AFROLOGICAL NEWSLETER: hope floats

AFRONAUTS! The last ten days have been harrowing, to say the least. Actually, let's make that 15. Amidst it all, you lovely, freakish wonderful artists have been giving it your all, no matter what. Let's not confuse this with going all Nero. No, this drive to create, to perform, is grounded in the belief that all that makes us human is at its best when we are surrounded, suffused in beauty. So I want to personally thank everyone who insisted that the show must go on. My body couldn't on more than one occasion. A hazard of the job, I suppose, when the job is to know more than you can possible do anything with. However, during these days of major transformation, precipitation, and annihilation, I have become clear that the job of an artist right now is not to witness but to manifest. This, fellow travelers is precisely why artistic production, research, expression and output is under such intense attack in the United States right now, why it is outlawed in Belarus, why it is under surveillance in Indonesia. This is also why it is integral to daily life in places like Brazil, Senegal, and Israel but channeled through official organs of the state. It is why it is in flight in Guinea once again, why it is being disappeared in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Palestine. It is also the core expression of the Jasmine Revolution in Egypt, the stupendous face off in Wisconsin and all the gatherings of people inspired by manifestation of change through the art of being human. Being love.

I know, I never do two paragraph intro to these newsletters, but there is a lot to ponder. This year Holi, Nowruz, the Equinox and a super moon all coincided. Nowruz is likely the inspiration for Easter, as it means "new light," and is associated with the return of spring. It is the Persian New Year. Holi is a festival of color in India. COLOR! People throw perfume and color and at each other and sing and dance, bathed in the rainbow. With the moon so superduper close to the earth and all these colorful festivals going on I was reminded of two things: 1) a scene from the Kurosawa film, Dreams, where the worst has happened and the nuclear meltdown has occurred--colored gas alerts people to the stages of their death; 2) Aida Wedo, the boa constrictor that holds up the world has a multicolored belly so when we look up and see the rainbow, we are looking at its belly. In death there is art; there is beauty in the transition. As Dr. Seuss said, "don't be sad that it is over, be glad that it happened." So here we are at metaphorical, political, epistemological, and if they bury those darn reactors soon, physical endings. We can no longer believe that having someone else, or a group of them, represent us is a viable way to conduct living. To profit is not human; to share is human, is the primary primate mandate. And yes, it is profitable to share, but we must begin thinking beyond humans, beyond animals, beyond plants; we must even share with microbial worlds. Not extraterrestrial but intercellular. In all of this, the drive to create is glorious and necessary, central to our very survival. Don't stop, git it, git it.

 

Afrolicious. Afrodelic. Afronautical. Afrologica. Fractal, improvisational, polemical, pedagogical, neurochemical, inspirational... that's the Logic of the Afro. Sign up, read up, be up. How big is your 'fro?

 

BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO spring has sprung in the midst of a torrential downpour for us here in southern california at exactly the same time the nuclear plume from a beleaguered Japan was to reach us. Let's light it up! Let you "exceptionally low dose" of radiation be your super fuel. We are all mutants now. As Seth Godin said last week in his newsletter, "don't wait to get picked by someone, pick yourself." Werd.

 

The Garage, 975 Howard St. (Between 5th and 6th streets), San Francisco, CA Friday March 25 8pm – Saturday March 26, 2011 10pm

Tim Rubel Human Shakes performance

Tim Rubel and Rogelio Lopéz will show an excerpt from Tim Rubel Human Shakes' evening length work-in-progress, "Eroticize This!" The piece weaves the audience down a humorous path filled with erotic desire, exotic fantasy and fun at the beach.  The human desires for love and connection to others, are presented in direct relation to how queer individuals are eroticized and exoticized by a heteronormative public.

With New works by Harvey Rabbit and Kevin Seaman as well.

 

 

Dances Made to Order

 Here is a chance to get some swag by co-creating a dance for film with a choreographer and their dancers. http://dancesmadetoorder.com/41d1c3/ New Project of Kingsley Irons. Mr. d. Sabela Grimes is on the line up of he first round, looks verrrrrry interesting. Sign up. Voting begins April 1. Which kinda has me wonderin'…

 

 Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica 

SUNOH! TELL ME, SISTER, Friday & Saturday, 8 PM; Sunday 2 PM; April 1-3; $20 tix

 

Shaymyla wants you to come out and see how some diaspora artists get down over the 'net. The PostNatyam collective's latest work is meta: it's about how they make work being high powered, transnational globetrotting women.

 

 

The Alexandria Hotel,  501 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 in the King Edward ballroom

Anatomy Riot #40

presented in partnership with the Blankenship Ballet at the Alexandria

Monday , April 11, 2011, 8:00pm; tickets $10 at the door ~ no reservations

"For April's 40th edition of Anatomy Riot, we are going old school and featuring choreographers over 40. Co-curated by Ilaan Egeland Mazzini and Lionel Popkin, the evening is designed to look where we are going, recognize where we are, and give props to where we've been."

featuring:

Rosanna Gamson, David Hurwith, Ilaan Egeland Mazzini, Lionel Popkin, Wendy Rogers, Susan Rose

 

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)

6522 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA Thursday Apr 14 7pm – 8:30pm

What Did I Do to Be So Black and...

“What Did I Do to Be So Black and…” is a surrealistic and satirical meditation on a controversial alternative lifestyle: blacks and gays in the Republican Party. This new interdisciplinary work will feature live performance and video by Paul Outlaw, as well as sculptural costume and prop pieces by Curt LeMieux. "What Did I Do to Be So Black and..." is the final performance of SO FUNNY IT HURTS, a four-night performances series about satire and the subconscious. This is the first show produced by NATIVE STRATEGIES, a new LA-focused performance art showcase and journal initiated by Brian Getnick, Zemula Barr and Molly Sullivan. The performance will be followed by a Q&A with Paul Outlaw, Curt Lemieux and other SO FUNNY IT HURTS participating artists.

For more information please go to
www.welcometolace.org "What Did I Do to Be So Black and..." is funded in part by an ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation.

 

The Landmark

10850 WEST PICO BLVD, West Los Angeles, CA, Wednesday April 27 6:30pm – Saturday April 30, 2011 9:30pm

4th LOS ANGELES BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL - LABRFF 2011

Celebrating its 4th anniversary, the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival- LABRFF will take place at The Landmark in West Los Angeles from April 27th - May1st. 

LABRRF will showcase over 30 films from Brazil. The festival will offer free seminars, workshops and opportunity to network with a lot of Brazilian directors and producers. For more information please send an email to info@labrff.com TICKETS FOR THE OPENING NIGHT WILL BE ON SALE SOON. 

 

and finally, save the dates and get ready for a road trip all you rumberas/os! Fri May 13 8pm – Sat May 28, 2011 7th Annual CubaCaribe Festival

 

 

QUERIES

Dance Truck

Dance Truck needs a SOD Sponsor--that's right, 1500 square feet of sod.
It will be used at The Goat Farm Atlanta in a performance by choreographer Blake Beckham. It can then be re-purposed for someone's front yard, a mini golf course, or a dry patch in Piedmont Park....
Anyone have a lead?

itch

Call for submissions: In this year of the rabbit and itch's 5th anniversary, we offer up an invitation to talk about celebrations, new modes of protest and approaches to making a mark in the world. Let's bring back the soft, meandering clarity of our childhood minds as a force for re-conceiving the past, present and future. Dream us up a fable, a drawing, or share your research, first-hand experiences or future fantasies. Read complete call http://www.itchjournal.org/itch_dance_journal/thirteen.html

 

 

 

 

ONGOING CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

Babacar is back for another installment of his ferocious Sunday (3/27) djembe class at Crenshaw Yoga and Dance, 5426 crenshaw blvd., Los Angeles, CA. $15 at the door. Advanced Senegalese, so you will know whether or not you can dance.

