The Folklife Beat
 

Polka, Hip Hop, and Shamrocks Today at Folklife

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Wheedles Groove at the 2011 Festival. Image courtesy Piper Hanson.

Northwest Folkife Festival:
Day 3

The 41st Northwest Folklife Festival is still going strong on Sunday! Why not check out something new today? Here are a few suggestions.
The Rose, The Shamrock, and the Thistle: Music From the Old Sod
Traditional Irish bands will perform, then reunite on stage for a special all-star session.
Sunday, May 27; Northwest Court Stage, 12:00-2:30PM. Read more>
Hip Hop Traditions & Break Dance Competition
Visualize the hip-hopping, spinning, flips, and flashy footwork of today’s best break dancers. Where do those moves come from? Roots of Hip Hop explores the origins of contemporary culture in traditional forms, with performers from Benin, Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, and the USA. Experience a live music and dance performance of hip hop, African dance, and Capoeira. This special Folklife Festival preview features award-winning performers Global Heat with Dadical; Mr Magnesium and Free (SoulShifters); Etienne Cakpo (Gansango); Mestre Curisco & Coty Valdez (Capoeira Malês & Circle of Fire); Shanetta Brown (Tubaluba); Kama (Kamalashaka); Yaw Amponsah (Anokye Agofomma); and others. This event is part of our Cultural Focus: The Next Fifty, which looks to the next fifty years at Seattle Center
Sunday, May 27; VERA Project, 1:15-2:45PM. Read more>
Polka Party!
We are bringing back the classic for a new generation to discover. Join us! 
Sunday, May 27; Center House Court, 4:00-6:00PM. Read more>
Voices of Occupy
This new showcase, hosted by David Rovics, encourages the public to share the protest songs that have emerged from this growing movement.
Sunday, May 27; Intiman Choral Courtyard, 7:00-8:00PM. Read more>

Writers, Storytellers, Dancers and VJs–All Part of Day 2!

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Dancers in Warren's Roadhouse at the 2011 Festival. Image courtesy Piper Hanson.

Northwest Folkife Festival:
Day 2

The second day of the 41st Northwest Folklife Festival is full of great events for all interests. Here are just a few performances and attractions to look forward to today.

Guerilla Mod Western Square Dance
You can bring any partner you’d like at this gender-neutral square dance. It’s square dancing, outside the box!
Saturday, May 26; McCaw Promenade, 11:00-11:50AM. Read more>
Kids Sing Too!
Bring the whole family to learn songs and lore of the sea or sing traditional campfire songs.
Saturday, May 26; Intiman Choral Courtyard, 1:00-4:00PM. Read more>

We Did the Work—Voices of the Workers Who Built Seattle Center
Listen to the stories of the workers who helped build the Seattle Center campus for the World’s Fair in 1962. This panel is part of our MayWorks celebration with the Washington State Labor Council.
Saturday, May 26; Narrative Stage at SIFF Cinema, 1:00-1:50PM. Read more> 
Next 50: VJ and Chiptune
This is the first year that our VJ and Chiptune artists have paired up to bring you a new–fashioned electronica showcase set to fresh, live video imagery. For those new to these terms, a VJ is a video jockey, a digital artist who combines video images with music in a real–time performance. Chiptune, or chip music, is synthesized electronic music that is made using the sound chips of vintage computers and video games such as old Game Boys, Nintendos, or Commodore 64 computers. Think of the Mario Brothers!  This showcase is part of our Cultural Focus: The Next Fifty, which looks to the next fifty years at Seattle Center.
Saturday, May 26; EMP Museum Sky Church, 1:00-4:00PM. Read more> 
Jack Straw Writer’s Program 2012
The Jack Straw Writers Program introduces local writers to the medium of recorded audio, encourages the creation of new literary work, and provides new venues for the writer and their work. Today’s live readings will be recorded for future podcasts and broadcasts. This year’s team of writers includes Stacey Bennetts, Lacey Jane Henson, Carol Light, Sally Neumann, Johanna Stoberock, Mitsu Sundvall, and Nick Wong, and is hosted by Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken.
Saturday, May 26; Narrative Stage at SIFF Cinema, 5:00-5:50PM. Read more>

The First Day: From Bollywood to the Balkans

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Riley Calcagno of The Onlies. Image courtesy Piper Hanson.

