Translucent Borders: Cross-Cultural Collaborations
June 21 – July 6, 2018
June 21, 1:00 pm
Make Music New York: The World Comes to NYU
The Oak Grove Silver Towers, NYU
100 Bleecker Street (between La Guardia Place & Mercer Street)
Free and open to the public
On the first day of summer, the annual Make Music New York celebration came to NYU with music and dance from Cuba, West Africa, Ireland and Appalachia, featuring Oyu Oro, Mandara Music, and a hootenanny with In the Pines.
1:00-1:45 – Mandara Music Percussion and song with Valerie Naranjo and Barry Olsen, who performed music of West and southern Africa and the diaspora, and included original works on instruments from many countries.
1:45-2:30 – In the Pines Hootenany Toe-tapping traditional folk music of Ireland and Appalachia on guitar, fiddle, harmonica, and Jew’s harp celebrated the summer solstice with Leenya Rideout, Andy Teirstein and friends.
5:00-7:00 – Oyu Oro Afro Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble Repertoire that paid tribute to African cultural lineages derived from the Yoruba, Congo, Carabali, Arará, and Dahomean cultures of West Africa and Haiti. Audience members learned some Afro-Cuban dance moves as well. See more: Yamaha by Oyu Oro video
June 24-28
Jacob's Pillow, Inside/Out Performance
358 George Carter Rd, Becket, MA
Free and open to the public
This three-day residency at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival brought together for the first time global collaborators from Cuba, The Middle East, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and Italy.
The residency culminated in the debut presentation of intercultural works-in-progress with more than twenty musicians and dancers as part of the Inside/Out Performance Series.
Other activities were open to the public. Jacob's Pillow was selected as the site for this residency for both its retreat-like setting and its rich history as a force in the cultural exchange of dance.
June 28, 7:30 pm
Lincoln Center Atrium, NYC
Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets
Free and open to the public
Master musicians from Ghana, Cuba, Italy, The Middle East and the USA came together for a rare evening to explore synergies and confluences, against a backdrop of imagery from their home countries.
Oud player/violinist Yair Dalal, celebrated for his compositions inspired by the Azazme Bedouins; renowned Palestinian singer Amal Murkus joined by Firas Zreik on qanun (zither); the popular Arab/Jewish hip-hop band System Ali; Ghanaian one-stringed gonje (violin) master Meirgah Abubakari and singer/drummer Sulley Imoro; Afro-Cuban percussionist/composer Francisco Mora Catlett and Italian nyckelharpa (arched instrument with keys) virtuoso Marco Ambrosini joined NY based artists Mariel Roberts of the Mivos Quartet on cello, Valerie Naranjo on gyil/percussion, and Andy Teirstein on banjo, guitar, fiddle, harmonica, and Jew’s harp.
June 29, 7:30 pm
Jack Crystal Theater, NYU
111 Second Avenue between 6th & 7th streets
Free and open to the public
Translucent Borders musicians and dancers from Ghana, Cuba, the Middle East, Italy, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States, fresh from performances at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and the Lincoln Center Atrium, performed at New York University, showing the results of a creative dialogue with each other over the past year.
These global collaborations were presented at the Jack Crystal Theater at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
July 4 (Times below)
Global Shindig: Celebrate the World on July Fourth
Also: Workshops in Nyckelharpa and African Drum and Dance
The Ashokan Center, Ashokan, NY
Attendees explored the cultures of the Negev Desert, Sweden, and Ghana. Marco Ambrosini (Nyckelharpa) and Sulley Imoro with Meirigah Abubakari (African drum, dance, and song) lead afternoon workshops.
These artists engaged with participants as a way of celebrating July 4th in the context of global diversity. The workshops were held at the outdoor pavilion followed by performances and an evening barbecue.
Workshops: 2-3:30pm
Concert: 4-5:20pm
Barbecue: 6pm
July 5 & 6, 9:00 pm
Hudson Valley Festival of Arts
Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY