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| VOLUME 5, NO. 7 | December 9, 2007 |
What's NewAn Apprenticeship in Okinawan Kutuu
Gardena-based master kutuu player Katsuko Teruya Arakawa is a current master artist in the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Pamela Joy Afuso of Los Angeles. Throughout the past year, Arakawa conducted lessons with Afuso at her kutuu school, the Teruya Sokyoku Kenkyukai, in Gardena. The Okinawan kutuu, more commonly known elsewhere in Japan as the koto, is a thirteen-stringed Paulownia wood zither played by plucking strings with three picks in the right hand and modifying pitch and tone with the left hand. Used in Okinawan court music since the 1800’s, the kutuu accompanies Okinawan sanshin (shamisen) in classical music, dance music, and folk music as well as serving as a solo instrument. Singing also is a part of the kutuu musical repertoire. Afuso studied tone and timing, folk music improvisation skills, and understanding Arakawa’s subtleties in her singing. The apprenticeship focused on Afuso’s ability both as an artist and as a teacher. Arakawa worked with Afuso to learn and master set pieces required for the master teacher examination which Afuso intends to take in several years. “Primarily, I selected Joy because I feel she can continue on a path to master the kutuu and reach out to the next generation of kutuu players.” Indeed, Afuso currently has kutuu students of her own, having received her teaching certification in 2004. Another aspect of the apprenticeship under Arakawa’s guidance resulted in Afuso’s development of a lesson plan for first year students that covers basic technique, short recital or demonstration pieces, singing pieces, and contemporary pop pieces. Read more about Arakawa and Afuso’ apprenticeship in Okinawan kuttu on the Alliance’s website. An Apprenticeship in Korean Pojagi and Chogak-Po
Amidst shopping boutiques, furniture shops, and gallery spaces along the La Brea corridor in Los Angeles, Los Angeles-based master artist Bonghwa Kim and her husband, Sung Y. Lee, run their gallery and studio Casa Muhyang, dedicated to traditional Korean arts including the Korean tea ceremony, ceramics, folk painting, flower arrangement, calligraphy, and textile arts. The latter includes traditions including pojagi (wrapping cloths used for storage) and chogak-po (patchwork). This year, Kim participated as a master artist in the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Yejin Cha of Glendale, focusing on traditional patchwork techniques and embroidery through regular meetings at Casa Muhyang. Patchwork textiles are reflective of the pragmatism and artistry in traditional Korean textile arts, with functional applications in covering or wrapping various items, from precious valuables and heirlooms to daily necessities. Each piece also varies based upon the needlework and color combinations and patterns which convey “traditional beauty and cultural affection with Korean solicitude and faith.” Through this work, Kim writes, “I learn presence of mind, concentration, and patience.” Kim and Cha’s apprenticeship included both patchwork and embroidery, key needlework techniques which are specific to linen, silk, or ramie, and discussions about the forms’ history and the traditional principles and use of colors, composition, and philosophy within the pieces. An Apprenticeship in Mexican Arpa Mariachera
Wasco-based master musician and educator Juan Morales participated this year in the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program with Earlimart-based musician Erasmo Villarreal in Mexican arpa mariachera mariachi-style harp). Morales first developed an interest in harp when delving into his Jarocho heritage as a youth while visiting his father’s homeland of Veracruz.“ Although I learned to play other instruments before the harp, once I was able to afford one, it rapidly became my favorite one to play.” Purchasing his first harp as a teenager over twenty years ago, he studied harp from various street musicians in Guadalajara, as harp instruction did not exist in academic institutions. Soon after, upon settling in Arizona, he began intermittent studies for years with the late ariachi maestro Arturo Mendoza during Mendoza’s tours with his Mariachi Vargas alongside Nati Cano’s Mariachi Los Camperos. Morales’ talent eventually gave him the opportunity to play and tour with the latter group, in addition to Mariachi Sol de Mexico. The mariachi harp, Morales describes, is “an intrinsic part of the mariachi culture” and at the turn of the twentieth century in Jalisco, was an essential instrument accompanying the guitarra de golpe and two violins to define a mariachi ensemble. Traditionally, the harp provides the fundamental bass line and harmonic accompaniment as well as melodic interjections alongside the violins. Over time, however, the harp’s role in mariachi ensemble playing has diminished, and today is more commonly played as a melodic and