Economic Dance Relief with Alexandria Yalj -self producing performance artist with an MFA in choreography from CalArts. If she is not chasing the sun regardless of direction, she's probably diligently coordinating the next Collective Movement. Classes are $12 @ the Electric Lodge 1416 Electric Avenue Venice, CA 90291. Saturdays, 2:30 - 4:30 PM. Carpool!

 

Kati Hernandez, human volcano, is launching a 4 week Rueda de Casino intensive in Eagle Rock 4210 Panamint Street (on the corner of Eagle Rock Blvd.) Los Angeles, CA 90065 (gorgeous studio, btw) Saturdays March 26- April 16th, 11:00 am -1:00 pm; $20/door or $75 prepaid for the series. Pre-pay at any of Kati's classes or contact Kati @ happyhappykati@yahoo.com She will be joined by her dance partner Duane Wreen. This is too hot to miss.

 

In Chicago, my girl Meida McNeal brings it with a special series of talks, investigations, classes and performances (whew) called To Art & Profit. Next installment is at the Elastic Arts , 2830 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL, March 20. http://toartandprofitpanelweek1-efbevent.eventbrite.com

Congolese dance class is back in So. Cal with Patrick Ssenjovu and Anna Scott! @ InFocus Wellness Institute, 719 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA; Fridays, 7:30 PM, by donation.

 

ACTION

The Department of Cultural Affairs keeps coming up for the chopping block. This time, before the battle even got going, Mayor Tony Toni Toné hastily wrote a letter of support stating that he had no plans to cut the DCA, that an independent review recommended it, but he stands by the Arts. So by all means, keep writing him and calling him to remind him that he said that as the budget process continues. We all know how fickle he can be. For info on how to take action on this and other important art policy issues in LA, please join Arts4LA. They rock.

OK, Dance for Democracy, or the Double D Movement is still rolling. I have personally avoided buying any new Lycra items and have received a few reports from friends that they too are foregoing new Lycra. Why are we doing this? Did you know that your Lycra purchases are helping to end your democracy? The Koch Brothers own the Lycra brand (along with many many others) and are channeling your money into the war chests of ill-prepared and government-hating Tea Party Members, most of whom have no idea what democracy means, let alone what the intent of the Koch Brothers truly is. We are being forced into a constitutional crisis and eventually, the end of our government. Why would you want to pay for that? So no more spiffy new Lycra fabrics--buying used is acceptable--but my research has revealed that Lululemon does not use Lycra in its products. Take that evil corporate conglomerate! Do you have a Double D story? Post it here: http://doubleddance.tumblr.com/ 

 

Lovely!

Wow. I could just stay asleep for days, but I don't own a TV (ba dum dum). Really, right now, it is tempting to crawl into the comfort of a good story that you are certain is fictional. Did you really sign up to be a character in a tragicomedy about environmental degradation; or an everyday hero in an epic about the human condition and the tendency to strive towards aspirations for success for the many? You decide, but you can't do that in front of the screens. get out your magic pens, AKA your feet, and write your new tale upon the skin of the earth, She's due a massive dance massage. 

 

in love, 

-Anna

NEWSLETTER: lifting the arches

Ola, Aloha, and hello!
Ok. I need to catch my breath. September is no joke! The weather shows us how the month is moving: extremities balanced by a small, almost pivotal transition well past midday. Yikes! So lift your soles in order to get your soul grounded with a good inhalation and a superb exhalation. Truly, those who seek to thrive rather than simply survive this month will really need to become mindful of that exhalation. As is customary in market driven mayhem, the art scene is flourishing because, as we artist types really know, i mean KNOW in our bones, when there is nothing to loose other than the moment to do IT, we go and do. There is lots of doing, aside from the Festival of Sacred Music, some of it just to be out there, others in obvious response to the Call from the Universe to be brilliant and brave no matter what. In this upcoming week, make sure you are tuned to the right frequency and be brilliant and brave in all that you do.


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.

Now that we are falling back into it, I will likely get the class back up and running, with a twist. Stay tuned!

Right now BLOWIN BACK DA 'FRO is time itself: September is half over! But that means that the stage dance season is about to hit full stride, but will likely feel a wee empty if you made it out to half of the dance stages produced this summer. Three cheers for local dance and savvy producers!!


THE ELECTRIC LODGE
1416 Electric Ave, Venice CA
September 12 - 13, 8:30 PM; Sept. 14th @ 2:30 PM; $13/$10
Mix Match Dance Festival, hosted by Hart Pulse Dance Company alights at the Lodge.
Alexandria Yalj strikes again! I hope to check out a bit, but the image is too small for me to tell you who is on the line up in addition to Alexandria, who sent me the notice. Hart Pulse Dance has the links for the tickets, which are best purchased on-line.


UNKNOWN THEATRE
1110 N. Seward ST, Hollywood, CA 90038
Thurs - Sat 8 PM; Sunday 6 PM: $18 on-line, $24 at the door or by phone 323-466-7781
Fables du Theatre Sex. Death. Clown
"Yeah, yeah , Anna you want us to go see this show," Yes I do. The reviews alone should make you want to shake a leg and get over there right now. It is running until the 24th and LAPD has tried to shut it down--twice in one night. Yowsa. Go to study up.


REDCAT LOUNGE
631 W. 2nd ST, Los Angeles, CA; directions
Tuesday September 16th, 6 - 9 PM; readings begin at 7 PM
itch#8: PORNOCRACY launch Party
So last week I gave the wrong address for this space. It is in the Redcat, so hopefully you figured that out and will show up to Hassan's house and try to break in. Itch is really a fantastic thing: a dance writers' collective (go Taisha Paggett, Sara Wolf and Meg Wolfe!), this collection of pages has now gotten a website going, has an easy way for you to subscribe (even institutions for those of you who work in the college circuit) and makes you think about the act of thinking about dance as something larger than muscles firing in patterns. I'm chatty! Come to this launch party and you'll get to hear my voice and see me. A number of us will be reading a snippet from one of our submissions to itch and there may be a little bit of a performance stashed in there as well. This is great networking moment, hint hint. $3 drinks.



PARK(ING) DAY LA
Friday, September 19th, all day, check live map for specific times and locations
all over the City; Free
I WANT TO DO THIS!!! But it might be too late to pull this off; check out the video, you'll see why I am hesitating. So I am going to have tea in as many of these places as I possibly can. Parking Day is this fantastic event where citizens take over parking spots and make mini-parks for two hours. This is a GLOBAL event, created to draw attention to the amount of space allocated cars, and the lack of open spaces in the urban environment. If you have ever heavily sighed when a house or building finally went up on a vacant lot that you had come to cherish, this event is for you. On Park(ing) DayLA's website, if you have been inspired, you can find instructions for setting up your own park--there is still time! Everything you need paperwork related is there as well as the 10 steps towards a successful park. Happy Parking!


MILES MEMORIAL PLAYHOUSE
1130 Lincoln BLVD, Santa Monica 90403; 310-998-8765
September 19th through Oct 3; Fridays & Saturdays 8:30PM; Sundays 3 PM, 420 - $30
Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Kristina Wong takes the stage all by herself in her nationally acclaimed one-woman show, finally having its premiere here at home. Wong is crazy stuff. The kind of humor that makes milk spurt out of your nose, even if you're not drinking any. Check her out. Opening night should be a blast but I have no idea where you can get tickets. The playhouse website is still under construction. If you helped with a half-knitted sweater, you should go to make sure it is not being hurt.


REDCAT
631 W. 2nd ST, Los Angeles, CA; directions
September 19 - 20, different bills each night; 8:30 PM; $20/$16/$10
Creative Music Festival
This event inaugurates the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts. If you are not attending events at the Festival of Sacred Music, then you must go see Wadada Leo Smith hold court with his trumpet. Also on the bill: Music and the Voice: Thomas Buckner and the Silver Orchestra; Anthony Davis and Episteme; Amina Claudine Myers Trio and the CalArts Choir. Music and Video: Lian Ensemble and The Golden Quintet.


