Storytelling

https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/EMPOWERMENT-MAXINE-BELLA-to-be-Presented-at-The-Lankershim-Arts-Center-20240405Los Angeles, CA — The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Performing Arts Division’s (PERF) EMPOWERMENT project returns for its second year. Honoring women artists and activists who have impacted and redefined the human experience, EMPOWERMENT is a festival-style weekend of performances, social action, creative workshops, and documentary screenings. In 2024, EMPOWERMENT will honor the work of two National Medal of the Arts winners: Maxine Hong Kingston, a American born Chinese writer and educator and Bella Lewitzky, an American choreographer and lifelong advocate for artistic freedom in dance.

The EMPOWERMENT: Maxine + Bella celebration will include three days of arts activities at DCA’s Lankershim Arts Center, located in the heart of the NoHo Arts District at: 5108 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601. All festival events are free and open to the public, but due to limited space, reservations are highly recommended via Brown Paper Tickets. For more information, please call: 213.270.8200.

An embodiment of DCA|PERF’s commitment to investing in hyperlocal creative communities and individual artists, the City has commissioned Bernard Brown, Mona Jean Cedar, Chris Emile, Caitlin Javech, Ibuki Kauramochi, Genna Moroni, Siwaraya Rochanahusdin, and Tracy Silver to perform dance and spoke word works that illuminate and reference the impact of Kingston and Lewitzky. Funded through DCA’s Lankershim Program Fund (LPF), the artists will ignite the stage with electrifying performances.

The Crazy Superhero Vacation is a production by Ms. Neate’s class at Vena Avenue Elementary. Animation and editing are by Pieter Hardeman of Toy Story Lab. Southland Sings is a creative organization using the arts to unlock creative potential through live opera, musical theatre production, education assemblies, and music composition for all ages.

Join us April 20th from 6PM – 9PM at Art Share L.A. for a cathartic night celebrating poetry in the Arts District! Five amazing poets will share their work on the Art Share L.A. stage accompanied by a live painter and live music between acts. Immediately following the curated poets, an open mic will be held for anyone who wants to join the affair and share their words!

Recent times have seen an increase in violence and hate crimes again Indian in the United States. Places of worship, statues of peace symbols (Mahatma Gandhi) have been vandalized and hate crimes have increased against Indian Americans and Hindus in particular. Let arts guide us toward healing emotional injuries, increase understanding of oneself and others, and develop a capacity for self-reflection. Let us use the calming power of traditional Indian performing arts to heal the scars of racial lacerations against Indian Americans. Join us for a dance presentation UNITY AND STRENGTH.

Multi-disciplinary arts education classes welcome youth, adults, and elders from the Norhteast San Fernando Valley to learn about themselves, their culture, and community through music, visual art, creative writing, and more. Classes are free- Donations are greatly appreciated!

Starting April 7 through June 8, 2024, Classes occur 1-2 times a week for 8-12 weeks. 

For schedule of class and registration please, click here! 

Please contact program coordinator Cecilia for more information at Cecilia@tiachucha.org .

To participate in our Spring Workshops the participant must be within the the class listed age range. Priority will be given to residents of the Northeast San Fernando Valley (Sylmar, San Fernando, Lake View Terrace, Pacoima, Arleta, Mission Hills, Granada Hills, North Hills, Van Nuys, Sun Valley, Sunland). Non Northeast San Fernando Valley residents are still welcome to apply, but may be put on the waitlist.

The Rogue Lab Rough Draft Series spotlights bite-sized readings and music from current plays-in-progress and pairs them with curated conversations and connections with artists and experts inspired by the work.

Rogue Artists Ensemble’s play-with-music Cowboy Elektra written by Ramona Pilar and Meghan Brown with Rogue, reimagines Greek tragedy through an early Californian lens, exploring revenge, cycles of trauma, and women’s experience in the “old west.” Set against the backdrop of 1869 Los Angeles, when the railroad was on the verge of reaching the west, Cowboy Elektra brings the Elektra story into the Palace Saloon as Nessie, Elektra, and the Hurdies grapple with the changing landscape of Los Angeles. Join us to hear a concert of new music from the play followed by a conversation with the artists, including songwriter Zachary Lupetin of The Dustbowl Revival.