virtuosic instrument, its role in mariachi ensembles frequently replaced by the guitarrón. “As important as the role of the harp in the mariachi once was, very few people have ever even seen one of these beautiful instruments and I believe it is my responsibility to try to keep this cultural tradition from becoming extinct.” One of the ways in which Morales has tried to keep the mariachi harp-playing traditions alive has been through an elective mariachi class in Delano at Delano High School, where he first met Villarreal as a freshman who enrolled in Morales’ class and continued his studies through his entire high school education, additionally developing accomplished proficiency in playing the guitarrón, vihuela, and guitarra de golpe from Morales, and playing both within the high school group and with other Kern County groups under Morales’ direction. Villarreal “has shown an unusually deep interest in the Mexican culture and the mariachi tradition as a whole,” Morales commented, “In my twenty years of teaching experience, he is one of the fastest learners that I have worked with, and has particularly demonstrated a marked easiness in the learning of the mariachi harp.” An Apprenticeship in Carnatic Violin
Thirteen-year old Sruti Sarathy has been working with master musician Anuradha Sridhar in Carnatic violin for almost six years, this year participating in the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program. Sridhar hails from the illustrious and legendary Lalgudi family, representing five generations of musicians, whose lineage can be directly traced back to revered saint-composer Sri Thyagaraja, who, alongside Sri Muthuswami Dhikshithar and Sri Shyama Sastri, form the Trinity of Carnatic music. The Carnatic music system traces its origins to the Vedas (4000 BCE) and is based on the system of ragas (melodic scales) and talas (rhythmic cycles), improvisation, and the characteristic use of decorative Gamakas (graces) in rendering notes. Carnatic violin was introduced in the 18th century and is an essential component to Carnatic music concerts today. The Lalgudi Bani style of violin playing developed and perfected by Sridhar’s predecessors aspires to reproduce vocal music through soft and sweet bowing techniques and clothing complex rhythms in melody. Sarathy comments that her teacher believes, “as her forefathers have for generations, that ‘the violin must sing.’” Starting her training from five years of age, Sridhar has performed and lectured all over the world, and brings her musical legacy to all the work she does. “Whether I am performing or teaching, I am always aware of the legacy handed down to me and know that I have an important role to play in ensuring that it is preserved and protected.” Sridhar is the only violinist from the Lalgudi family based in the United States, and thus, she feels “it very important to propagate and educate our young and future generations.” Currently, in the midpoint of an intensive ten-year curriculum together, Sridhar and Sarathy participated in the Apprenticeship Program, meeting weekly in Sridhar’s home, in order to support and deepen Sarathy’s studies. Sarathy herself has garnered local and national attention for her musicianship, accompaniment, and improvisation, winning awards at the national Thyagajara Aradhana music competition which occurs annually in Cleveland, and performing regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. An Apprenticeship in Chinese Sword Dance
Since she was sixteen years old, San Francisco-based master artist Ling Mei Zhang has practiced Chinese sword dances, mastering both the single and double straight sword techniques, and representing China as a cultural ambassador to countries around the world. Zhang studied wushu double straight swords from Liu Yuhua in Heibei Province and Lee Wenjin in Beijing over forty years ago, becoming the national champion of the form in 1975. Considered one of the highest ranking martial artists from China currently living in California, Zhang is a seventh degree black-belt and one of three top women recognized in China for her double straight swords expertise and in influencing contemporary wushu, in addition to specialization in Cha Quan (slanted fist), contemporary Chan Quan (long fist), straight sword, spear, and Ba Gua Zhang. Building on a seasoned career with over thirty years as a teacher, Master Zhang participated this year the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Ruth Yafonne Chen, also based in San Francisco, who has been studying wushu with Zhang over the past three years. Their participation in the Apprenticeship Program brought them together weekly outdoors at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral Plaza, and focused on Zhang’s world-renowned specialty in wushu double sword technique, a form which dates back centuries in China to the Qin and Han dynasties (221BCE to 220 AD). Perpetuated predominantly by female master proponents of the form, the sword dance is one of the most popular Han Chinese dance forms which has been incorporated into Chinese acrobatics, Chinese dance performances since the Tang Dynasty, and Chinese operas since the Song Dynasty. Read more about Zhang and Chen’s apprenticeship in Chinese sword dance on the Alliance’s website. The previous articles reflect recent site visits to current participants in the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program. Text and photos by Sherwood Chen, Associate Director and Apprenticeship Program Manager for the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. In Memoriam: Asako Takami
