Thursday, March 23, 2006
Dance for Peace Festival '06
The pictures above belong to Ollin's first Dance for Peace Festival, which took place on July 31st, 2005 at Union Square Park. Pictures were taken by Cristian Peña. If you would like to learn more about the Dance for Peace Festival '05, please read the article below: "A Dance Against the Occupation."
Art Circles
Monthly gatherings that offer a space for artists as well as people who do not necessarily see themselves as artists to gather to express themselves creatively and create communally. Hosted by Ollin members, or by community members who join the Circles, these are characterized by being warm, family oriented spaces in where healthy home-made food and a social justice theme are always present. Ollin's Art Circles are also a space for people to heal. Being aware that art in the traditional form is a privilege for those who have money and time to dedicate to it, and that creativity escapes our souls as we grow and become more immersed in the oppressive institutions and experiences of this society, we've created a space for people to escape from these and gather to build, cry, laugh, hope, and dream creatively. Art Circles take place every second Saturday of the month. For more detailed information or to find out about this month's
Rafi's Anti-War Expressions: “A poetic rhythmic journey from Newyorico to Borínquen”
As a response to the aggressive military recruitument of youth of color
Ollin Imagination presents: RAFI'S ANTI-WAR EXPRESSIONS
About the Performance
Rafi’s Anti-War Expressions/Workshop was created as a response to the aggressive military recruitment of youth of color. Part one of Rafi's Anti-War Expressions is a Nuyorican response to the war communicated through spoken word, theater and music. The artist, Rafael Landrón, delves into the life of a Nuyorican veteran who shows his perspective on everything from cuchifritos to mango trees. Rafael also delves into the minds of a young mother of color and an inner city young man, who find themselves searching for opportunities and a better future by joining the military.
About the Workshop
Part two of the Expressions is devoted to a 90 minute interactive and experiential workshop, that engages the students to feel, reflect and dialogue about the direct effects of the current war in their lives. The workshop culminates with the youth's creation of their own "expressions of resistance." Students are also supplied with fact sheets about the effects of the war, on the military myths, and on how they can contribute to the anti-war movement.
About the Artist
Rafael Landrón, is a Nuyorican artist, writer, and educator native of Queens, NY, who has performed in numerous venues including the Bowery Poetry Café, Nuyorican Poets Café, Carlito’s Café, Teatro la SEA, and many others. Deeply impacted by the start of the war in Iraq, Rafael felt powerless with the knowledge that thousands of innocent lives were going to be lost. He began to write what he calls “expressions of resistance to end the war.” Rafael hit the streets in front of the UN to recite his anti-war poetry prior to the beginning of the war. These pieces later developed into “Rafi’s Anti-war Expressions,” which premiered in June of 2005 at Teatro Los Kabayitos/SEA. Rafael hopes that his artistic anti-war expressions stimulate dialogue, inspires others to use their creativity to end this war, and most importantly, that it raises consciousness about the aggressive military recruitment of Latinos and other people of color into the military.
About the Workshop Facilitators
Tania Romero, born in New York City, but raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has dedicated more than eight years to working with children and youth. She is a graduate from Hunter College School of Social Work, in where she majored in Community Organizing and Plannning. She is also a mother, poet, dancer, activist, educator, and high school college counselor. She has spent the last four years practicing and learning about popular education. Through this work, she has been incorporating social justice and activism into education. She is founding member of Ollin Imagination, and participant of the Mexica dance group, Cetiliztli Nauhcampa Quetzalcoaltl in Ixachitlan.
Luz Schreiber was born in New York City and raised in Mexico. Her passions include: poetry, cooking, laughing hard and dancing with her three year old daughter. She is currently a member of Atl Tlachinolli, a Mexica dance group and also teaches first graders Mexica dance in an after school program in Spanish Harlem. Luz has an interest in all dance forms. She is an organizer for Ollin's annual Dance for Peace Festival that takes place in the summer, and is also founding member of Ollin Imagination.