Cowboy Elektra in Concert features singers Ariella Irula, Amir Levi, Sarah Kay Peters, Kalean Ung, and musicians Melinda West and more directed by Sean Cawelti. Music and lyrics by Zachary Lupetin. Tickets are free but donations are appreciated.

The Rogue Lab Rough Draft Series spotlights bite-sized readings and music from current plays-in-progress and pairs them with curated conversations and connections with artists and experts inspired by the work.

Rogue’s newest work in development, Far Worse Things, is a modern gothic horror story that follows two urban explorers (those who explore man-made ruins) on their last excursion documenting a forgotten, crumbling building in the middle of Hollywood — a building which begins to come to life around them. Join us to hear an excerpt from the play followed by the playwright Chelsea Sutton in conversation with experts in historical preservation, macabre histories, and the importance of the modern horror story.

The Rogue Lab Rough Draft Series spotlights bite-sized readings and music from current plays-in-progress and pairs them with curated conversations and connections with artists and experts inspired by the work.

Rogue Artists Ensemble’s play-with-music Cowboy Elektra written by Ramona Pilar and Meghan Brown with Rogue, reimagines Greek tragedy through an early Californian lens, exploring revenge, cycles of trauma, and women’s experience in the “old west.” Set against the backdrop of 1869 Los Angeles, when the railroad was on the verge of reaching the west, Cowboy Elektra brings the Elektra story into the Palace Saloon as Nessie, Elektra, and the Hurdies grapple with the changing landscape of Los Angeles. Join us to hear a concert of new music from the play followed by a conversation with the artists, including songwriter Zachary Lupetin of The Dustbowl Revival.

Cowboy Elektra in Concert features singers Ariella Irula, Amir Levi, Sarah Kay Peters, Kalean Ung, and musicians Melinda West and more directed by Sean Cawelti. Music and lyrics by Zachary Lupetin. Tickets are free but donations are appreciated.

Can a Football Stadium Be a Black History Museum?

Moderated by Khalil Kinsey, Curator, Kinsey African American Art & History Collection

In February 2022, SoFi Stadium marked two milestones. The first was hosting the Los Angeles Rams’ home-field victory in Super Bowl LVI. The second was opening an exhibition of the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection. En route to the bathroom or on a beer run, visitors to the stadium’s second level may find themselves taken off guard by letters from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, photographs of L.A.’s early-20th-century Black firefighters, formal portraits of 19th-century Black men and women, and works by major Black artists.

What does it mean to juxtapose this experience with watching professional football players—over 50% of whom are Black—go to battle on the turf below? What have the Kinseys chosen to display, and why at SoFi? And how are other people and organizations, in fields from fine art to poetry, using Black narratives to inform and enrich our understanding of history and contemporary life in unexpected ways?

A panel of artists and athletes visit Zócalo and Kinsey Collection at SoFi Stadium to discuss what one of the world’s largest private collections of Black art and historical objects is doing at one of the world’s grandest football stadiums, why it matters, and where similar efforts are scoring big.

6 PM: In-person audience members are invited for a last, best chance to join a guided tour of the Kinsey exhibition, which leaves SoFi at the end of March

7 PM: Conversation, in-person and online

8 PM: In-person audience members are invited to join us for a reception with a DJ and complimentary food and beverages

There are many stereotypes that Native Americans – living and dead – have had to contend with. One of the most pervasive in film, history, and wooden statues is the stoic, wise leader. He never smiles. He rarely speaks. He is always a he. So, for the 14th Annual Short Play Festival, Native Voices asked playwrights to dive into this image of the “Stoic Indian” and flip the stereotype on its head.