GRANTS FOR MUSICIANS AND DANCE PRESENTATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS
by Marie McKinney: NEC Alum and Acting Instructor NEC
Ever wish you didn't have to explain your identity so much?
As artists of color, whether African, Asian, Latin, European...there is so much knowledge that gives our cultures definition. (If we are considering ourselves as white or black, does this negate the color that we are?(Ethiopian, French, or Chinese?)) Knowledge which, if we are blessed, we find as adults. It's not mainstream knowledge, taught in schools. To seek out every bit of history and culture would be a lifetime feat! In teams and on blogs we can discover much with each other. Please write your comments!
How often have you done a piece and had to spend several pages explaining the information you are basing you art on?
If they say a character is like Mr. ROGERS, you know exactly what they are talking about.
How many historical references do we have that are as accessible to everyone as George Washington and Clare Barton?
Let's start a movement to let everyone know the our "mainstream" culture and history?
If Anansi were known by every child, words like, Jali or the french renamed them griot, Kora, Taino, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,Alexander Dumas, Alexander Puskin....
if every child had the knowledge that the book: The 3 Musketeers was written by an "Afro-cousin" in France, would their "play" be different? Would they swash-buckle in the backyard? Not to mention the Afro-Natives, so called Pirates of the Caribbean (some of my distance relatives, that's a long story) who searched the wreckages of ships of the coasts of Key West and the Bahamas.
Knowledge of The Dark lady of Shakespeare's sonnets, could change the types of roles we are cast in. Sonnet 127 begins:
"In the old age black was not counted fair, or if it were it bore not beauty's name."
The mixed marriage of Robert Browning (Afro-English) and Emily Bronte(European), which inspired the words:
"How do I love thee, let me count the ways"
Let's add the Black Madonna, which shows up all over Europe in statue form.
Black Theater, African American Arts have a long, illustrious history in the U.S and the world. Jazz, Gospel, Blues, Tap dance, Horton, Hip Hop, Stepping, are distinctly Black American inventions of the last century, not to mention all the cultural inventions created by African and Native American collaboration before Columbus and the Colonists arrived in the Americas, like the sacred ball playing courts in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic and the parade culture and pageantry of the Bahamas, Trinidad and Brazil; the Afro-Indian Settlements in the Amazon, which migrated there with peoples from Peru and Brazil.
National Black Theatre Festival
There is so much information...and Yes there was a black queen of England, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III during the American Revolution....Here are more references to google..See how many you already know:
Write your responses to this blog!!! What are your questions? What are your discoveries?
Suggested Topics for further discovery and research:
Jali (in fr. griot): African Oral Historian, Shakespeare and the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, Sonnet 127 and other black poems by Shakespeare, Pageantry in Brazil, Trinidad, Bahamas,New Orleans, carnivale, Bahia, stoicism in African religion, Islam vs Muslim, Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit, Native American and African storytelling, Orisha, Pantheon, Mythology, Haiti: vodun and spiritual mounting and trance in Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil, Spiritualism in the Caribbean,
The Holy Ghost in Apostolic and Pentecostal Churches in the Northern and Southern parts of US, blues as it relates to African and Native cultures, Cherokee stomp dances and Iroquois Smoke dances and how the cultures are related,
Bill T Jones, Lori Carlos, Cultural Odyessy and Rhodessa Jones contemporary dance and theatre, Carl Hancock Rux performance poetry, Nuyorican Poet's Cafe, African Dance and song and Forces of Nature, Jazz Cafes in Harlem and University of the Streets 7th St and A,Open Mike Nights,
Sis. Omelika Kuumba,
Co-founder, Director
GIWAYEN MATA, Inc.
Celebrating 15 Years of Drumming and Dancing While Daring to Do It Differently
404-766-4001
Improv and sketch Comedy Upright Citizens Brigade, Gotham City, Stand Up Comedy, The Globe Theatre-Playwrights of the Middle Passage and early America,Creole and Patois-varied combination of African syntax and European lexicon, or words. Junkanoo in the Bahamas.......more to come.
Let us know what your research found..try the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The National Museum of the American Indian, Research Center at Foxwoods(CT), Harlem Churches, Temples and Mosques, Symphony Space's World Music Institute, Lotus Dance School...
Send us an account of your research to post on this blog....
THE NEC CLASSIC PLAYREADING SERIES
Hosted by OBIE Award winner and Tony-nominated playwright, LESLIE LEE.