To bring Rafi's Anti-War Expressions to your community, school or organization e-mail: ollinimagination@yahoo.com
A Dance Against the Occupation
Written by Luz Schreiber and Zach Arcidiacono
While the major antiwar organizations prepare for mass demonstrations in the fall, a group of dancers, poets, singers and other cultural performers gathered in the north plaza of Union Square Park on Sunday July 31 to protest the occupation of Iraq. Billed as a dance for peace, it was organized by Ollin Imagination, an activist group whose goal is to spread cultural circles in which art and politics are naturally intertwined and create a culture of resistance.
Cetilitzli Nauhcampa, an Aztec dance group, opened the event with a spectacular series of dances. The festival went on with Indian dance solos performed by Tatiana Rodrigues. Ellen Xiao Feng Guidone performed an Indonesian dance solo called “Golek Ayun-Ayun.” It is a western Javanese dance about the process of getting ready to face a day. Ellen is also a member of Organizing Asian Communities (CAAAV).
Rap artists Koba from the group Kontrast and Derone brought hip-hop with a social conscience, in two charged performances, casting a spotlight on the marginalization and repression of youth, and striking a note of defiance and resistance. Earthdriver bassist Jeremiah’s lyrics of love, with melancholic undertones, allowed for a moment of reflection.
Nuyorican poet Rafael Landron updates the famous ‘60s slogan “No Vietnamese ever called me nigger” with his powerful piece “No Iraqi ever called me spic,” a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy and racism of the United States. Lenina Nadal captures the privileged and the dispossessed’s perceptions of our increasingly polarized world in a poem that illuminates the hopes, dreams, anxieties and fears of the have-nots, while exposing the ultimate hollowness of privilege.
Chicana poet Erika de LaRosa, from the Mahina Movement, speaks with pain and pride about growing up in two worlds, the alienation and dual consciousness created when “the border crossed us.” Many Americans do not realize that just as US Marines occupy Baghdad and Kabul today, they once occupied Mexico City, annexing half of Mexico at gunpoint.
The event culminated in dozens of attendees participating in a vibrant, communal Afro-Puerto Rican ‘bomba’ dance with Los Bomberos de Brooklyn. Both young and old gathered and shared a moment of solidarity and celebration. “It was liberating to make an antiwar statement without being militant and combative ourselves,” said event organizer Timothy Rodrigues. “Dance is a fun, universal act that folks can enjoy together.”
The dance festival was an outcry against the war being carried out at home as well as abroad. Immigrants and people of color are being racially profiled, detained and disappeared everyday as our civil liberties are eroded. Working-class and people of color communities are being aggressively targeted for military recruitment. Monami Maulik’s (Desis Rising Up and Moving) chilling description of the arrests and deportations impacting the South Asian community, as family members disappear into a judicial netherworld, contrasted sharply with the prosaic routines of the shoppers and pedestrians relaxing in Union Square. Her words were a welcome wakeup call to the public. The Bush regime may well broaden the scope of repression, as has already begun with the detention of American citizen Jose Padilla, if dissent against their policies becomes more vocal and militant.
The dance festival denounced the crime of occupation in Iraq and in all occupied territories on the world. It was a dance for the democratic rights of self-determination, sovereignty and the right of resistance.
“War is due to the failure of human imagination. The festival tried to imagine the defeat of the culture of war and violence, thereby creating a culture of peace and community.” John Kim said, a member of Soul Survivors, who co-sponsored the event.
People passing by would stop to watch the performers, but also to dance and raise their voice for peace. The crowd shuffled with each performance, drawing approximately 300 over the course of the day. Shirley Lin, a member of New Immigrant Community Empowerment spoke of the symbolic importance of having this dance for peace in Union Square. “In the aftermath of 9/11 Union Square became a cutoff point where New Yorkers immediately started gathering. It became a place for debate as well as a space for remembrance.”
The powerful and hopeful message of the event elicited a warm and energetic response. “A movement of resistance that is based in creativity and love is the biggest threat to the war culture, because it generates a meaningful alternative.” Amy Hamilton said, a member of MAMA (Mother’s Alliance for Militant Action). Those in attendance were charged with positive action and glad to see that we have the power and ability to create beauty and imagine ways to relate to each other with respect and build a strong community. You can contact Ollin Imagination at: ollinimagination@yahoo.com.
