Performing Diaspora Archives - Page 4 of 5

31 Aug, 2009

Devendra Sharma for Performing Diaspora: “Mission Suhani”- Reflections from India!

2009-08-31T23:34:58-07:00By Devendra|Categories: CounterPULSE, Devendra Sharma, Performing Diaspora|Tags: Devendra Sharma, dowry, forced marriages, immigration, Indian folk music, Indian folk opera, Indian women's rights, Nautanki, Performance for Communication, Performing Diaspora, politics of immigration, Pundit Ram Dayal Sharma|

Hi friends! I spent last three months living in India, co-writing the new Nautanki performance script for the “Performing Diaspora” with my father-- the renowned Nautanki artist, Pundit Ram Dayal Sharma, I loved my time in India. It was so much fun, and a learning experience, working with my father on this script that focuses on the issue of Indian men living in the U.S., who go back to India to get married to young Indian women and receive huge

29 Aug, 2009

Cry into the song

2009-08-29T19:36:19-07:00By Adia|Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: activism, african american women, Afro-Haitian, ampey, art, arts, avant-garde, children's games, community, counter pulse, CounterPULSE, Dance, diaspora, education, emerging artists, emerging arts, folkloric, gender issues, ghana, grassroots, mission, non profit, Performance, performing arts, Performing Diaspora, san francisco, sf, soma, theater|

The Ewe say " ... you must cry into the song." A man in the taxi said "... you are beautiful when you cry." ... But these things are not easy. To cry into the song when you are still so sad ... To let your beauty shine thru when you feel as though there is nothing to hold you up. Today "Ampey!" took it's first breath. It's a girl and a boy. A mommy and a daddy ... very

26 Aug, 2009

developing the script… the bare bones

2009-08-26T10:01:34-07:00By CONTRA-TIEMPO|Categories: Ana Maria Alvarez, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: "Tangled Routes", CONTRA-TIEMPO, food, journey, Performing Diaspora, Salsa|

So I haven't been good with updating the blog regularly - I am the same way about my own personal blog - but when I do it is thorough! We have been traveling all summer and I have been very in my head about this work - working on skill building and movement material but not setting anything - that will begin next week - what I have been working on this summer is more the structure and 'script' of

19 Aug, 2009

The Memo

2009-08-19T10:19:12-07:00By Adia|Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: activism, african american women, Afro-Haitian, ampey, art, arts, avant-garde, children's games, community, counter pulse, CounterPULSE, Dance, diaspora, education, emerging artists, emerging arts, folkloric, gender issues, ghana, grassroots, mission, non profit, Performance, performing arts, Performing Diaspora, san francisco, sf, soma, theater|

I didn't get the memo. You know the one that breaks down the ways in which descendants of enslaved Africans have a different (but just as post traumatic stress disordered psychosis) than the descendants of colonized Africans. To be fair, I looked completely different when I've traveled abroad before (I had long hair), AND there is no pronoun for "he"or "she" in Ghanaian language. Word. My bad. Yet and still, I was expecting some kind of Haiti-ish/Southern American Negro/Caribbean stratification

4 Aug, 2009

Freedom

2009-08-04T20:21:52-07:00By Adia|Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: adia tamar whitaker, adia whitaker, Performing Diaspora|

middle (line) Look fast. Move slow. The ground is on fire, but I don't worry myself with that anymore. If I was at home I would ask if the fumes were toxic. Now, toxic is relative and intersections are the eye of the storm. In Ghana, 'Nature' is the holy book that tells people what to do and how to do it. The land is Jesus. The people his disciples. Judas is the juju that prevents progress, but holds the

29 Jun, 2009

The Myal Healer

2009-06-29T16:24:58-07:00By Opal|Categories: CounterPULSE, Images, Opal Palmer Adisa, Performing Diaspora|Tags: Maroon Herbalist, Opal Palmer Adisa, Opal Palmer Adisa/Performing Diaspora, Performing Diaspora, Tony|

I was in Jamaica a few weeks ago interviewing both academics and healers who are in some way affiliated with Myal or the practice of healing. I also spent time at the African -Caribbean library there pouring over and through literature on Myal and its evolution. I made several discoveries, and was able to photograph some of the basic herbs used in the practice. Tony, a RASTA Brethren, connection to the land and ancestry is undeniable. Tony is a