ARMORY CENTER FOR THE ARTS
145 N. Raymond Ave, Pasadena CA 91103
Saturday September 20, 7 - 9 PM Opening reception
TAPESTRIES, a video installation by Marsia Alexander-Clarke
A fixture on the art scene in the Inland Empire, Marsia brings her hypnotic video work to Pasadena. This is a rare treat, so go see it. I love how she continues to go at it, no matter what. And work is inspiring in surprising ways given its formalism. Check her out through November 16th.


AVENUE 50 STUDIO, Inc.
131 No. Avenue 50, Highland Park, CA 90042 (323) 258-1435
Avenue 50 Gallery's Fundraiser
Sunday, September 26, Noon to Midnight, $10
Imagine a 12 hour poetry jam and you've got this evening in Highland Park. Avenue 50 is a mainstay in the city, and this is an interesting way to get the funds to their projects. The fee covers all day--you can come and go--and there will be food for sale. The line up is stellar. It includes my fav, Ms. Pat Payne so I'll have to figure out how to sneak away to get to see her throw it down.

Looking for something mentioned last week? Check out the archives.


ONGOING CLASSES & SPECIAL WORKSHOPS
+There's an upcoming workshop based in Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed work led by Hector Aristizibal on Sept. 27 - 28. The price is $200, and any money the organizers make above their costs will be donated to Sojurn, a safe house for victims of domestic abuse. Call Fred Kahane at 310-396-1325 for further info, and also make checks out to him. $50 saves your spot. Mail to 1122 Marco PL, Venice CA 90291. If you have been looking for a way to push your art making passion into the possibilities of wider social engagement, this will be a significant experience for you.

+SOMA Fest LA is back again! Sept. 16 - 21 at the 18th ST. Art Complex in Santa Monica. The schedule has been announced so you should make your way over to their website to peruse the offerings and buy your packages now.

+Mama Camara has asked me to tell you to hold the following dates for the Debbie Allen Dance Academy African Dance Conference: October 1- 5, 2008. There will be an on-line registration process as well as an updates page. So save the date!

+Kinky Stretch!!! I forgot to put this into the newsletter, but I really really really want you guys to check out this class. Greg is a HOOT and will get you workin'! Class will begin on October 9th, Thursdays 7:30 - 9 PM for only $10. Check it at the Open Space.

The Class Map is getting rather interesting! Viver Brasil is BACK! And they are bringing the heat of Bahia with them for the upcoming Festival of Sacred Music. Check out the DISPATCH on the festival for specifics about their participation, but until then, head over to their regular classes because some FANTASTIC visitors are coming into town for the Dance Arts Academy Tuesday night offerings. Don't miss it!!!!



quickie reviews...
If you checked out Sans Detour at the Ford, you likely left smiling after Catch Me Bird's exquisite and smart piece Silk. If only everyone had that much fun doing a confessional! From the opening scene unfurling the seeming never-ending lengths of red silk from the tops of the amphitheatre, through the wrapping of the audience space with same, Silk was a delight, even as it ran head on into the difficulties of cross-cultural communication and gendered communication. Verging on the silly and circus-inflected, Silk still made a clear statement about the centrality of the personal in the political through often radical athleticism and lyrical articulation. Conversely, I was a bit astonished by the unquestioned, almost ignored, role of racialized, gendered bodies in Baker & Tarpanga Project's piece, Disorder Inside Order. While there was some hot dancing (loved the newspaper dance), amazing music, clear topic (journalistic freedom, almost pedantically hammered home), ultimately, the relationship between Wilfred Souly's character and Ester Baker's character was so brutal and unclear that it really, for me, destroyed the piece. A large black man folding up the body of a lithe white woman like she was a folding chair while she struggles to get away really drags the US mind very far from journalistic freedom. I think the piece would do well to be revisited after a thorough rethinking of the role of race and gender in the company, given the topics that seem to interest this husband and wife team. Their ambitions deserve nothing less.

This past Monday I made it to Anatomy Riot #26 as a lucky audience member who also got to perform! Actually, I was on the bill. I was really glad to be there and have to give it up to Meg Wolfe for humpin' like a camel and Hassan Christopher for his generosity. The night was nicely curated with a great mix of talking dances and performance art tendencies and video dance. UCR was extremely well represented--in downtown LA! It was also great to get to try out something with a willing and rather informed audience; I was grateful for the opportunity. Thank you to those of you who came out and supported us and thank you to the other performers who brought their work selflessly. Though the format is short form, the pieces were for the most part, densely layered and rather profound and still, believe it or not, entertaining. So take yourself to the next one, they happen almost every month. I'll write a bit more about it in...Afrologica! I tend to take a bit more time to think about these events, rather than just dump ideas (unless of course I"m hoping to get a bigger audience for the next night) so I'll have more to say about both evenings, even about myself (Sara Wolfe asked me, "So how is that book going, Anna?" Damn. So busted) on Afrologica. Please feel free to comment! And don't hold those last few sentences against me...


LOVELY!
Writing this newsletter on the anniversary of the collapse of the Twin Towers has made me rather chagrined, but also simply amazed. I could wallow in the fact that we have manipulated those 3000 deaths as a rational for any ridiculous thing that passes for foreign policy these days. Or I could float to the stars in the vibration of a underground that is so large, that it is likely the new Silent Majority, and this group of folks wants to hug you with their cyber hearts and minds; they want to see your face even if they don't know your name. They want to be the change and enjoy the peace...they/we are the love. Now, we become the shift, the much needed exhalation, the eruption for an emptying out, that always makes room for more life. Lift it up y'all.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: engage your core

Hi there (with a big hug)!

Kiddies are back in school and the beach is once again returning to the creatures that live there year round--marine, plant and human. In six days, scientists buried deep beneath CERN will turn on a machine to help them see beneath the Mother's Veil, or more commonly known as Dark Matter. The Republican Party is wrapping up its convention and the Democrats exploded from Denver last week feverish to get back into the White House. Hurricanes return to the same location like they were on an exact time table while old Cold War rivalries do the same. Fall. And recover. Finding the subtle shift in our core to keep the whole thing upright and perambulating. This seasonal change will have all the intrigue and excitement of a great spy movie, so stay tuned till the credits for the big surprise.

Closer to home, we enter the season of Grand Visitors, but don't let those season ticket holders fool you: there is plenty to see locally and I hope to keep bringing you info at least info on the bit I know. I had a fantastic time going to shows and events this summer and look forward to doing the same this fall. If you have pieces that work the skirt in particular, let me know, as I am teaching a course on the skirt and looking for people to match my students with! Onwards...


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. New reviews are up! Go check 'em out and get into the conversation.


BLOWIN' BACK DA FRO' this week is the official start of Fall in underground LA: ANATOMY RIOT, the wrap of a GREAT summer dance series at the Ford, and a new find.

FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood CA 90068
Friday, 8:30 PM; $32/$5
Sans Detour
Catch Me Bird and Baker & Tarpanga Dance Project team up to bring you an evening of dance rarely presented on one bill: aerialist work and African experimental dance. This dance series at the Ford has been simply inspiring. Grab your fiends and get their early to have a couple of bottles of vino before you head in to be , well, inspired. One more brilliant show to go after this one. Car pooling highly recommended.