THE NEC CLASSIC PLAYREADING SERIES is a series that will reach back into NEC’s past and bring forth from its archives the timeless, memorable plays of some of the most venerated and successful playwrights of modern age, among them: Douglas Turner Ward, Charles Fuller, Samm Art-Williams, Joseph Walker, Leslie Lee, Steve Carter, Derek Walcott, Gus Edwards, Paul Carter Harrison, and Lonne Elder, III.
After an exciting inaugural with the presentation
of EDEN by STEVE CARTER,
WHICH WAS A SOLD-OUT PERFORMANCE
Our Classic Play Reading Series will continue with the award-winning play,
SAMM-ART WIILLIAMS joined the Negro Ensemble Company as an actor in 1973, making formidable appearances in such plays as Leslie Lee’s First Breeze of Summer, Charles Fuller’s Brownsville Raid, and Steve Carter’s Eden and Nevis Mountain Dew. As a playwright, the NEC has produced his Love Play, Welcome to Black River, Eyes of the American, The Waiting Room, and Home, which played on Broadway and received a Tony Nomination for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Drama Desk Award. On television, he wrote for and edited The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, starring Will Smith, and Frank’s Place.
CLINTON TURNER DAVIS is a leading director, dramaturge and arts consultant on the American theater scene. His work has been seen throughout the country, including the New Federal Theater, New Dramatists, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Trinity Repertory Theater, Arena Stage, the Actors Theater of Louisville, and the Negro Ensemble Company. He is the recipient of a 1997 Pew Fellowship, 2 Audelco Awards, and Critic Awards in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas. He has taught at New York University, Dartmouth College, Yale University, Howard University, and Ohio State University.
JOIN US AT THE HARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, 645 ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE (BETWEEN 141ST AND 145TH STREETS), NYC. SEATING IS ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE BASIS. DONATIONS SUGGESTED. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT NEC AT (212) 582-5860.
FUTURE READINGS OF THE NEC CLASSIC PLAY SERIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
TUESDAY, MAY 13, CEREMONIES IN DARK OLD MEN, by LONNE ELDER, III Directed by Seret Scott
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, STY OF THE BLIND PIG, by PHILLIP DEAN HAYES Directed by Woodie King, Jr.
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| | The Spanish-Language Translation of Our Best-Selling Guide
In the fifth edition of The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing, author Jane C. Geever provides detailed instructions on preparing successful grant proposals. Incorporating the results of 40 interviews with grantmakers across the U.S, the Guide reveals their priorities in reviewing proposals and provides insight into what makes one stand out above the others. The new 5th Edition includes: - pre-proposal planning tips
- actual cover letters, project descriptions, and budgets
- a complete model proposal
An All-New Appendix to the Guide
Special resources for Spanish-dominant grantseekers include a list of Foundation Center libraries and Cooperating Collections where Spanish is spoken and translated materials are available for use on-location or through library loan. About the Author
Jane C. Geever is a nationally recognized author and lecturer who has created successful proposals to foundations for more than 35 years. ISBN 978-1-59542-158-6 | 295 pages
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3) Hacia Afuera Public Art Festival: Save the date! The Public Art Festival will be taking place on May 17, 18. If you're interested in submitting a proposal, there's still time! Please write info@artforchange.org for the full request, or if you want to volunteer in organizing it beforehand or as it unfolds. Hacia Afuera is to be used as a way to bring together artists and community members to reclaim the public spaces available in East Harlem-El Barrio. All interventions (from theater to video) are welcome.
4) Mural Project: The Center for Immigrant Families, Esperanza del Barrio and Art for Change are joining forces to create a community mural! The three groups will be working together to develop a concept that reflects some of the issues that are in the forefront of the work we all do in the community. We will be working on it starting the first weekend of May. We hope the whole community can join us in painting it. Stay tuned for more details...
5) Poster-Making for May First: We started the tradition since May 2006 and we're sticking to it. In preparation for the annual rally and march for Immigrant Rights at Union Square on May First (Thursday, May 1st at 12p gathering and at 4p march)
6) The Art for Change Short Video Premiere: Yeah, that's right! After six of our members learned the ins-and-outs of video production (thank you, MNN!), we have a short video to show. The video (soon to be titled), gives the history of Art for Change through the voice of its members. You don't want to miss this one. Friday, May 2 at 7p. Pop corn will be served.
GRANTS FOR MUSICIANS AND DANCE PRESENTATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS
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