Editor’s Note: On November 3, 2007, San Francisco Bay Area Odissi dancer Asako Takami passed away after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer. Takami was born in Nigata, Japan, and became involved in Odissi dance at the age of 20. She was a college student studying art and Japanese design when she was first exposed to Indian dance. At that time she began studying Kathakali and Manipuri, two of India’s classical dance forms. Later she saw a performance in Tokyo by legendary Odissi dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi and was profoundly moved by the performance. She told Hinduism Today in 2000, “I was very shocked that one human body can change the space and energy. I didn't think I could do that with my body, but I wanted to. Right after this performance, I met my teacher, KumKum Lal, who was visiting Japan from India. I went to her place and said I wanted to study Odissi. She just started teaching in her kitchen. That's how I began in 1983.” For seventeen years, Takami traveled to India for several months at a time, training with KumKum Lal in Delhi, and with Lal’s teacher, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, in Orissa, the home of Odissi dance. Takami is the founder and artistic director of the East Bay-based Pallavi Dance Group. In 2005, Takami was a master artist in the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Chaitee Sengupta. In March 2004, my Odissi dance teacher Asako Takami and I applied for the Alliance’s Apprenticeship Program. The application asked, “Why do you want to work with this master artist?” My answer was, “Anyone who meets Asako knows that she is very reluctant to call herself a teacher or even think of herself as a teacher. To me though, she embodies so many qualities as both a person and a dancer that I admire and strive to emulate, which is why I sought her out as my teacher. Asako is such a beautiful, precise, and graceful dancer. Her knowledge and faithfulness to the traditional choreography is so detailed and conscientious. As a person and a dancer, Asako is so humble and unassuming and free from egotism or a competitive nature. In the world of dance this is a rare and precious type of person, especially to have as a teacher. She encourages all her students to experience the joy of dancing by freely sharing everything she can offer.” Of her experience with Odissi, Asako told the Alliance, “For me dancing, performing and teaching Odissi dance is a form communication, a tool of connecting with people and with my deeper self. This dance form nourishes and cultivates my personal life and from that I deepen my practice. “When I came to the US, everyone around me was talking about ‘identity.’ It made me think a great deal of my Odissi practice as a Japanese person. It was and is a creative conflict. When I dance, perform, study with my Indian teachers, I know my approach, my devotion, is different. Over the years I've slowly recognized that my approach is something already there, inside the form, an honesty, in how I can and must approach this foreign form. I always come back to this truth, that this strict form creates a pure, distinctive power, an energy which I feel with my particular body. It is not about being Oriyan or Indian or Japanese, it is about dancing, that humanness. I am outside of the culture that this dance is deeply rooted in. There is an inherent abstraction to my approach.” We found out early that summer that we were accepted into the Apprenticeship Program. We also found out that Asako had been diagnosed with cancer. That summer and fall she went through intense and difficult cancer treatments—surgery, radiation, chemotherapy. The treatment ravaged her body, but amazingly by spring she was well enough again to dance and teach, and we were able to work together through the apprenticeship. I was incredibly lucky to learn a beautiful abhinaya (expressive story telling) piece from her, called Sahki He, a traditional item in the Odissi repertoire from the Gita Govinda, a 12th century Sanskrit lyrical poem. At the time I did not know that our work together in the Apprenticeship Program would be my last chance to study Odissi with Asako. Her cancer returned later that year. After another round of medical treatments and a long stretch of alternative healing efforts she passed away on November 3, 2007. She