THE ELECTRIC LODGE
1416 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291
Intersection Dance Project presents Interfacings
Friday, September 5th, 8:00 PM; $25
This appeared to be an open jam at first glance, but I think that it is an actual dance event with collaborators coming in from all over. From their Face Book listing:
"Intersection Dance Project seeks to bring artists of all disciplines together for the collaboration and the production of dance. The Southern California premier will unite dancers and musicians from cities across the country including Seattle, Chicago, New York, the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Among them the intersection Dance Ensemble, Penny Hutchinson, Double Vision, Alexandria Yalj, Dena Bermann, Eathwalk Dance Company and Jennifer Bondy. Collaborations are artistic, energetic and intellectual in order to promote the common vision among dance in the art world." Tickets are available on-line. Alexandria Yalj has recently been working hard to make the LA Dance scene memorable. If you are looking for something much smaller and visceral for Friday, this would be worth checking out. But I'm gonna have to check out the people dancing on ropes. It looks as if this might go on for a while, so...who knows, I'll likely pop up at the end since it's in my neighborhood.

ECHOPLEX
1154 Glendale BLVD
Bootie: La's Monthly Mashup Bootleg Party
Sept 6, 9 PM - 2 AM; $10, 21 and over ONLY
Why list? I want you to arrive for the midnight stage mayhem of R.A.I.D. aka Random Acts of Irreverent Dance. Check out their MySpace Page, and learn how to Command the Dance!

THE OPEN SPACE
209 S. Garey St., Los Angeles Ca 90012
ANATOMY RIOT #26
Monday, Sept 8, 8 PM; $10 suggested donation
Meg Wolfe & Show Box bring you another fantastic, mind-bending segment in this DIY performance adventure. I'm on the bill this evening as is Ms. Wolfe herself so come on out and watch us dance smarter, not harder, LOL (that was an age euphemism in case you didn't catch it). Also on the bill, several excellent dance deployers and movement machinationists (i just made that word up, quote me): Melina Bielefelt, Won-sun Choi, Sarah Leddy, Hannah Schwadron, Anna B. Scott, Rosie Trump, and Meg Wolfe. I'm presenting a Work in Progress: Stream. Looking forward to seeing you!



UCLA ACKERMAN GRAND BALLROOM
308 Westwood PLaza, LA
Celebration of Life: A Fundraise for Esalen Institute
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 6- 10 PM
$25 suggested donation, more if you've got it like that and feel it that way
If you've ever been to a 5 Rhythms class, you know that this event is likely going to lift you right off the ground. Come out and help steady a place of respite for many of us soul-workers. Donna De Lory. Eyedentity, Suzanne Teng &gilbert Levy,Bob Bayobey Wisdom, Christo Pellani, Bolonatha & Russell Feingold, and Caroline Harvey. This is an open dance jam of sorts. Come and be moved.

Looking for something mentioned last week? Click over on the left for the archives.



LOUNGE @ REDCAT
631 W. 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
itch # 8: PORNOCRACY Launch Party
Tuesday, September 16, 6 - 9 PM; readings begin at 7 PM
I will be reading a selection from my piece in itch #7, and there will be many other folks doing the same thing from their entries over the last two years. It should be a blast. I hope to see you there. And please, subscribe already!


And what else? Your inboxes and mailboxes are likely littered with mailings about the companies coming to town. As we get closer, I'll post up, but a lot of those tickets are l o n g gone. But you never know!

Stay tuned for a special edition of AFROLOGICS to make sense of the upcoming Festival of Sacred Music, opening on Sept. 12th at UCLA....



ONGOING CLASSES & SPECIAL WORKSHOPS
+There's an upcoming workshop based in Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed work led by Hector Aristizibal on Sept. 27 - 28. The price is $200, and any money the organizers make above their costs will be donated to Sojurn, a safe house for victims of domestic abuse. Call Fred Kahane at 310-396-1325 for further info, and also make checks out to him. $50 saves your spot. Mail to 1122 Marco PL, Venice CA 90291. If you have been looking for a way to push your art making passion into the possibilities of wider social engagement, this will be a significant experience for you.

+SOMA Fest LA is back again! Sept. 16 - 21 at the 18th ST. Art Complex in Santa Monica. The schedule has been announced so you should make your way over to their website to peruse the offerings and buy your packages now.

+Mama Camara has asked me to tell you to hold the following dates for the Debbie Allen Dance Academy African Dance Conference: October 1- 5, 2008. There will be an on-line registration process as well as an updates page. So save the date!

The Class Map is getting rather interesting! Viver Brasil is BACK! And they are bringing the heat of Bahia with them for the upcoming Sacred Music Festival. I will need to do a supplemental for that, but until then, head over to their regular classes because some FANTASTIC visitors are coming into town for the Dance Arts Academy Tuesday night offerings. Don't miss it!!!!

Now, go check out that dance map and find your new favorite thing to do! "I command you!" That's what my daughter says. She just turned 3. Help.



GIG FOR YOU
This comes via Face Book, so if you are interested look for Emma Kayee on there:
"I'm looking for about 20 jazz or street dancers to take part in a TV show we are making for a major UK channel. The show is a celebration of the TV show and film 'Fame'. We are going to be filming in L.A on the 19th September in and around a dance studio in Hollywood." She did not mention pay, but it is likely not union, so if you know folks, let them know. Get on Face Book!!


LOVELY!
I cannot lie: I am very hungry right now, and it is impairing my writing skills! There is much to say about any number of things, but I'll leave you with a kiss on the forehead and a pat on the shoulder, with a deep look in the eyes, full of gratitude. As always, it is so wonderful to share this with you!.

in Love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: arms wide open

Alafia,

This morning we were graced with an encounter with a pod of dolphins so close to shore that they had to dive every time the tide threatened to wash over the rocks. It was so soothing, and needed as our collective nerves have been frayed by this madness going on over in Georgia and Ossetia. If you're not in the know, as if there is no such thing as an Olympics going on, both Russia and Georgia have invaded Ossetia, making me think far too much of the beginnings of WW I. I don't write this newsletter to get THIS type of political action going--there is soooo much to do here in LA, let alone the rest of the US--but lately, these far away ventures feel very very close to home, as we often are called upon to fund both sides, one publicly and the other on the under. You know things are bad when China, I said China, is calling for a truce! Now that's deep, but likely more about not loosing this much needed media limelight to a bunch fools in the Baltic. In any event, we are so fortunate to be able to kick it with the dolphins and make and share our art with each other. I am wondering what concrete steps we can take, other than signing yet another on-line petition--which you should do if you feel so moved--but so often I hear, "peace begins at home," and I know in my bones that I am not always able to bring that frame of mind to my every day. How about you? How do you create peace?

Thanks to all who wrote back last week and I look forward to hearing from others! Still need some contestants for this Other Olympics...

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. New reviews are up! Go check 'em out and get into the conversation.

BLOWIN' BACK THE FRO' after an entire day of no e-mail last week, I have decided that I will need to migrate the newsletter to a gmail account, just to make sure that I can get the puppy out to you! If you are forwarding on the newsletter, thank you! Please distribute widely so we can generate great audiences for our local artists! if you are a local artist or producer, tell your colleagues about the newsletter. We have to grow the networks that we need! This week, there is much homegrown action and several visitors to our poppin' scene! Get our there and show them what you're workin' with.

TONIGHT!
SANTA MONICA PIER
Toots and the Maytals TONIGHT! 7 - 10 PM
'Nuff said. get out there early because it is going to be a zoo!! if you've never been, you might want to bring paper bags and tea lights to mark and light your space on the beach. It is delicious!

ZANZIBAR
Katia Moraes live @ Afro Funké, doors open at 9 pm $10 cover
For those of you with no kids, you must chekc out this event! Katia keeps getting better and better, not a local, but has been in town for ten years now and really has her LA all the way on! Leave the pier and head on over to the show!

