Georgetown Orbits-by Piper Hanson

Don’t be surprised to see hip hop on our “folk” stages!

“Hip hop is definitely a form of folk music,” says Kelli Faryar, Programs Manager at Northwest Folklife. “Folk music is the people’s music, and hip hop is first-hand stories and narratives.”

The Festival is a celebration of how all traditions are kept alive in the Northwest–from accordion to zither!

The 206Zulu Showcase takes place Sunday May 26, from 3:00pm – 6:00pm at The VERA Project, and features live breakdancing to DJ Zeta Barber and emcee Fleeta Partee. A son and namesake of Black Panther Party members, Fleeta Partee spits stories and rhymes with no glorification or sensationalism, with a foundation upon hip hop history and culture. Based in Seattle’s Central District, 206Zulu raises social awareness through forms of expression as a positive outlet for underprivileged youth.

A second hip hop showcase, You Can’t Fake Fresh, on Sunday May 26, from 7:00pm – 10:00pm in the EMP Sky Church, includes hip hop musicians with live bands and diverse musical influences such as jazz. Full band descriptions are below.

Global Heat – by Piper Hanson

206Zulu Jam featuring Junior Breakdance Competition and Hip-Hop Showcase: Sunday, May 26 from 3:00-6:00pm at The VERA Project.
See youth from local b-boy/b-girl classes showcase their dancing in a one-on-one competition. Featuring danceable music for everyone by DJ Cues & DJ Zeta Barber, with special guest performance by artist Fleeta Partee. All b-boys & b-girls are invited to come support the next generation of dancers & participate in open circles!

You Can’t Fake Fresh—Northwest Live-Band Hip Hop: Sunday, May 26 from 7:00-10:00pm in the EMP Sky Church.
Featuring:
The Sharp Five: The Sharp Five is a 5-piece collective from Seattle that bridges the gap between hip hop and Soul. Remember the warmth of the heart, the dirt under your feet, and the love for your city.
Irukandji Physics of Fusion: A unique group that brings equal parts soul, live hip hop, jazz fusion, and two phenomenal vocalists, Alisha and MC Profitsea to the stage.
Global Heat (with Special Guests Battle Reflexes): Winner of the 2011 Jammin’ Challenge at Hard Rock Café! As Seattle Next50 grant recipient, Global Heat headlined The Roots of Hip Hop in Ancient Cultures at the 2012 Northwest Folklife Festival.
Eastern Sunz: Multi award winning duo Eastern Sunz have been creating dynamic, thought provoking music and touring for over a decade with their unique sound referred to by CMJ Magazine as “intellectual hip hop”.

The post What to See at Folklife #48: Hip Hop appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

features Art, Culture, Music and Dance 

Seattle Center Festál presents A Glimpse of China – Chinese Culture and Arts Festival, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday, May 18, in Seattle Center Armory. Explore and experience the cultural roots and contemporary influences of China through live performances, visual arts, hands-on activities, foods,  games, and a lively marketplace.

Learn Chinese folk dances, create delicate artworks, and share in cultural traditions covering 5,000 years of Chinese history.  This year’s festival presents:

• Sunshine Modeling & Arts Studio;
• Nortwest Wushu and Seattle Wushu Center;
• Seattle Chinese Chorus and Seattle Kids Chorus;
• Seattle Chinese Orchestra;
• CHIME band;
• Entertainment by the following academies and schools:  Zhenlum Cello Studio;
• Hengda Dance Academy, Chinese Dance Academy, Chinese Wushu and Tai Chi Academy, Wudang International Martial Arts Academy, Northwest Chinese School, Melody Institute Chinese Children’s Dance.

Seattle Center Festál, a series of 22 celebrations presented by community organizations with support from Seattle Center, considers themes of importance to ethnic cultures in our region, revealing their common forms of tradition and expression, while highlighting their unique contributions to the Pacific Northwest and the world.

A Glimpse of China – Chinese Culture and Arts Festival is produced in partnership with Washington Chinese Art Culture Committee. For more information on the festival, click on www.seattlecenter.com or call 206 684-7200 to learn more about Seattle Center Festál and other outstanding public programming offered at Seattle Center.

About Seattle Center Festál

Seattle Center Festál 2013 presents a series of 22 world festivals on weekends throughout the year highlighting the distinct cultures and common threads of ethnic communities in our region through traditional and contemporary art, music, foods, youth activities, workshops and more. This collection of cultural events is produced with the generous support of Coca-Cola, The Boeing Company, T-Mobile, Wells Fargo, Real Networks, and KUOW 94.9 Public Radio. Additional support is provided by 4Culture, Washington State Arts Commission and the City of Seattle.

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Photo courtesy of Mish Mish

WHAT IS A ZEFFA?

This year, for the first time ever, those of you who attend  Folklife  will get to see a recreation of a Zeffa, the traditional procession that is a part of wedding celebrations held in many Arab countries.

Accompanied by musicians, dancers, family and friends, the bride and groom are led through the streets of the village to a big tent were the festivities take place after the formal ceremony. In Egypt the wedding procession is led by a dancer with a huge candelabra or shamadan balanced on her head. Many families go into debt hosting huge parties that last until the wee hours of the night with a lavish spread of food and continuous entertainment.

The Zeffa opens the Middle East, North African and Central Asian show, which takes place at the Exhibition Hall on Sunday, May 26th from 7 to 10pm. The line-up includes many folkloric dances from obscure parts of the world rarely seen on stage. Mystic Rose specializes in Afghan and Azeri dance, Karoun will take you to Badakashan and Karavans to a Kurdish village. The show also features many first- time performers: Nazaneen who  will be dancing Malaya Lefff, a saucy Egyptian street dance, Alfredo who will present a dance from the Caucasus region and Robyn Friend a nationally-known artist famous for her classical Persian dance.

Similar events you might want to attend on Saturday are the Persian showcase from 11:30am to 2pm and the Arab showcase from 3 to 6pm.

Photo courtesy of Mish Mish

If you are interested learning more about Arabic and Persian dance,  check out Mish Mish’s workshop on Monday at 2pm in the Rainier room.

Mish Mish is a well-known teacher and performer in the Puget Sound area. This is the 38th year in a row that she has appeared with a group at Folklife. She spent years belly dancing in Greek and Arab nightclubs and traveled to Egypt, Morocco Iran, Turkey and Central Asia to study the culture of these countries. Mish Mish is the director of Karavans, a dance troupe who will be appearing at the Persian Festival the last Saturday in June and the Arab Festival, the second weekend of October sponsored by Festal at the Seattle Center.

The post What to See at Folklife #412: The Arab Tradition of Zeffa appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

Photo courtesy Tagoipah Mathno

What is a great way to meet new people and have fun? Throw a dance party! World Dance Party (WDP) was created for neighbors to interact and to celebrate diversity and culture over a potluck. Meant for everyone of all backgrounds and ages to come together. Several multicultural dances are being taught by volunteer community members, who might just be your neighbor! That’s it no other agenda. No fundraising. No Lectures. Just food and dancing and community. What could be better?

The idea for WDP surfaced at an Aging Your Way Gathering hosted by the Senior Services, and organization in Seattle. The event brought up the question of someone’s ideal community that they would like to grow old in. A response came up to have a huge multicultural dance party with everyone and with food of course. Thus WDP was born! We now have several events a year with about 250 people attending, sometimes more. Started off in the most diverse zip code in the nation 98118 in Rainer Valley now spreading to other neighborhoods like South Park and Shoreline.

Photo courtesy Tagoipah Mathno

If you want to see what the whole world would look like in one room come check us out at Northwest Folklife on May 25 from 1-3pm in the Armory.We will be teaching:

• Hip Hop
• Flamenco
• Hora
• Belly Dancing
• Sliders
• West African

Don’t worry — the dance instructions are meant for beginners. WDP holds very basic principles that everyone has fun, contributes and is accepted. Help us make this a great event by adding your presence by hitting the dance floor with a new friend!

WDP is collaborated effort by individuals and community based organizations. Our website is: http://worlddancepartyseattle.org/.  Check out our photos from past WDP events on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/worlddanceparty

Photo courtesy Tagoipah Mathno

The post Show Up! Get Down! appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

Photo by Susan Slapin

From performing in Europe amongst musicians, jugglers, comedians, one-man bands, mimes, and contortionists, to traveling the circus like Renaissance Fair circuit, to recording and co-producing with Billy Oskay (founding member of the Windham Hill recording and touring ensemble Nightnoise and producer of many Windham Hill, Narada and Green Linnet recording projects), Carolyn Cruso has led a musically adventurous life. She has traveled the world moving audiences with her expressive voice, flute, guitar and hammered dulcimer talents.

