" It's an honor to be invited, by friends who I admire so much : Olga Barrios and Norma Araiza , who graced Dancing Earth with an epic duet for our 20th anniversary celebration performance.
Their festival centers Latinx artists, but also welcomes cross cultural guests - this year for an intergenerational theme.
To prepare a solo alongside many magnificent artists, makes me consider the question of what constitutes Latin identity . Is about the invading force of Spain ? If so , territories that were known since 1500s as New Spain until 1800s included places where I live ( NewMexico), where my mother’s family lives ( California), where her parents are from ( Luzon Island, part of the archipelago known since Spanish invasion as Philippines)., as well as Flordia, most of Western US, Central and South America , and Mexico …
The galleons transoceanic crossings brought trade items, gold , slaves, words - between Mexico and Philippines, leading to deep interweavings of food, design, families .. We dont have to define based on colonization, but from our points of diversity we can choose to can reclaim unity and kinship , from shared history of resilience “
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MUSIC GRACIOUSLY GIFTED BY
“ Forever Forward in Search of the Beautiful “ compositions by Leilehua Lanzilotti as performed by Argus Quartet, Brian Horton , and Leilehua, album available at https://leilehua.bandcamp.com/album/forever-forward-in-search-of-the-beautiful
and “Atmospheric Tremblings “ by Barrett Martin - Grammy-winning producer and percussionist, Barrett Martin, presents his 11th studio album, “Atmospheric Tremblings" : working directly with astrophysicists and astronomers to create music based on star formations and extragalactic structures in deep space. These 15 ambient compositions are inspired by “star melodies “ sketches from formations of stars seen through the Condor Deep Space Telescope in southern New Mexico. Compositions include piano, upright bass, kalimbas, gamelans, and an unusual, bowed vibraphone technique. Grammy-winning producer and percussionist, Barrett Martin, presents his 11th studio album, “Atmospheric Tremblings" : working directly with astrophysicists and astronomers to create music based on star formations and extragalactic structures in deep space. These 15 ambient compositions are inspired by “star melodies “ sketches from formations of stars seen through the Condor Deep Space Telescope in southern New Mexico. Compositions include piano, upright bass, kalimbas, gamelans, and an unusual, bowed vibraphone technique. Album available at https://soundcloud.com/barrettmartingroup/sets/atmospheric-tremblings-music
More about the choreography, below ….
MUSInce.. "
M
Title
… asul a dula …
( kampampangan language for Blue pathways /waterways )
an embodied exploration - the intuitive, ancient and continual memory of bones of the flow of “ en-tranc-ing trans-oceanic” ….
in emergent process - in early revealing of submerged stories/mythologies within pathways of Spanish galleons between Iberian peninsula, Mexico, and Manila and subsequent cross-cultural hybridization.
body in multi sensory present
to traverse between
migrations of the physical realm ,
mapping of energetic realm,
mytho-poetic of the imaginatory realm…
a humble offering,
intention to plant seeds to empower ancestral and futuristic being-ness for all those who uphold the “mixed-icism” of a mosaic of identity…
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..asul a dula ... blue pathways …
dedicated to
anakbanwa the ancient ones of the sun ,
kampampangan the beings by the river,
pangasinan the ones of the saltmaking …
for all migratory beings-
past present and future ,
moving to flee oppression , or by force , or for freedom …
…
and all those planted by waters, and connected by waters
adorned with a mantilla de manila - the place where indigo grows …
the golden skinned people , attacked and exploited for the gold beneath the ground , by those who didn't know that the true gold was within each precious human .. and the beautiful creations of gintu gold were used as highest possible value : for art , healing amulets , protection , conduit for spirits ..
winds upon water guided by star trade routes became enslaved routes..
hit hard by crossroads ; merging and resisting , migrating and forgetting, healing and morphing, recovering and reimagining as strategies of resilience … always rooted in
kapwa of compassion
and routing towards kinship with all of life …
.
