move this mountain. Now we know that we can do that. Right? How to move this one? Love love love. Can't just blame "unenlightened colored folks" for this one. If you were not personally having heart-felt conversations with people about Prop 8, you dropped the ball. So, now that we've got the blame thing out of the way, let's forgive ourselves for assuming that we all have the same puzzle-pieces that spell p r o g r e s s i v e when you put them together. We don't. Let's get busy with that necessary coalition building.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: rise and fall

Hello there,

Up and down, around the mulberry bush and down the talking point check list we go! I don't know about you, but I have been distracted by the Sant'Ana winds and the smell of burning wood. Yet, the fire season takes on an added urgency when I think about the 3 billion dollar hole in the California budget that was just passed, and the 7 billion the Governator is hoping to get from...where I don't know (as a loan of all things). If we can't pay for elder care programs in this state, then how do we fight fires with the "new world water" (as Mos Def prophetically called our precious dwindling resource a few years back)? So I wind up thinking about the markets again, which reminds me of the bailout "plan" (use the term loosely), which reminds me of regulations meant to embezzle legally, which takes me to the presidential talking point debates, which makes me wonder if they haven't noticed that our collective house is not only on the auction block, but it is on fire. But one of them knows that we are angry. The other is ready already to get to work and tired of talking about it, but is expecting us all to sacrifice. As makers and consumers of art, are we willing to be sacrificed? Have we given much thought to how we can shift the discourse around change and sacrifice so that we find opportunity and invention? We kinda need to get ahead of that curve. As Sartre said, "You don't talk philosophy to a starving man." But you can cause us to think and act with a well-placed performance piece.

Afrologic. Afrological. Afrologica. How big is you '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--sign up, get your community on.

BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO THIS WEEK are dances about the times, opportunities to step across a portal to another dimension, and up close studies of the "who" in "who dat?".

OPENING TONIGHT
CARPENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater, 6200 Atherton Street, Long Beach, CA
October 16 -17, 8 PM; $25/20
Not About Iraq, choreography by Vic Marks
How timely is this? After the debate last night, clearly, it's all becoming about Iraq, our national money trap monument. Vic Marks dives into the subject, looking for a way to understand what is honor and where is it found in a place and idea like "Iraq?"

DIAVOLO DANCE SPACE
616 Moulton St., L.A., CA 90031
October 17th -26th, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 PM; Sundays at 5 pm; $25 reserved/$20/$15
Peep hole| People, LA Contemporary Dance
Opens to the public today. Are we really that paranoid? Have we all begun to think of ourselves as characters in a film? Some of the unsettling questions handled by this evening of work. Leave your ego at the door but plan to have a good time laughing at that other person, not yourself. (right)!


REDCAT
631 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA directions
Sunday October 19 & Monday October 20 @ 8:30 PM; $15 gen, $12 alum, & $8 studs
Studio
It's studio time! The line up is pretty interesting this time around. PLUS, Laclau was hanging out around the bar this afternoon, sounding all smart and what not. LACLAU! That was the geek in me. He's on stage right now bending minds for $10. But the Studio line up for this weekend:
The Fall 2008 edition of Studio was curated by Leilani Chan and Leslie Tamaribuchi, and includes the following six original works:
KAREN ANZOATEGUI: SER; MARSIAN & COMPANY: GROWING UP LINDA -- FUDGIE'S DEATH; DYS-: TAPE MUSIC; KELLY & DAVID with BETTINA HUBBY: UNTITLED FEATHER CHORALE #1; SHEETAL GANDHI: BAHU-BETI-BIWI (DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, DAUGHTER, WIFE);CHRISTINE MARIE: GROUND TO CLOUD
I am going to see Sheetal. I've seen an earlier version of her piece and it was masterful. I do have to say, that the other pieces sound very edgy and inventive in their genre explorations of objects, but rather heady. Kinda my style, but not a light night out.

THE RED MERMADE
2814 Abbot Kinney Blvd @ Washington, Venice, CA 90291
Saturday October 18th, 8 PM - Midnight
Asphalt Sea
Wow. I'm about to explode with excitement, anticipation and a big case of the nerves--the boats just got moved around!! We are all repositioning ourselves accordingly. Come out to see Pat Payne, Meg Wolfe, Gregory Barnett, d. Sabela Grimes, Michael Sakamoto, Anna B Scott, Cari Ann Shim Sham*, and Maia negotiate the newly dry-docked boats, an alley and some stairs. Bring your flotation device for seating. The Techno Hillbillies advise that you should also come prepared to splash around on the asphalt like one funky amphibian during their set to close the night with VJ Tiffy G. This will be a great night. I promise. I rarely do that.


Looking for something mentioned last week? Check the archives.