24 Jun, 2009

“Ampey!”, line, circle, he(r)art

2009-06-24T03:46:36-07:00By Adia|Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: adia tamar whitaker, circles, lines, Performing Diaspora|

line "the concepts that shape ..." are where I'd have to begin ... better yet, "SHAPE!" is where I'd have to begin if you REALLY want to talk about what we do as folklorists, performers, teachers, students etc. This residency is an opportunity for us to build new models of discussion, exploration, and experimentation around folkloric based performance art forms. It's an opportunity for us to examine the methods of assessment that already exist inside of tradition as opposed to

2 Jun, 2009

Colette Eloi, Performing Diaspora Artist-Defining my Art

2009-06-02T13:57:16-07:00By Colette|Categories: Colette Eloi, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: Colette Eloi, Performing Diaspora|

If I were being safe I would say my art form is Haitian Folkloric Dance, then I would expound on it. However this would not be absolutely accurate. I am Haitian blooded African American raised in the United States by Haitian immigrants...."black". The two cultures are quite distinct yet share a "way","taste", "movement". This gives me a type of "dual consciousness". Haitian Dance has deep roots in Africa. They are planted in African traditions . The art I create expands

2 Jun, 2009

The Revolutionary Roots of Mexican Folk Dance

2009-06-02T13:03:31-07:00By Gema|Categories: CounterPULSE, Gema Sandoval, Performing Diaspora|Tags: Performing Diaspora|

Mexican folk dance has been a part of California since the the late 18th century. In those days the itinerant dance "maestro" went from Rancho to Rancho teaching the latest European dance fads to a multigeneretional clientele. When the Californios held their "meriendas" and "bailes", this was the perfect opportunity for every elegible bachelor and young señorita to display their skills in dancing the cuadrilla, polka, waltz, and schotis. In those days it was fashionable, even necessary, for the "gentlemen

1 Jun, 2009

“Bihag”, my choreographic take on the Hip hop Tinikling

2009-06-01T22:15:34-07:00By Dulce Capadocia|Categories: CounterPULSE, Dulce Capadocia, Images, Performing Diaspora|Tags: Performing Diaspora|

This week, I frantically drove to a graffiti exhibit and documentary screening in Downtown Los Angeles of the movie "GraffLife" directed by Randy DeVol. It follows the secret night missions and on the run daytime activities of urban taggers living in my home and city. I thought I was late; this was one of the first events that was going to serve as important sensory information. I rushed to get to the venue to find a noisy bar where everyone

30 May, 2009

Guqin and me

2009-05-30T03:44:28-07:00By Fei|Categories: CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora, Wang Fei|Tags: Performing Diaspora|

What is guqin? The guqin, a seven-stringed zither, is China’s oldest stringed instrument with a documented history of about 3,000 years. It became part of a tradition cultivated by Chinese scholars and literati and has been associated with philosophers, sages, and emperors since the time of Confucius. Perhaps because of this illustrious history, following the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, the guqin came to be viewed as one of the “Four Evils” and was the

29 May, 2009

Charlotte Moraga for Performing Diaspora: Contemporary Traditional Kathak Dance

2009-05-29T00:06:02-07:00By Charlotte|Categories: Charlotte Moraga, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: charlotte moraga, choreography, classical indian dance and music, contemporary kathak, ethnic dance, improvisation, Indian diaspora, kathak dance, Mumbai, pandit chitresh das, percussive dance, Performing Diaspora, taal, traditional dance, upaj|

What is kathak? Kathak is a unique dance form which incorporates rhythmic virtuosity, compelling storytelling, poetry, recitation, song, swift and subtle movement, and a rich philosophy whose roots extend thousands of years. In 1992, I enrolled in a Kathak class at SFSU with world-renowned master, Pandit Chitresh Das. Little did I know the vast ocean that lay before me. Enthralled by the immense depth and potential for self-expression, I continued to study in the traditional manner (guru shisya parampara), one

Devendra Sharma for Performing Diaspora: “Mission Suhani”- Reflections from India!

Cry into the song

developing the script… the bare bones

The Memo

Freedom

The Myal Healer

“Ampey!”, line, circle, he(r)art

Colette Eloi, Performing Diaspora Artist-Defining my Art

The Revolutionary Roots of Mexican Folk Dance

“Bihag”, my choreographic take on the Hip hop Tinikling

Guqin and me

Charlotte Moraga for Performing Diaspora: Contemporary Traditional Kathak Dance

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