Recent News
What’s New? November 2010
Joti Singh and Ensambles Ballet Folklorico de San Francisco (Traditional Arts, 2009)
Bhangra dancer and choreographer Joti Singh and Ensambles Ballet Folklorico de San Francisco have been exploring stories of the Punjabi-Mexican communities of California’s Imperial, San Joaquin, and Sacramento counties. Their collaborative new work, Half and Halves, will premiere November 13, 2010 at 7:00 pm and November 14 at 2:00 pm at Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th Street, San Francisco. Tickets are available through City Box Office: www.cityboxoffice.com. For more information, visit www.duniyadance.com.
Techung and Door Dog Music Productions (Traditional Arts, 2009)
“The Ritual Project,” featuring a collaboration among Tibetan artist Techung and other master musicians from Central Asia, Europe, and the United States, is the centerpiece for Door Dog Music Production’s annual World Music Festival, November 19-21 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, San Francisco. For further information, visit www.sfworldmusicfestival.org. Tickets may be ordered by calling 415-292-1233.
Antonia Minnecola and Afsaneh Art and Cultural Society (Traditional Arts, 2009)
On November 20 and 21, choreographer Antonia Minnecola and Ballet Afsaneh are premiering their collaboration, Encounters: New Moon on the Silk Road, with a stellar, multi-ethnic cast of artists, including Salar Nader, Afghan tabla; Moses Sedler, cello; Neema Hekmat, Persian santur; Pourya Khademi, Persian violin; Pedram Heydari, Persian kamanche; Kaveh Hedayati, Persian setar; Sonja Drakulich, Hungarian vocals, (lead singer of Stellamara); Bon Singer, Balkan/Judaic vocals, (director of Ya Elah); Jeannette Ferber, vocals; and Paul Ohanesian, Armenian oud. In addition to Minnecola, the cast of dance artists and choreographers includes: Wan-Chao Chang, Mariam Gaibova, Gopi Batra, Hannah Romanowsky, Kristen Sague, Emelie Karen Coleman, Miriam Peretz, and Sharlyn Sawyer. Performances are at 8:00 p.m. on November 20 and 3:00 p.m. on the 21st at the Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, in San Francisco. For tickets, call 415-345-7575 or contact the Cowell Theater Box Office online.
Philip Kan Gotanda and the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of California, Berkeley (Performing Arts, 2010)
Playwright Philip Kan Gotanda and the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies are presenting a work-in-progress reading of Gotanda’s new play, I Dream of Chang and Eng, based on the lives of the original Siamese twins, on Monday, November 22, 7:00 p.m., Dwinelle Hall on the university campus.
Linda Yamane and Big Sur Land Trust (Traditional Arts, 2009)
Native California basketweaver Linda Yamane—and the two new baskets she is making as a commission from the Oakland Museum of California and through her Creative Work Fund-supported collaboration with Big Sur Land Trust—is featured in the fall 2010 issue of News from Native California. Copies or a subscription to News may be ordered by e-mailing nnc@heydaybooks.com or calling 510-549-3564, extension 316.
Sharon Daniel and Casa Segura//Safe House (Media Arts, 2001)
Media artist Sharon Daniel and Casa Segura/Safe House have completed an extended exploration of drug addiction. Their finished work, “Blood Sugar,” “examines the social and political construction of poverty, alienation, and addiction in American society through the eyes of those who live it.” “Blood Sugar” provides an interactive interface to an online audio archive of conversations with 24 current and former injection drug users recorded at the HIV Education and Prevention Program of Alameda County and in California state prison. The finished project takes two forms, as a gallery exhibition and presentation for online audiences that can be viewed at http://bloodandsugar.net. Blood Sugar has been exhibited several times to date and Daniels has been invited to present it at numerous international conferences. It will be featured in the next issue of the online Vector’s Journal.