Northwest Folkife Festival:
Day 1

Wondering where to start when you head to Seattle Center today? Here are some suggestions for performances and attractions for today, Friday, May 28—the first day of the 41st Northwest Folklife Festival.
The Balkan Misfits Show
Join us for a swirling, whirlwind that will sweep up even unsuspecting bystanders in its wake, featuring Balkan brass bands
Orkestar Zirkonium and Nu Klezmer Army! Be a part of the parade that leads to this show starting at the Fountain.
Friday, May 25; Fountain Lawn Stage, 6:00–9:00 PM. Read more>
Stormwater: Life in the Gutter
This live performance by Stokley Towles is part of our Cultural Focus: The Next Fiftycelebration of the anniversary of Seatle Center. Uncover the world of urban rainfall and trace its travels from the clouds to the city’s streets, homes and businesses and the sewer lines below.
Friday, May 25; Narrative Stage at SIFF Cinema, 6:00-6:50PM. Read more>

The First-Ever Bollywood Showcase
This dance performance extravaganza will feature classic Bollywood hits and choreography.
Friday, May 25; the Ex Hall, 8:30–10:00 PM. Read more>
MayWorks 2012 Celebration
One hundred years ago, textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, launched a militant, eight-week strike that popularized the slogan “Bread and Roses.”  The workers, mostly immigrant women, organized and fought not only for higher wages but also for dignity, respect, and better working conditions. At the August 2011 convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, delegates voted to celebrate workers’ culture during the month of May, 2012, and call it “MayWorks.” Though Canadians have been celebrating MayWorks for years, this is the Washington state’s first celebration. The 2012 MayWorks was inspired by the remembrance of the 1912 Bread & Roses strike and reminds us that we are all more than the jobs we do.
MayWorks 2012 culminates at the 2012 Northwest Folklife Festival, where the Bread & Roses theme is reflected in exhibits featuring photographs, student art, and a textile installation; screenings of the statewide film contest winners; a panel featuring workers who built the Seattle Center fifty years ago; and discussions of current struggles that bring the lessons of the Bread & Roses Strike into the twenty-first century.
The MayWorks art exhibitions are on view 11AM-7PM, Friday-Sunday and 11AM-6PM on Monday in the Lopez Room. Read more>

Participate in a Dance, and You Participate in a Community

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Thanks to guest blogger Kathy Bruni for sharing this with us!

Balkan Dance. Photo courtesy Piper Hanson.

Many of the long-time supporters of Northwest Folklife are dancers, and the musicians who play for them. That’s why we go, and why we support the Festival year after year—dancing, dancing, dancing! That, and the connections we make with fellow dancers year after year. Folks flock to Folklife from Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and many other states, including some as far away as Florida. We dance with one another, forming bonds that last a lifetime. I think it is safe to say that there are many couples in the dance community who met at Folklife. For me, dancing is a lifelong passion that provides exercise, social interaction, and a conduit to the elusive meaning of life. Music and motion in combination promote happiness.

Balkan Dance. Photo courtesy Piper Hanson.

Northwest Folklife provides a taste of the many dance styles the Northwest has to offer, including dances of the world (aka international dance), waltz, swing, contra dance, tango, polka, and more. These dances are accessible to just about everyone, and each of the participatory dances includes short lessons to get you moving right away. You might just get hooked!

Folk dancers have been part of Northwest Folklife since the beginning, and have helped shape it through the years. Since I started coming to the Festival in 1985, folk dance parties have been a major draw, with the Scandinavian dance one night, the Balkan dance another night, and the international dance a third night. Many more participatory dances have been added over the years, as the festival has grown.

The Center House Court is the scene for much of the participatory dancing, and that’s where you will find the International Folkdance Party on Sunday, May 27, from 2 to 4 p.m. Allspice starts the dance off with a mix of couple and line dances from countries around the world, including Sweden, Germany, Poland, Scotland, Croatia, and many more. It takes a lot of musical acumen to play tunes from so many different musical traditions, and Allspice doesn’t disappoint. On behalf of Northwest Folk Dancers Inc. (NFDI), Diane Vadnais will teach some easy dances during the band changeover; come and learn to do dances that you can immediately practice in the next set, when Opa Groupa takes the stage. Look for them to play a variety of dances from eastern Europe and the Balkans. Join us, and find out where you can continue dancing long after the 2012 Festival is over.

In addition to participatory dances, there are many dance performances to watch, representing a variety of cultures from around the world. In authentic costumes, often with live music, the performance groups offer a unique perspective into countries you may never have the chance to visit, but you can experience them at Northwest Folklife. Most of these groups are performing on the Center House Court, or on the International Dance Stage.