is survived by her parents, her sister, and her partner Ralph Lemon, as well as an international community of friends, students and people she has inspired. As her student and friend, I feel so proud and lucky to have had the opportunity to spend time with her and study dance with her. In October I had the opportunity to meet KumKum Lal, Asako’s teacher, for the first time when she was visiting ailing Asako in San Francisco. She told me that of all her students, she only taught Sakhi He to Asako. How wonderful that Asako could pass this on to me. I thank the Alliance for making it possible. AdvocacyTake Action! – AB 1365From California Arts Advocates AB 1365 (D-Karnette) requires that 20% of existing sales tax charged in two specific retail categories pertaining to arts, crafts and music be transferred to the California Arts Council. If this bill becomes law, it will generate in the first year more than $30 million for the California Arts Council and its grants programs. If this bill becomes law, funds will be transferred in the first quarter to the California Arts Council. Register your support for AB 1365: California Arts Council: funding: sales and use tax revenue. AB 1365 must passout of the Assembly Appropriations Committee in January 2008 and go to the Assembly floor for a full vote of the State Assembly by January 31. The bill needs a 2/3 vote of the State Assembly to go to the next step, the State Senate. If this bill does not get to the Senate, it will die. Take the first step to keep this bill alive! Ask colleagues, board members of arts organizations, chambers of commerce, vendors, and neighborhood councils to register their support for AB 1365. TAKE ACTION!Register your organization's support by writing Assembly Member Betty Karnette. Address your letter of support to: The Honorable Betty Karnette RE: Support for AB 1365 Sales and use tax revenues: funding of the California Arts Council. LOCATION: Assembly Appropriations Committee Karnette Capitol Office – Fax #: (916) 319-2154 CC: Ms. Dana Mitchell, Consultant for the Arts, Entertainment,
Sports, Tourism and Internet Media – Fax # (916) 319-3451 Click here for a generic sample letter (word document) that you and your colleagues can use to copy and paste, and save on your desktop for this bill and future communications with your elected officials at all levels of government. Examples of letters in support of AB 1365 can be found on the resource page of the California Arts Advocates website. California Arts Advocates' executive director, Lisa Caretto, president Brad Erickson and lobbyist Kathy Lynch will be in Los Angeles to present information about AB 1365, the transfer of sales tax to the California Arts Council, at the Arts for LA Advocate Briefing on Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 2:00 pm – 3:30pm at the Autry National Center, Wells Fargo Theater. Click here to RSVP for the briefing. FundingAlliance for California Traditional Arts' Traditional Arts Development ProgramDeadline: Ongoing ACTA’s Traditional Arts Development Program makes contracts up to $1,500 to support consultancies, mentorships, and travel opportunities that foster a new level of growth for individual folk & traditional artists and organizations engaged in this field in California. Requested services may be focused on organizational, program, and/or artistic development goals. Individual artists and cultural practitioners, as well as organizations, whether incorporated or not, may apply. A sampling of past contracts include: Artistic Mentorships Gen Taiko (San Francisco), an organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and presenting Japanese traditional arts including taiko (traditional Japanese drumming), traditional folk dance, and folk song forms. Its artistic director, Melody Takata, was trained by National Heritage Fellow Madame Fujima Kansuma to learn the Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical) dance called Kojo No Tsuki (Moonlit Castle Ruins). Ms. Takata taught the dance to four of her students and performed it at Gen Taiko’s 10th Anniversary Concert in November 2005. Organizational Consultancies: Kwashi Amevuvor (Los Angeles), a master drummer from Ghana, West Africa, worked with consultant Janet P***t, who assisted him with marketing and web design to develop professional promotional materials to publicize the work of the artist and the traditional cultural arts of Ghana. In addition, Ms. P***t’s consultancy supported Mr. Amevuvor’s efforts in organizing a cultural study tour of Ghana. Travel Opportunities The Eszterlánc Hungarian Folk Ensemble (Foster City) traveled to Southern California to perform for an audience of over two thousand at the annual Magyar Sajtónap (Hungarian Press Day) hosted by the newspaper California Hungarians. At this event Eszterlanc dancers had the opportunity to perform with members of the Karpatok Folk Ensemble of Southern California, which is led by Istvan Szabo. Requests for organizational