EAST SIDE LUV WINE BAR y QUESO
1835 East 1st St., LA, CA 90033; 323.262.7442
8 - 10 PM, Thursday August 14, 2008
LITEROTICANA CHICANA, una noche de luz, deseoy e lengua - a night of light, desire and language with Gloria Enedina Alvarez,Reina Prado, Corrie Greathouse, Rafael Alvarado, R. Funkahuatl G. and Abel Salas

Ms. Pat Payne says brang a fan and orda lotsa ice wata to cool yoself off! This is tonight. Scooth on over there and get your verbal freak on.

PHYLLIS STEIN ART
207 W. 5th Avenue at Spring
| Jesse Chapo and Eric Smail| @ "Downtown Art walk"
Thursday, August 14 at 7:00 - 10:00 PM
More things going on downtown! Sometimes I wish I could handle the air, I would move there to be closer to the great things going on there and in Silver Lake area, not to mention the cheaper rent! Oops, I must be dreaming. Get your walking shoes out, but start at Phyllis' place and check out the latest incarnation of the LA ARt scene.


CAL ARTS
Making Strange: Rooftop Sci-Fi at the Westin Bonaventure
Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites
404 South Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Aug 14, 21, and 28, 2008
Thursdays at dusk

Screenings will be held on the Plaza Pool Deck, 4th floor.
Blankets and pillows are encouraged, as seating will be limited.
Street parking, or City National Garage (on Flower Street), $10 with validation.
Hotel valet, $25.
To celebrate the recent launch of Afterall 18, please join us for a three-week rooftop series of sci-fi inspired films and artists videos screened atop the landmark Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in Downtown Los Angeles. All outdoor screenings are FREE and begin at dusk.

Thursday, August 14
Powers of Ten (Charles and Ray Eames, 1977, 9 min.)
Solyaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972, 163 min.)

Thursday, August 21
Ascension of the Demonoids (George Kuchar, 1985, 46 min.)
Sins of the Fleshapoids (Mike Kuchar, 1965, 43 min.)

Thursday, August 28
Double Lunar Dogs (Joan Jonas, 1984, 24 min.)
Space is the Place (John Coney, 1974, 82 min.)
Just in time! Once the free shows in SaMo end, here is a film festival as quirky as its sponsor. I would say like no other, but those of you in the know have made it to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the weekend film series on the vaults. So this is kinda tame!

then later this weekend...

HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
SWEAT! A New Summer Dance Festival; $20/$15
Aug 15 - 16th, 8:30 PM SPILL, SPLASH, and SPLENDOR
The second and final weekend of it's first dance festival in a long time begins tomorrow with a bevy of UCR MFA students and local artists! I am very excited to catch up with my peoples! Hope to see you there. New choreography by Alison Bory, Cynthia Lee, Rosie Trump and Sadie Weinberg, curated by Sue Roginski. Not just solos!


TORRANCE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER, Studio One
3330 Civic Center Drive Torrance, CA 90503
Click here for directions
Open for Dance House, RKDC
Sunday, August 17th, 1 PM - 6 PM
Regina Klenjoski hosts an afternoon of classes and showings down in Long Beach!
She teaches a modern class at 1 - 2:30, then members of her company will show off a smidgen of a new piece and a full duet, "The Museum Project" For more info contact Raelle Dorfan at 310.292.7024 or raelle@rkdc.org

BALBOA PARK
Celebrate Dance Festival
Friday, August 22 at 6:00pm to Sunday August 24, 9:00 PM ( i cannot tell if it's a marathon or not)
Three days of dance of all forms and moves, here's to late summer kinetic events! Anyone wanna car pool? Split hotel?
The 12th annual Celebrate Dance Festival highlights 56 dance artists, organizations, and collectives in FREE performances and workshops over three days.

Friday, August 22 ~ 6pm to 10pm
Saturday, August 23 ~ 11:30am to 10pm
Sunday, August 24 ~ 12pm to 9pm

For directions, complete list of presenting artists, and performance schedule please visit: http://www.eveoke.org/cdf.htm


Looking for something that was mentioned last week? Check the archive to your left.



QUIRKY THINGS LOOKING 4 YOUR PARTICIPATION
I could probably come up with a new title for this, but these are not job openings, and not necessarily classes as you know them, so please read on and participate!

VOCAL TRAINING FOR ACTORS WHO WANT TO SING
AND FOR SINGERS WHO WANT TO SING BETTER BY MAIA
MONDAYS, 7 - 8:30PM BEGINNING AUGUST 25, 2008
Lucy Florence Coffeehouse & Cultural Center
3351 W. 43 Street, Los Angeles, CA 90008
(IN THE 2 ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM)
$60 per 4 classes or $20 per class (Advance payment preferred. Does not include materials).
This course is designed to build confidence in ones singing voice, help develop and strengthen the voice in general for actors/dancers; and to introduce singers to the world of music from a theoretical perspective. The classes include scale study (ear training), breath control and phrasing, basic music theory, chorale singing and song interpretation. Classes last for 1 and half hours per session. Maia is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and actor.
To pre-register contact MAIA (maxecalif@hotmail.com) or just show up at the first class.


YOUR UNFINISHED SWEATER CAN BE FAMOUS
Help Kristina Wong Expand the Set of "Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" By Donating Your Unfinished Knitting Projects
Your unfinished sweater, 5 inch scarf, or one-sided poncho can be famous for 15 minutes or more if you donate it to Kristina Wong's set of "Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Don't be ashamed you never finished what you started. Donate now and feel good for letting your abandoned project transform into a live piece of art. All donators will receive "set construction" credit in the program wherever this show tours.
Sweaters accepted between Friday, August 15, 2008 at 8:00AM and Monday, September 14, 2008
Please MAIL your unfinished knitting piece to:
Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
C/O Kristina Wong
PO Box 251664
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Instructions:
1) We love yarn and knitting projects that come in any color OTHER than black and white.
2) Remove your needle or hook from the piece. If possible run some waste yarn through the loops. No need to bind off. I'd prefer if it wasn't!
3) Write a note describing yourself, why you knit, and what the project was supposed to be and why it never came to be.
The show will open in September! Look for, hopefully, a preview review before then.

AFRICAN DANCE CAMPS & SUMMER INTENSIVES
My goodness! Sabar anyone? Not quite a festival, but Aziz Faye turns his class over to Pape N'Daiye this Sunday, Aug 17th @ 1:30 at the Dance Arts Academy, $15 at the door. This one will be very intense!

Early registration ends tomorrow, Aug 15th, for the Magbana Drum and Dance Retreat in Upstate New York. With the recent airfare slashing announced by almost all carriers, you should really consider venturing out to the land of apples, waterfalls, and foliage.


DanceBANK Summer intensive is simmering at the Open Space:
Sara Wookey
11am-2pm. Saturday, August 16th (one day only) / $20

Rebecca Alson-Milkman
11am-1pm. Tuesday & Thursday, August 19th & 21st / $12

Hana van der Kolk
7pm - 9pm. Thursday, August 21st / $12

These classes will be held at
The OPEN Space
209 S. Garey Street, 2nd floor
LA, CA 90012
- at 2nd St., 3 blocks east of Alameda off 2nd St.

drop-ins welcome!


ONGOING CLASSES
Shelby Williams is back at the Dancer's Studio and Viver Brasil is still splashing up a tsunami at Dance Arts Academy and the Dance Garden. Sarita's class in the park looks lovely (i went and had peek). And I just got word of a new class that looks fabuloso!