While the major antiwar organizations prepare for mass demonstrations in the fall, a group of dancers, poets, singers and other cultural performers gathered in the north plaza of Union Square Park on Sunday July 31 to protest the occupation of Iraq. Billed as a dance for peace, it was organized by Ollin Imagination, an activist group whose goal is to spread cultural circles in which art and politics are naturally intertwined and create a culture of resistance.
Cetilitzli Nauhcampa, an Aztec dance group, opened the event with a spectacular series of dances. The festival went on with Indian dance solos performed by Tatiana Rodrigues. Ellen Xiao Feng Guidone performed an Indonesian dance solo called “Golek Ayun-Ayun.” It is a western Javanese dance about the process of getting ready to face a day. Ellen is also a member of Organizing Asian Communities (CAAAV).
Rap artists Koba from the group Kontrast and Derone brought hip-hop with a social conscience, in two charged performances, casting a spotlight on the marginalization and repression of youth, and striking a note of defiance and resistance. Earthdriver bassist Jeremiah’s lyrics of love, with melancholic undertones, allowed for a moment of reflection.
Nuyorican poet Rafael Landron updates the famous ‘60s slogan “No Vietnamese ever called me nigger” with his powerful piece “No Iraqi ever called me spic,” a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy and racism of the United States. Lenina Nadal captures the privileged and the dispossessed’s perceptions of our increasingly polarized world in a poem that illuminates the hopes, dreams, anxieties and fears of the have-nots, while exposing the ultimate hollowness of privilege.
Chicana poet Erika de LaRosa, from the Mahina Movement, speaks with pain and pride about growing up in two worlds, the alienation and dual consciousness created when “the border crossed us.” Many Americans do not realize that just as US Marines occupy Baghdad and Kabul today, they once occupied Mexico City, annexing half of Mexico at gunpoint.
The event culminated in dozens of attendees participating in a vibrant, communal Afro-Puerto Rican ‘bomba’ dance with Los Bomberos de Brooklyn. Both young and old gathered and shared a moment of solidarity and celebration. “It was liberating to make an antiwar statement without being militant and combative ourselves,” said event organizer Timothy Rodrigues. “Dance is a fun, universal act that folks can enjoy together.”
The dance festival was an outcry against the war being carried out at home as well as abroad. Immigrants and people of color are being racially profiled, detained and disappeared everyday as our civil liberties are eroded. Working-class and people of color communities are being aggressively targeted for military recruitment. Monami Maulik’s (Desis Rising Up and Moving) chilling description of the arrests and deportations impacting the South Asian community, as family members disappear into a judicial netherworld, contrasted sharply with the prosaic routines of the shoppers and pedestrians relaxing in Union Square. Her words were a welcome wakeup call to the public. The Bush regime may well broaden the scope of repression, as has already begun with the detention of American citizen Jose Padilla, if dissent against their policies becomes more vocal and militant.
The dance festival denounced the crime of occupation in Iraq and in all occupied territories on the world. It was a dance for the democratic rights of self-determination, sovereignty and the right of resistance.
“War is due to the failure of human imagination. The festival tried to imagine the defeat of the culture of war and violence, thereby creating a culture of peace and community.” John Kim said, a member of Soul Survivors, who co-sponsored the event.
People passing by would stop to watch the performers, but also to dance and raise their voice for peace. The crowd shuffled with each performance, drawing approximately 300 over the course of the day. Shirley Lin, a member of New Immigrant Community Empowerment spoke of the symbolic importance of having this dance for peace in Union Square. “In the aftermath of 9/11 Union Square became a cutoff point where New Yorkers immediately started gathering. It became a place for debate as well as a space for remembrance.”
The powerful and hopeful message of the event elicited a warm and energetic response. “A movement of resistance that is based in creativity and love is the biggest threat to the war culture, because it generates a meaningful alternative.” Amy Hamilton said, a member of MAMA (Mother’s Alliance for Militant Action). Those in attendance were charged with positive action and glad to see that we have the power and ability to create beauty and imagine ways to relate to each other with respect and build a strong community. You can contact Ollin Imagination at: ollinimagination@yahoo.com.
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