The Northwest Folklife Festival is unique because of the breadth and variety of entertainment, lessons, and participatory dancing offered on one site, for free. Don’t miss the opportunity!

Kathy Bruni

Kathy Bruni is the community coordinator for the 2012 international folk dance party at Folklife, and she has been involved in the folk dance community since 1975. She is the treasurer, webmaster, and co-newsletter editor for Northwest Folkdancers Inc. She and her husband are the dance leaders and teachers for a German performance group, Enzian Schuhplattler, and Kathy also manages publicity and is webmaster for that group. She is the editor and publicist for Skandia Folkdance Society, and the editor of the Seattle Folklore Society newsletter. When she is not busy as a technical writer, she spends her time traveling, writing, and dancing—she is lucky enough to have her hobbies intersect in the world of folk dance.

 

 

Donate at the Northwest Folklife Festival…and Collect Your 2012 Buttons

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Many of the people who attend Northwest Folklife each year decide to make a donation while they are on grounds. This support is incredibly important to our Festival and our year-round programming. Last year over $200,000 was donated on grounds to help us produce the Festival you love and keep it free for our entire community. This year, we hope you’ll join in and do your part to support Northwest Foklife! Here is a list of ways that you can make a donation at the Festival:

  • Drop a Donation in the Box as You Enter or Exit the Festival
    Talk to one of our friendly greeters and make a gift of any amount as you come or go from the Festival. Don’t forget to pick up a program guide and a daily Folklife button as you make your donation (recommended donation for buttons is $10 per person/$20 per family). Every gift counts, no gift is too small!
    Curious about what this year’s buttons look like? Take a peek!

  • Talk to Someone About Friends of Folklife
    If you’d like to donate $50 ($40 for seniors/students) or more you should consider becoming a Friend of Folklife Donor. You can talk to any greeter or info booth attendee at our entrances or make your way to the third floor of the Center House to visit Festival Services. Becoming a Friend of Folkife is a very special way to show your support. You’ll receive special benefits at the Festival this year and receive information from us all year long. You’ll also get information about how to renew your Friend of Folklife support before next year’s Festival for even more benefits.
  • Visit a Donation Station
    Visit one of our two Donation Stations located in the middle of Festival grounds. We hear there may be some special entertainment around those areas this year. Swing on by!
  • Show Up to a Matching Gift Opportunity
    This year there will be a few special opportunities in The Roadhouse to make a donation to Northwest Folklife. Generous donors have offered up matching gifts to increase the impact of all donations made during select times. Show up  on Friday at 6:50pm, Saturday at 8:50pm, Sunday at 2:50pm and Monday at 6:50pmto take advantage of these opportunities.Northwest Folklife is a nonprofit organization powered by community support. Over 60% of our annual operating budget comes directly from generous donations made by Festival attendees and donors like you. Thank you for making the nation’s largest free community arts & cultural festival a reality and for supporting Northwest Folklife.

Upload Your Photos From the Festival, Win a Free T-Shirt

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We know you take fantastic photos while at Folklife. This year, upload your best to our Flickr page! We’ll choose our favorite photos and send the winners free Festival t-shirts! Remember to identify yourself in the photo so we’ll know it’s you.

To upload your photo to our Flickr page, email your photo as an attachment to:
what32dub@photos.flickr.com

Visit our Flickr page to view all the photos>

 

Streaming Audio

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Can’t make it to the Festival everyday? Can’t make it at all this year? You can still experience Northwest Folklife with streaming audio from many of the Festival stages.

This year we’ll be streaming every day from the Alki Court Stage, Center House Theatre, Fisher Green Stage, Folklife Cafe, Fountain Lawn Stage, Indie Roots Stage, Comcast Mural Amphitheatre, the Narrative Stage at SIFF Cinema, the EMP Sky Church, Northwest Court Stage and the VERA Project.

Find links to streaming audio recordings here, where you can also find archived recordings from past Festivals.

Recordings are usually posted within 24 hours of the live performance.

First Look: Where the Festival Really Begins

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This Thursday evening, VIP members of the Northwest Folklife community, Festival board and staff, local musicians and artists, and city representatives will all gather for a special reception we call “First Look.”

First Look is becoming an important tradition of the Northwest Folklife Festival. It’s where we share exclusive early access to the Festival with our Friends of Folklife at the Advocate level and higher. In thanks for the critical financial support they provide us throughout the year, we offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Festival before anyone else.