Liquid Pop w/ Alexandria Yalj
Sunday, August 17, 2008; 2:30pm - 5:30pm, by donation!
The Open Space, 209 S. Garey Street, Los Angeles, CA

Also, I've mentioned that I will begin to list and venture into spiritdancing or prayerdance "classes" and so I wanted announce Jo Cobbit's series of classes!
Devotion on Wednesdays
Live music with:
This week: Temple Bhajan Band
August 20th: Raven
August 27th: Nadine Risha & Band
September 3: Andrew Behla
September 10: Vic Hennegan
Blankenship Ballet Studio; 132 Brooks Ave
Venice CA 90291 7:30-9:30 $15
info link
These classes are more facilitated than taught, so they can be irritating for the trained dancer on the first go 'round, but after that, it's a great place to rediscover why you keep at it. For the non-dancer, these are loving open spaces to just seek movement. There's also a FANTASTIC Sunday class that I beleive is on hiatus while the teaching duo is at Esalen. More info as I have it.
All of these classes, plus some I have not mentioned are here, on the dance map!

Quick poll: would you come out to a donation based African dance class in Ozone Park (it's on the map) on August 27 at 10 AM or at 6 PM? I am itching to see you all! We could potluck picnic afterwards. Let me know ASAP.


LOVELY!
There is so much vital, healing energy literally hovering in the air. In the coming week, drop in and tap into this and magnify it! Send it out to your loved ones and to places in the world where other humans have forgotten that this exists for them as well. Open your arms as wide as possible so that your heart can lift us all.

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: extend the leg

Peace & Love!

The Olympics are upon us and already they are in trouble. Gone are the days where safe passage is offered to contestants in the Games during a world wide truce. We have seen protesters launching themselves at the torch bearers, locals shoved out of their dwellings and trained how not to have a conversation with visitors, athletes denied visas at the last moment because of their political activity--where is the love of the human spirit? So very complicated, playing games. To be truthful, I could not believe that China was even allowed to host, but they are, so the Games should go on, in their true spirit. No, I"m not saying forget Tibet, forget about all the valleys that government has flooded with their hydraulic dam systems, forget the exceptionally polluted air, the persecution of Falun Gong members, the aiding and abetting of genocide in North Korea and Darfur--no, I am asking that we utilize the amazing energy generated when we humans congregate and use our ENTIRE bodies to think and experience the world to create the process and determination to end systems of domination, whether they be in China or stamped in the Patriot Act. The Olympics are the ultimate body-based performance. If you ever doubted that we are sacred creatures capable of acts of boundless determination, just tune in and git lifted.

Here at home, I am staging an olympics of sort on the sidewalks of Hollywood. Want to be a contestant? Write me back.

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.

I must issue a mea culpa about last week's newsletter: I forgot the links for the mapped dance classes and the new Afrologics blog -- an archive of these newsletters. My bad. The heat got to me. BLOWIN' BACK THE FRO this weekend are late summer festivals and staple performers, think well stocked pantry!


TONIGHT!
SANTA MONICA PIER
Twilight Dance Series (which does not present dance shows) presents
Oliver Mtukudzi and Rocky Dawuni, AfroPop from Zimbabwe and Ghana
FREE, 7 - 10 PM
Finally there is something of afrological interest at the Santa Monica Pier. Actually, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra was of interest, but that was on a weekend where I just needed to get bodies to dance concerts! SO...free, beach, picnic, free, dance, beach crazy parking. Take the bus or park on the east side of town and ride a bike across. I am so serious. After being stranded after the Glow Festival, I do not have great trust in the transit system when it comes to crowds, that said, if you plan it right, you should be able to take a Wilshire bus across or take the Venice express bus 3/33 which will drop you right in front of the pier. That way, your contact high will not interfere with your driving. SPeaking of contact high, Toots & The Maytals close out the series on August 28th--it will be monster!

BARNSDAL PARK
4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90027
(between Edgemont and Vermont - free parking is first come, first serve)

Invertigo Dance Company, "Revelries & Reveries"
Thursday Aug 7th, Friday August 8th; Saturday August 16th, Wednesday August 20th
All dates are at 6:30 PM
Sarita Louise Moore sent me the heads up for this free event to "raise the curtain" on the Independent Shakespeare Company performance of Twelfth Night. She's in it! The Pre-show dance event that is. Go Sarita!

The event is FREE but you must MAKE RESERVATIONS with the Independent Shakespeare Company.
www.independentshakespeare.com
Outdoors next to the beautiful Hollyhock House
Bring a blanket and a picnic!


HIGHWAYS
1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
SWEAT! A New Summer Dance Festival; $20/$15
Aug 8th - 9th, 8:30 PM PLEIADES
Aug 15 - 16th, 8:30 PM SPILL, SPLASH, and SPLENDOR
There is a dance festival on over on 18th Street! It's a small house, so tonight may already be sold out out, but it runs through the weekend.
Pleiades takes a spin on Hassan Christopher's Combustion: instead of 24 hours, these seven women dancer-choreographers had 7 days to put together a performance for you. Flora Weigman at curator-controls with Carol McDowell, Rae Shaolan Blum, Sarah White and some un-named astrids.

The second weekend is curated by a UCR MFA, Sue Roginski--yay!!!! New choreography by Alison Bory, Cynthia Lee, Rosie Trump and Sadie Weinberg. Not just solos!


ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
American Ballet Theatre "Rabbit & Rogues"
$105 - $25, August 6 - 10, 2008; 7:30 PM Wednesday -Friday; Saturday 2:00 & 7:30; Sunday 2:00
Last week I wrote about this one, well ABT is here in the OC with the West Coast Premiere of Twyla Tharpe's lastest piece. There may be some tickets left for tonight, but the run is quick, so who knows.


and coming up...

GRAND PERFORMANCES
August 8, 12 PM, FREE!
Jaipur Kawa Brass Band is gonna bring the funk for you, subcontinent stylee. I had my doubts from the description, but I listened to some tracks and found it very compelling. Too bad they are gigging at noon on a Friday. I'll need to leave Thursday night to make sure I get there on time.

but never fear, you can go shake it that night at

THE MUSIC CENTER
Friday, August 8th
directions to the Plaza
Dance Downtown presents ZYDECO! Featuring TLou and his Superhot Zydeco Band
Dance lessons begin at 6:30; the band takes the stage at 7:15 PM. Everything is FREE, limited space.


WORLD STAGE JAZZ FESTIVAL & BBQ
Leimert Park at the Fountain
4395 Leimert BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Sunday, August 10th, 10 AM; $20 in advance--includes tour and lunch
Now what tour you may wonder? LA Commons is doing a food tour of the city! This weekend they head to Leimert Park to taste authentic barbque. If I had not just come back from Mississippi, this would not be so funny to me, but let's just say, that my olympics dovetails nicely with this. The lovely and talented Maia brings out her vibraphone to gig with Jesse Sharpe around 2:30 PM as part of the actual Jazz festival. I think that the music & parking are free and the food is not. On the bill:
The Roy McCurdy Quartet, The Gathering with Jesse Sharps, Bobby Matos & his Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble, The George Harper Quartet featuring vocalist Karen Evans and Nate Morgan's Swingin 'N Exile. SHINE Mawusi, an all-female drum and dance ensemble,, under the direction of Rene Fisher, will share this star-studded bill. Gifted artists from the World Stage workshops will perform.


UNKNOWN THEATER
Fables du Theatre, a collaboration with Immanence Artists
August 15 - September 27th; Thursday - Saturdays @ 8 PM; Sundays @ 6 PM
"Sex. Death. Clown." this is how the event is described. This will be the season finale for the unknown, and I think we should turn out as thanks for their stellar dance season this year, and also to learn a thing or two;->


JAPAN AMERICA COMMUNITY CULTURAL CENTER PLAZA
244 S. San Pedro St., LA
Nisei Festival
Next Generation Remix Concert, FREE 6-7 PM "cultural", 7 - 10 PM "contemporary"
Here is one of those events that you just know will surprise you, so you best show up. Boasting everything from team hip hop dance crews to folksy alternative rock and some traditional dancetheater pieces, the Remix Concert has something for everyone, even if the premise is to become a viable market for transglobal entertainment industries--I'm not making that up. You can watch their promo video here and see for yourselves. Still, the show looks VERY interesting.

coming in September: Baker/Tarpanga Project at the Ford!!