This multi-instrumentalist moves gracefully between the various instruments she plays, taking you on a magical journey of storytelling, instrumental music and lyrical song. “With her sensational talent, variety of musical styles and instruments, and fascinating anecdotes, she gave the audience an unforgettable evening of wonderful music,” says Jerene Weitman, from the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, NY.  Her show is a combination of instrumental and singer/songwriter pieces, drawing material from most  of her eight albums including her most recent singer/songwriter release “Have You Ever,” which features fourteen songs spanning folk, pop, jazz and alt. country styles. Carolyn tours both regionally and nationally.  She’s shared stages with and opened for a variety of artists such as Peter Mayer, Tom May, Pierce Pettis, Jim Page, and Randal Bays.

Photo by Susan Slapin

A master of the hammered dulcimer, Carolyn is an innovator.  She pushes the boundaries of the traditional approach while honoring the original spirit. Her style is improvisational, lyrical and percussive.  She uses effects like bending notes and playing two notes with one hammer. She incorporates the independent hand technique of percussionists as well. “Through her hands the instrument became a living organism of beauty” says Charlie Vervalin of the Black Rose Acoustic Society.  Her lyrics, spanning from poetic to narrative, explore love, loss and regeneration.  She masterfully lays these over an intricate finger picking guitar style and open tunings, which allow her to find the rich voicing in the chords she hears. The Eugene weekly calls her music, “Intricate musical poetry…fine guitar work.”  Cruso’s show like her music is timeless and transportive in nature.  At present she is working on a Retrospective recording of the early years (1989-1995).

See Carolyn Cruso at the Northwest Folklife Festival on Sunday, May 26 at the Folklife Cafe stage at 12:55. 

www.carolyncruso.com

“Boundless highlights both Carolyn’s fluid playing style and the broad knowledge of Celtic music she brings to her compositions.  A gorgeous listen throughout!”
~Sing Out! Magazine

 “For the adventurous listener…Cruso’s voice has the ability to go from folk to jazz to late night and sultry blues without advertising the change…a lot more going on here than folk…a very fluid album”
~Frank Gutch, Folk Acoustic Music Exchange

The post Take a Musical Adventure with Carolyn Cruso appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

The David Guilbault Band plays original music about life, love and loss – songs that live in the truth.  The music fits nicely in the Americana / Folk Rock / Alt Country genres.  Seattle audiences have been entertained by the thoughtful, honest-to-goodness, nitty-gritty tunes.

David spent his first career as a network news producer, telling stories for ABC News, CNN, PBS and MSNBC.com.  Now he tells his tales through his songwriting.

David fronts the band on vocal and rhythm guitar.  He is backed by Marc Laurick on bass and Colin J Nelson on drums.  For their performance on the Fountain Lawn Stage at 12:30 pm on Friday, May 24th, they’ll be joined by local guitar god Jason Goessl on lead guitar.  This is a performance not to be missed.

The guys in the band can be found playing independently all over Seattle.  Jason Goessl plays western swing in The Pornadoes and jazz in the Jason Goessl Quartet and Trimtab.  Colin J Nelson performs as a singer-songwriter and as a member of The Foghorns and Caleb & Walter.  He also accompanies Marc Laurick in the soul band Brother James and the Soul-Vation and the surf band The Evanstones.  Marc, former member of the yeah clementines and Bunnydrums, now plays his original music in the Marc Laurick Trio.

You can find some recorded music from all four members on the China Sea Recordings Concern website  (http://chinasearecordings.bandcamp.com/).  David’s music can also be found on Bandcamp (http://davidguilbault.bandcamp.com/).  He invites you to become a fan and join his mailing list on Reverbnation (http://www.reverbnation.com/davidguilbault).

Truth needs to be told.  Come hear the David Guilbault Band tell their tales at the Northwest Folklife Festival.

The post Living in the Truth: The David Guilbault Band appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

Maurice Rouman; photo courtesy Su Nelson.