Attendees will enjoy an exclusive preview of “Reconstructing Tomorrow,” an art exhibit in the VerArt Gallery featuring Northwest youth’s perspectives on sustainability. They will also  preview a special exhibit in the Lopez Room that celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the 1912 Bread & Roses Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, sponsored by the Washington State Labor Council: “We Fight for Roses Too,” a photo exhibit presented by MayWorks 2012, and “And Now Behind Curtain #2,” an interactive exhibit by Beverly Naidus, Artist/Teacher/Activist.

Thank you to all our donors, especially those at the higher levels. We encourage you to be part of the festivities: make your donation today.

Thank you for helping us keep the Festival free for everyone, and helping us achieve our mission throughout the year.

Additional thanks to the First Look sponsors who make this event possible: 
Windward Communications, Mt. Townsend Creamery, and Partners Crackers. 
Thank you to the Washington State Labor Council for their support of this event. 

Maritime Musings: Maritime Music at the Northwest Folklife Festival

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A hearty, salt-soaked thank you to (aptly named) guest blogger Alice Winship for this post!

Broadside and the Handsome Cabin Boys. Photo courtesy Alice Winship.

This year’s Northwest Folklife Festival, May 25 to 28, will have major maritime music events on Saturday and Sunday, with other maritime performances scattered through the schedule.
Maritime Show on Saturday
The annual Maritime Show will, as usual, be on Saturday afternoon at the Northwest Court, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.  Performing will be Broadside and the Handsome Cabin Boys, Jon Barlett and Rika Ruebsaat, Piper Stock Hill, Spanaway Bay, The Great Sanger and Didele, and Tom Lewis.  This is an impressive line up.

Dan Roberts will emcee the Maritime Show this year.  Philip Morgan, who founded the Maritime Show, has been emcee for over 20 years.  According to Folklife, “Philip has been a great guide this year but I believe that he may take this Festival off and return more fully next year.”

Following the Maritime Show, there will be a Maritime Sing-Along in the Northwest Court beer garden from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

 

SING SEA SONGS ON SUNDAY

The next day, Sunday, Sing Sea Songs at the Intiman Courtyard from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.  The focus will be on familiar songs with easy choruses. The audience will be encouraged to sing along.  Leading chanteys will be Jean Geiger, Eric Nelson, Cassie Owens, Wayne Palsson, Dan Roberts, Pierre Rose, Marek Skoczylas, Stephen Whinihan, and Alice Winship.

 

Tom Lewis. Photo courtesy Alice Winship

Other Maritime Performances
Tom Lewis will be leading a workshop on Songs & Lore of the Seain the Intiman Courtyard on Saturday from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.

There will probably be some maritime songs in the sets of Bold Horizon on Sunday at 12:10 pm in the Shaw Room, and Coventry on Monday at 5:40 on the Northwest Court Stage.  This will be the last performance for Bold Horizon; the group is disbanding.

 
Maritime CDs
CDs by maritime performers will be for sale next to the stage at the Maritime Show on Saturday, and at the Folklife store all during the festival.  There will be at least two new maritime CDs available.

 
New CD from Piper Stock Hill
Piper Stock Hill, one of the bands appearing in the Maritime Show, will have their first recording out by then, titled One Pub at a Time.  It will contain six songs, three of which are originals written by band members.  Piper Stock Hill is a Northwest band that specializes in songs of Newfoundland.

 
New CD with songs about the Columbia River Bar
Maritime Folknet, a non-profit organization that released its first CD, Northwest Tugboat Tales, in 2010, will release a new CD at Folklife, Tales from the Bar.  It will be a compilation of songs about the Columbia River Bar.

The song themes include both the history of the Columbia River Bar, and the maritime activity that takes place today.  The Columbia River Maritime Museum is providing some historic photos for the CD artwork.

Some of the performers will be from the area near the mouth of the Columbia River, including Brownsmead Flats, Hobe Kytr, The Low Tide Drifters, and Willapa Hills.  Mary Garvey, a prominent songwriter from the Long Beach area, has written several of the songs on the CD, and sings one in a trio with Chris Roe and Sophie Morse.  Others performers include Kate Power & Steve Einhorn, Hank Payne, Cate Gable, Hank Cramer, Watch the Sky, Jon Pfaff, The Whateverly Brothers, Matthew Moeller, Chris Glanister, Jan Elliott-Glanister, and Dan Roberts.