AFRICAN DANCE WORKSHOPS
Okay! Le Bagatae is turning on more heat in Chicago, IL. Congo Camp is a wrap and so is the Denver, La Merveille. But don't hang up your lapa just yet. Still to come, a camp in Upstate New York in September--ahhhh foliage--and then Mama Nzinga Camara will host the annual African Dance Conference at Debbie Allen Dance Studio sometime in the fall as well, so be ready. Just to make you cry, I have posted the list of classes for Le Bagatae at the bottom of this e-mail...United just announced a sale. FYI.

SUMMER DANCE INTENSIVES
On deck next week for DANCEbank is Mira Kingsley, August 9th & 10th, 11 am - 2 pm
These classes will be held at Farmlab + Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
directions on their website:
http://farmlab.org/2006/12/more-information-coming-soon.html



ONGOING CLASSES
Again, here is a link to a map I made. If you know of classes that are active and cool, let me know and I'll send you an invite to collaborate on the map. Likely, I'll make one for national African Dance Camps/Festivals.

LOVELY!
WOW! Ever get that feeling that something itsy bitsy in your life is about to become slightly unmanageable? Well I have that sensation more and more each week as I work to figure out the best way to bring this information together and out to you. I want to thank all of you for reading the newsletter and dropping me a line form time to time! If you have any suggestions about where it should migrate, let me know. For now, ning is the place, so join up on Afrologica because I am getting close to being evicted from my .mac account, lol!

Class will resume s o o n.

in love,
-Anna

Conference Schedule www.lebagatae.com

Dance

Thursday August 7, 2008

Youssouf Koumbassa (Guinea) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Djenaba Sako (Mali) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Idy Ciss (Senegal) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Friday August 8, 2008

Djenaba Sako (Mali) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Biza Sompa (Congo) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Marietou Camara (Guinea) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Saturday August 9, 2008

Youssouf Koumbassa (Guinea) 10:00 - 11:30am

Mariama Basse (Senegal) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Marietou Camara (Guinea) 2:00 - 3:30pm

Moustapha Bangoura (Guinea) 3:30 - 5:00pm

Sunday August 10, 2008

Biza Sompa (Congo) 10:00 - 11:30am

Mariama Basse (Senegal) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Idy Ciss (Senegal) 2:00 - 3:30pm

Moustapha Bangoura (Guinea) 3:30 - 5:00pm



Drum

Thursday August 7, 2008

Abdoul Doumbia (Mali) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Alysco Diabate (Dununs * Guinea) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Fode Moussa Camara (Guinea) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Friday August 8, 2008

Talla Faye (Senegal) 5:00 - 6:30pm

Marietou Camara (Women Dununs) 6:30 - 8:00pm

Fode Moussa Camara (Guinea) 8:00 - 9:30pm

Saturday August 9, 2008

Titos Sompa (Congo) 10:00 - 11:30am

Marietou Camara (Women Dununs) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Madou Dembele (Ivory Coast) 2:00 - 3:30pm

Bolokada Conde (Guinea) 3:30 - 5:00pm

Sunday August 10, 2008

Bolokada Conde (Guinea) 10:00 - 11:30am

Alysco Diabate (Dununs * Guinea) 11:30am - 1:00pm

Madou Dembele (Ivory Coast) 2:00 - 3:30pm

NEWSLETTER: on the road

Greetings from Mississippi!

Well, it has been so hot, that I actually have not wanted to sweat since I got here! Now that's funny. I got my sweat on today since there was finally a lovely breeze this morning. Right now, thunder and more thunder has been teasing us all day. I feel like I am in an epic Bollywood film, waiting, hoping for the rain to come, lol! Instead, more thunder, and the clouds roll on past. My hunt for dance is turning up, well, jook joints mostly, so if I can manage it, I'll make my way out to "da club" somewhere in the bush and report back, or maybe just use the phone to track down the few companies I have found in Memphis. But I do hear that real estate is cheap if any of you wanna relocate and own the dance scene out here!

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, podcasts are dropping like gum drops out of small child's hand.

BLOWIN BACK THE 'FRO this week is the fact that I am not at home. No, really. I'm all grown up. Venice is my home and I miss all of you very much. I am especially missing the Redcat Festival which closes this weekend and several excellent music events and one awesome gallery event that you need to go check out before it closes.


REDCAT
631 W. 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA
Program 3 launches tonight and closes this year's edition of the NOW Festival
The final program of the annual New Original Works Festival brings together a cyber-erotic song cycle from Alpert-award winning composer Anne LeBaron and librettist Douglas Kearney, incisive and comic stories from writer/performer Kristina Wong and the emotionally powerful imagery of the newest work from Rosanna Gamson/World Wide.
redcat.org/season/0708/dan/now3.php


THE BOX
977 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Los Angeles Poverty Department presents,
Skid Row History Museum
Here's a company that does some amazing work, both challenging to themselves, their audience and the eventual participants. Catch this show before it's gone. Closing reception + perfromance--you know an exhibit is a good one when they decide they have to have a public farewell party--on Saturday, August 2nd @ 6 PM. Donate some money while you're at it.


FORD AMPHITHEATER
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068
Imani Winds, "Afro Blue"
August 1, 2008, Friday; 8:30 PM, $25/$12
This is a must see! A very unusual wind quintet that brings together jazz, classical music and Afro-Cuban music. And they can DRESS! Go check this out. The Ford was built for evenings like this one. Take a very elegant picnic and get there around 5:30 to have a fantastic pre-show experience. Save some vino for the show!


THE GETTY
1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, CA
Family Festival is here! August 2, Saturday, 6 - 10 PM
Hike on up to the Getty for a day of fun, arts & crafts, music and storytelling. My pick of the day is Katia Moraes at 11:10 AM. Parking is $8, event is FREE. The festival is built around the art of botanical renderings--really, no kidding! And women in particualr as the artists. SO go get your eco-friendly family feminist fun on!


ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
American Ballet Theatre
$105 - $25 (yikes!), August 6 - 10, 2008; 7:30 PM Wednesday -Friday; Saturday 2:00 & 7:30; Sunday 2:00
Twyla Tharpe just debuted Rabbit & Rogues in NYC and brings it straight to the OC, her old stompin ground. Well actually, that would be Riverside, where we have none of her papers in our archives, but I digress (speaking of which, we are always looking to make the future dance scholar and archivist happy, so if you are forward thinking, donate your papers to UC Riverside). Danny Elfman does the score. Should be an evening of wit and wild angles.

MUSIC CENTER
Today is the last day to get a season subscription before single ticket sales begin for the Fall season of dance at the Music Center. The line up is standard-fabulous, so if nothing else, click your way over there and pounce on those few tickets you want as soon as they go for sale individually. Of Afrological interest: Ailey (sporting a registered trademark, watch out!) and the Kirov doing the Nutcracker. Really. The Kirov will be in town to dance the Nutcracker.


SUMMER INTENSIVES
DANCEbank: Summer Intensive begins!
- get a taste of something different every week with this ongoing series of classes led by some of Los Angeles' finest movers, dance experimenters, improvisers, interdisciplinary boundary blenders, and somatic investigators...
Rae Shao-Lan Blum
Saturday/Sunday, August 2nd & 3rd, 11am-2pm
Simone Forti
Tuesday and Thursday, August 5th & 7th, 11am-1pm
These classes will be held at Farmlab + Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
directions on their website:
http://farmlab.org/2006/12/more-information-coming-soon.html

ONGOING CLASSES
are all on the map. So surf on over there and check it out! If you want to add one of your classes to the map, e-mail me and I will send you a collaboration invitation. Meg Wolfe has a master list of studio spaces. Likely it needs some updating. Anyone wanna help?