Across the Arab nations, some of the most captivating and frequently shared songs and stories are those of unfulfilled love.  You can hear the rich and yearning chords calling out from the stringed oud or the woodwind nay, or coming from the vocals of the adored and recently departed singer, Warda. Here in the Northwest, bands such as House of Tarab play many of the same beautiful classic pieces that were featured in the golden era of Egyptian film.

This year the Arab show at Folklife will feature music that captures this sentiment and many other iconic sounds and aesthetics from North Africa to the Gulf. Along with House of Tarab’s Egyptian classics, you will also get a taste of French- Arab compositions as played by Fathia and Les Troubadours. A duo featuring the master musician, Maurice Rouman, will showcase the exquisite artistry of Arab music and maqam when in the hands of a virtuoso.

Fathia Atallah; photo courtesy Su Nelson

Finally, it’s not an Arab show without a selection of exciting folk dances! Shahrazad will perform Khaliji, a dance that is rich in both swinging and subtle gestures. In Khaliji, women dance in large, decorated jeweled thobes that, amongst other things, allow them to show off a little bling.

The show will feature two different countries’ versions of a massively popular line dance, known as the Dabke. Dabke is danced by people of all ages and genders, and is the national dance of many Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and Syria. There are about infinity versions of the Dabke, but some of the unifying traits include stomping footwork, people joined closely in a semi-circular line, and a leader who guides the group, sometimes jumping away to perform an impressive extra step or two. This year the young men of the Jafra Dabke team will present an energetic Palestinian version of the dance. A young group of girls will also perform a Lebanese version, highlighting a light and rhythmic variation.

Catch Dabke, Khaliji, and the sounds of Egyptian and Franco-Arabic compositions at the Arab show on Saturday, May 25^th in the Exhibition Hall, 3-6pm.

Shahrazad; photo courtesy of Su Nelson.

Photo courtesy of Su Nelson

The post What to See at Folklife #362: Vintage Arab Song & Dance appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

With so much excitement building around the Festival this May 24-27, you might forget that Northwest Folklife is a year-round organization, and we are also working on other projects and events! Mark your calendars for the 3rd Saturday of every month (starting May 18), when we’ll be partnering with the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue to put on dances for all ages and abilities! Read more here and RSVP at our Facebook event page.

Once a month Folklife comes to the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue to host an open evening of music, dance, and merriment! Experience different types of folk music, learn a few dances steps, then spend the evening dancing with your family and friends! All ages and abilities are welcome. 

Every third Saturday from May to October, 7-9pm

Upcoming events:

May 18th: Square Dance
Partner dancing for all ages!

June 15th: Family Dance
Fun dances and sing-a-longs geared toward children and families

July 20th: International Dance
Tastes of various folk dances from around the world

The post Cultural Dance Series at the Crossroads Mall appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

You all really know how to GiveBIG! You beat the goal!

Your gifts will help Northwest Folklife continue to bring people together to celebrate the diverse and amazing cultural traditions of our region.

Thank you also to the anonymous donor who put forth the $15,000 matching challenge and all of The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG sponsors who will stretch your gifts even further.

We look forward to celebrating our incredible community next weekend at the 42nd annual Northwest Folklife Festival!

The post Thank You for GivingBIG! We Exceeded Our Goal! appeared first on Northwest Folklife.

Visit our Seattle Foundation Profile Page now and click Donate Now, to GiveBIG to Northwest Folklife!

From midnight to midnight today only, every donation made to Northwest Folklife via our Seattle Foundation Profile Page will be stretched further thanks to by the Seattle Foundation and GiveBIG sponsors, who will match a share of every contribution!

In addition to The Seattle Foundation Stretch Pool, an anonymous donor has provided us with a challenge grant offering a 1:1 match up to $15,000! This donor will match, dollar for dollar, every dollar we raise up to $15,000 through GiveBIG. Help us meet this challenge – Click Here to Give Now!

Donors like you contributed over $11,000 to Northwest Folklife during the last GiveBIG event. Help us meet the challenge and beat our goal of $15,000 this year!

Any gift you make during GiveBIG will count toward your 2013 Friend of Folklife Benefits and can be redeemed at the Festival!

Thank you for your support of Northwest Folklife!

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