THE LUCKMAN FINE ARTS
Paseo Rancho Castila, but follow their directions
Saturday October 18th, 8 PM; $45/40
The Limón Dance Company presents: Anna Sokolow's "Rooms" (Major Revival Premiere) and Clay Taliaferro's "Into My Heart's House" (World Premiere)
One of the founding sensibilities of what has evolved into "Dança Afro" in Bahia, Limón technique has profoundly influenced local dance practices around the world with its ability to allow for social as well as personal idiosynscracies. The company is celebrating José Limón's 100 birthday with a world tour, starting here at home. If you can't afford or make this event because you are, er, occupied, you can see...

THE NEW LOS ANGELES THEATRE CENTER
514 S Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Saturday October 25th & 26th, 3 & 8 PM on both days; $35, though discounted tickets may be had
The Limón Dance Company presents: Lament for Ignacio Santos Meijas and The Moors Pavane
Truly, this tour is a dance history course unto itself.


Things to look for soon:
Urban Bushwomen & Compagnie Jant Bi present The Scales of Memory at UCR November 14th. Get tickets NOW!

Caseboldt & Smith present California Touring Project @ Diavolo Dance Space, November 21-23, tickets are on sale.

N'Ap Kenbe/We're Holding on: Hope in the Eye of the Hurricane, Performance and Workshops to benefit Haitians affected by hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike" With Special Guests: Troupe Jaka, straight from Haiti! Saturday, November 8, 8pm Herrick Interfaith Chapel, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041


UPCOMING WORKSHOPS AND ONGOING CLASSES
The Caribbean is coming!!! First, Cuba.
Sunday, October 26 JUAN CARLOS BLANCO, former soloist with CUBA's esteemed folkloric company, RAÍCES PROFUNDAS, returns to L.A. to teach two classes:
*1:30-3 PM: BEMBE, & CONGO TRADITIONS ;
*3-4:30 PM: RUMBA: GUAGUANCÓ.
LIVE DRUMMING @ 'DANCE STUDIO NO. 1' (in Studio A) 2037 Granville, WLA 90025--between Barrington & Bundy, 1 blk. no.of Olympic Blvd., brick building). $20 per class; or $35 for both. BLANCO presently directs the AFRO CUBAN folkloric company OMO ACHÉ, based in San Diego. Women, bring full or circle skirts.

And now, Haiti:
Marshall Dance Company and the Occidental College Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice Present: N'Ap Kenbe/We're Holding on: Hope in the Eye of the Hurricane Performance and Workshops to benefit Haitians affected by hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike With Special Guests: Troupe Jaka, straight from Haiti!
(all workshops in the Occidental College Alumni Gym Dance Studio) Nov, 8
9:00-10:30 am -- Music and Song
10:30-12:00 -- Dance
2:00-3:30--Dance and music
3:30-5:00-- Dance and music
All workshops $10

Are your classes still going on? Have you had to move? Hit me up so that the dance map is current. I have added my Th - Sat morning offering, Olojo Oni, to the dance map. This weekend is special due to the show, but check in, I may be out there getting my head screwed on properly.


ACTION
If you are out Pomona way, or feel moved to get up and get out there, right now there is a gathering of LGBT folks in a local bar, The Press Restaurant, where a professor from the Claremont Colleges was verbally accosted by a drunken patron. Apparently, this is type of behavior is par for the course, so the lovely Shakina Nayfeck has organized this night of Guerilla Gayness, "because there is more than one thing you can do with a fist!" 129 Harvard Ave, Claremont 8 PM until 1:30 AM get your best queer chant out and support the right to be who you are, wherever you are.




LOVELY!
There was a lot to think about in the debate last night. Sorry, but I can't wrap this one up quickly. I've had the sense that I live in a bubble, that all of the "calamity" is taking place somewhere else. The language of those invested with our trust to lead tells a different story. I'm not quite buying it. If we got out of Iraq and Afghanistan and reduced the Pentagon's budget, we would be back in the black with a quickness (not to mention the NEA and NEH and even that awful No child Left behind could be fully funded)! And what about that money pit called "Dept. of Homeland Security?" Hatchet and scalpel! Yet, "we will need to make sacrifices"...Are we willing to take care of our elder performers, many of whom had marginal healthcare to begin with, but most of whom probably lost retirement funds in the money markets? Are we willing to hold rent parties, share our homes, help fix roofs, car pool, split dinner duties and expenses? Though these will all lead to a better social network, stronger sense of community, I kinda feel like I do when I'm in the grocery store and its 68 degrees, all the freezer sections are open and lights are on and the state has announced a power emergency. The up note here? We the people can bring about the change we want as long as we make sure we still have the laws we depend on to allow us to express ourselves. So rather than try to soothe you, I urge you to learn something you did not know about either the tax code, laws of public assembly, or immigration. When you find out something you don't like, write to your representative immediately. Make a piece about it if you are an artist. Tell your neighbor and co-worker. Change will come no matter what. Whether or not you help guide it to benefit you and your community without doing harm to others is another story.

in deep love and gratitude,
-Anna