consultancies, artistic mentoring, and travel support may be submitted to ACTA at any time. Download the application and application instructions from ACTA’s website or call (559) 237-9812 to request a copy be mailed to you. ACTA’s Traditional Arts Development Program is supported by grants from the California Arts Council, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Guitar Center Music FoundationDeadline: Ongoing The Guitar Center Music Foundation’s mission is to aid nonprofit music programs across America that offer music instruction so that more people can experience the joys of making music. The Guitar Center Music Foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year from 501(c)(3) organizations that offer music instruction programs to participants of any age. The applicant program must successfully enhance the state of music education in the United States. The Grant Committee reviews all applications three times yearly, and grant awards range from $500 to $5,000. For more information visit the Guitar Center Music Foundation’s website. Elaine Weissman L.A. Treasures Award Deadline: Monthly The California Traditional Music Society (CTMS) and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) have announced the Elaine Weissman L.A. Treasures Awards 2007-2008 deadlines. This program supports folk and traditional performing and visual artists with $1,000 in funds for two public performances, workshops or exhibits - one planned by the award recipient, another chosen by CTMS and DCA. The Awards are named after Elaine Weissman, founder of CTMS and great promoter and supporter of folk and traditional arts, who passed away last year. An average of three L.A. Treasures Awards are given each month. Application deadlines are the first of each month from November 2007 through April 2008. Applications must arrive in the CTMS office no later than these dates. For more information, including guidelines and application forms, visit the California Traditional Music Society's website. If you would like a hard copy of the application sent to you, please contact Lisa Richardson at (818) 817-0094. California Music ProjectApplication Deadline – December 14, 2007 Middle-school music teachers in California schools can now apply for funding from the California Music Project. Twenty grants of $1,000 each will be awarded by the Music Project to enhance successful music programs for seventh and eighth graders. The California Music Project, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization has the mission to strengthen music education in California’s public schools through advocacy and funding of effective programs and people, and was established in 2004 through grant funds of the California Arts Council. The organization was created shortly after the release of The Sound of Silence, a study from the Music for All Foundation that revealed an unprecedented and alarming decline of music education in California public schools. Applications much be completed by a full-time certified music specialist whose primary responsibility is teaching in middle school (defined as schools that have a majority of their students in the seventh and eighth grade). For more information, visit the California Music Project’s website. For a copy of the application contact Josie Talamantez, Chief of Programs, California Arts Council, via email or at (916) 322-6555. Investing in Artists
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FEATURES ABOUT ACTA The Alliance for California Traditional Arts strives to "ensure California's future holds California's past" by providing programs and services to support the state's diverse living cultural heritage. The Alliance cultivates the growth of traditional arts and culture through Stewardship, Services to Artists, and Connection-Making. CONTACT ACTA Website: Staff: Sherwood Chen, Associate Director Lily Kharrazi, Living Cultures Grants Program Manager Suzanne Hildebrand, Administrative Coordinator BOARD OF DIRECTORS Robert Arroyo, V.P. of Finance & Administration Melanie Beene Jo Farb Hernandez, Secretary Joel Jacinto, Sojin Kim, Ph.D. Amy Kitchener (ex officio) Frank LaPena Malcolm Margolin Libby Maynard Chike Nwoffiah, V.P. of External Development Peter Pennekamp, Executive Director Charlie Seemann, Board President Daniel Sheehy, Ph.D. Deborah Wong, Ph.D. Honorary Bess Lomax Hawes FUNDERS
Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden Kumeyaay: Indigenous People of Southern California Kathak Workshop for Men and Boys Sangeet School of World Music Recital 3rd Annual Singing the Birds: Bird Song and Dance Festival Drone Magic: 6th Annual San Francisco International Bagpipe Festival Rumi: An 800th Birthday Celebration with the Lian Ensemble Posada: Mexico’s Christmas Party Year of the Rat Children’s Oshogatsu Workshops Joya No Kane: 22nd Annual Japanese New Year’s Bell-Ringing Ceremony Mochitsuki!: Japanese Mochi Pounding Party
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