Victory Review keeps up with maritime music throughout the year:

For information about maritime music throughout the year, read the Maritime Musings column in the online Victory Review, on the Victory Music website.

 

Alice Winship

About Alice
Alice Winship has been promoting maritime music events as an unpaid volunteer for various non-profit organizations, and generally advocating the cause of Northwest nautical music and maritime preservation, since 1996. She is the president of Maritime Folknet, a new non-profit organization devoted to encouraging maritime culture, especially music. She is vice-president of AKCHO (Association of King County Historical Organizations), and has recently begun dabbling in songwriting.

The Allure of Sista Hailstorm

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http://www.myspace.com/sistahailstorm/photosSpecial thanks to guest blogger Kitty Wu for this profile!

Sista Hailstorm fascinates me.  She is simultaneously that rare emcee that commands me to stop and really listen, a shaka and malika in the Universal Zulu Nation Seattle and Los Angeles chapters, a warrior that recently smashed a marine at her last ring-style fight, a chemical dependency counselor for youth in the Central District, and a world traveler.  She has a strength about her that is first and foremost in her stance, and that duality and softness that brings you closer so you can feel her energy.  During our conversation last week she reminds me that she is also the original graffiti artist “LostOne” from Los Angeles, and when I mention the word lesbian, she gently corrects me…she is “an indigenous two-spirited woman bringing the balance of both male and female sunrays.” Indeed.

Alias:  Sista Hailstorm
Representing:  206 Zulu / B-Girl Media / Native Youth Movement / Rebel Alliance
Hailing from: NorthEast Los Angeles
Groups:  Murder She Wrote, Projekt Medicine Wheels

kw:  In the beginning…

SH: I left home at 14 spent most of my time gang bangin, sellin dope, beefin and trying to survive and make it out alive. It was true for me I was either gonna end up in prison or die a victim of the streets in this f*cked up society, the only thing I had was Graffitti, Hip Hop and my culture my people who were struggling just like me.  I wasn’t alone but at the same time I was lost in the concrete jungles and my street art and street smarts bombing, taggin, freestylin n flowing is what gave me a voice and made me feel like someone was out there hearing and seeing my message. Like a lot of Graff writers it’s not just bout the fame but marking your turf and showing yourself you could do it better then the rest “Like that’s right I caught that heaven over that freeway” and most cats thinking I was a dude until they met me and was like what you’re “LostOne” you’re a chic I see you up everywhere I thought you were a dude.” I’m like nah homie I’m a chic and I’m putting in work even more then some of these dudes haha. People respected that I was Woman and holdin it down just as hard as a brother would and I had MAD STEEZ.

kw:  This is our 5th Zulu Jam Folklife Edition and although you have performed with other performers this is the first time that you are being featured as a solo artist on stage at Folklife…what are you bringing to festival this year?

SH:  This year like every other year I ain’t holdin back.  I speak the truth and I walk what I talk. Hip Hop and graffiti saved my life and all I’m doing is opening up the doors for our youth who haven’t experienced real Hip Hop, helping them understand they are a powerful voice in the community and can express themselves through all the elements of HIPHOP the root of our young people today and of course our founding men and women of the HIP HOP CULTURE ONE UP IN RESISTANCE AND SOLIDARITY TIAHUI. You see, you have a lot of wack rappers in the game getting fame and highlighting their names but don’t even know the History/Herstory of how it all began and what it took back then and now to make it a infinite universal culture. Wherever you go in the world Hip Hop is there and alive.

You can see Sista Hailstorm at the 206 Zulu show at the Vera Project on Sunday, May 27th 3-6pm w/ Central Intelligence, The League of Extraordinary Emcees, NW B-Girls.  Hosted by King Khazm & DJ Shonuph.

Be on the lookout for a (currently untitled) feature album with the lead single Angels in the Skies & an upcoming mixtape from B-Girl Media & Project Blowed in 2012.

 

About Kitty Wu
As a teen growing up on the Eastside, Kitty Wu started attending shows in Seattle in 1987–and hasn’t been able to quit the habit. A pillar of Seattle’s electronica and hip-hop media scenes since the mid ’90s, Kitty now handles all things administrative for the Hip Hop TV show Coolout Network -celebrating its 21st anniversary in 2012- and serves on the Board of Directors of the award-winning local chapter of the Universal Zulu Nation and Seattle’s much loved all-ages music organization The Vera Project.

206Zulu.com
theVeraProject.org