LOVELY!
Hey, check out a blog I put up to house these newsletters! Most of the links will "die" since they are connected to events, but any maps I put together and links to Afrologica will stay active. Just a way to store things. They also appear on my FaceBook profile.

AN ATTIC AN EXIT was AMAZING! I am polishing up a rather long review of it that will appear on Afrologica. Also in the proof reading phase: a review of Viver Brasil's "Gift on the Water," a review of Kolpowitz's TASKFORCE water pieces; an entry on the impact of yoga economics on dance production,; and in rough draft a review of GLOW festival and a longer entry on 11 MIssing Days plus guests. More podcasts to come, too! I am not on vacation, but the electrical storm just now has reminded me that everyone needs to recharge! Gotta go before my battery power runs out!

in love,
-Anna

NEWSLETTER: breathing through the release

ALOHA!!

OK. I'll admit it, as have just about 60, 000 other people: the gLOW Festival was barely a flicker! That said, I just want to give thanks for the City of Santa Monica having the courage to offer an over night art festival to Southern California. They heard the message form the universe and responded. It is rare that an individual, let alone a civic entity, hears the universe and answers. So many thanks to them showing us just how high we have to take it when we invite everybody to our house!

I'm headed out of town back to Mississippi! I hope to post up some reports of dance and music Dirty South stylee while I'm gone, so send me those notices.

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, podcasts are dropping like gum drops out of small child's hand.

BLOWIN' BACK THE FRO this week is a local underground staple, a dance crew from up north, art from Down Under, and part two of the Redcat's New Original Festival. Thankfully, you won't need a pup tent to survive any of these.

OPENING TONIGHT
UNKNOWN THEATER
Lean To Productions San Francisco, "An Attic, An Exit"
Final weekend: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 6pm
"In this theatrical tour-de-force, Looney-tunes comedy meets magical realist mystery in a single room crammed full with riddles, levitation, baking supplies, and two meticulously explorative characters you will never forget."
$18 online at www.unknowntheater.com
$24 at the door or by phone (323) 466-7781
I am heading out to see this show tonight! I absolutely have fallen in love with this production collective and urge you to apply for their upcoming dance season. I think they are still taking applications.

I saw this show on Thursday and was VERY pleased. Usually, I spend a great deal of time thinking about how much I am paying per hour for the sitter when I go and see a show. I completely forgot that had kids. Go see this show. I actually would not call it looney-tunes as thy have above, it is somehow very French Butoh with feminist analysis of travel and situatedness, but it is superbly crafted, well honed, intricate, meticulous, and full of surprises.

ZANZIBAR
Afro Funké w/ Solsis Fashions!
1301 5th Street @ Arizona, Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.451.2221 / 21+ / $7; doors at 9 PM, fashion show at 10
www.zanzibarlive.com
www.myspace.com/afrofunke
www.rockydawuni.com/afrofunke.html
Time to shake that thang and get on the good foot. A weekly offering, Afro Funké has been around a number of years and tonight, one of us Afrologica members will present her work! Miss thang can certainly move, and her clothes are designed for maximum movement. Check out Stephanie Engel's fashions on MySpace.

REDCAT
Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater
631 W. 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
NEW ORIGINAL WORKS FESTIVAL 2008
JULY 24-26: PROGRAM TWO
Week two of this home-grown festival kicks off tonight. Next Tuesday, another dubset hits the lobby of the REDCAT. Could they make you want to move downtown any more?

Tonight through Saturday features:

Lionel Popkin's "Your Hand/My Mouth"

Holly Johnston's "Politics of Intimacy"

Poor Dog Group's "Hey. hey, Man. Hey."

redcat.org/season/0708/dan/now2.php


HIGHWAYS
at the 18th Street Arts Center, 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Dandelion Dance Theatre, "Testiculish"
Final weekend, Thursday - Saturday 8:30 PM; $20/$15 students
SO, um, I really thought about not even mentioning this work at all, but, and it is a BIG but, maybe a rump, this particular attempt at deconstructing male identity deserves an audience, because finally, a bunch of guys are publicly putting their mess out on the table, sifting through it and hoping to come up with more than, "cause my dick is bigger than yours." MOSTLY NUDITY.

and then hot on their tails...

GRAND PERFORMANCES
Delfos Danza Contemporánea
July 25 & July 26 2008, 8:00 PM
Lovely, aggressive, and athletic dance out of Mexico, for FREE. Get there EARLY because standing up to see a dance show just feels wrong. Unless of course, you are being spontaneously choreographed. Plus, the sight lines are horrific if you don't get the fold-out seats.

BARKER HANGAR
Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport AVE, Santa Monica, 90405
Regina Wilson, contemporary Aboriginal Artist, one woman show
After my fabulous experience dancing for Jeremy Hahn for the art exhibit, "Kung Pao Carnival," I eagerly signed up for the mailing list. The invite for the opening to this event last week came too late to let you all know about it, but the show is still up and it looks to be rather spectacular. Only up until August 3rd, so hustle. This is the FIRST show EVER of aboriginal art in Southern California.

AFRICAN DANCE FESTIVALS
This weekend, Congolese Drum & Dance Workshop gets going in Pike, CA on July 25th while Le Bagatae in Chicago closes its early registration. Classes begin in Chi-town on August 7th and American just announced a mega fare sale, so go! Denver hosts Camp Merveilles with a decidedly Guinea line up, also starting on August 7th. A hot weekend getaway is planned in upstate New York by the Magbana Dance ensemble of NYC for September 12- 14, 2008. Another steamy line up of instructors! Early registration ends on August 15th. here in LA, Alumata is winding down, but you would not know it! Moustapha Bangoura (who runs Le Bagatae in Chi, btw) teaches Friday night at the Debbie Allen Dance Studios, note the change in location; plus there has been a delay on the final finale, as three professors will arrive later. This could be bad, but it is GOOD. There is so much happening this Friday, this gives you a chance to go and take class!

SUMMER INTENSIVES
DANCEBank is a GO! The schedule long and enticing, so go check it out on Meg Wolfe's MySpace Page.

Today is the deadline to get your applications into Regina Klenjoski to apply for her annual dance festival, SOLA. Hustle! Details on her website.

Show Box presents:
Saturdays in July - visiting guest artist series
July 26th: Modern Garage Movement (NYC) 10:30am-1:30pm
class costs $12, and will be held at Farmlab + Under Spring
1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012


You can map it!
ONGOING CLASSES
Guest teachers continue to light up the back studio at the Dance Arts Academy for Viver Brasil. Every Tuesday at 8 PM

Just added!
Viver has a new class at the Dance Garden in Atwater Village, Fridyas 6:30 - 7:30PM . This is one of the funkiest studios I have been in. Should be groovalicious! 3407 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039 (323) 660-4556 $15./single class

Sarita Moore is back in Ozone Park this week. The park is between 7th Avenue in Venice and Ozone ST in Santa Monica. Yeah, confusing. Do you know the Coffee joint on Rose at 7th?, well it is "behind" it by one block of alleys.

Rae Shaolan Blum is at Katnap with her intermediate/advanced modern (she got certificates y'all. don't sleep!)

All of these classes are mapped!

LOVELY!
GLOW festival's biggest disappointment was the lack of roving street performers. There are so many of you who could have shown up and blown people's hair back, I was actually saddened by your absence. The other big error was leaving the sideshow rides open. Who knew that parents would actually allow their tweens out until 2 AM?! Oh yeah, and not having enough art. It must have been tough to get the idea through the legal department. I wish I could write a more cogent review, but I could see most of what I went to see do to the crowds.

Everyday while I'm away, I hope to offer a moving meditation class at the church where I grew up. I"m really looking forward to it. So next issue, I'll post up on the 5 Rhythms work and the Dance as Prayer team, plus a few others that have caught my attention.


in love,
-Anna

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