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Flores contructing his own jarana

Jarocho is a colloquial term referring to people or things from the port city of Veracruz, or in this case, music. Son jarocho is a regional Mexican folk music from the Mexican state of Veracruz.  Son jarocho blends indigenous, Spanish and African musical elements and sounds using the small guitar-like instruments the jarana and the requinto as welll as percussions from the pandero, the quijada, or the guiro.

Andres Flores is a renowned master of the jarana and pandero, and also of traditional Veracruz folk dance, and he shares his mastery with other by teaching dance workshops and jarana lessons on Youtube.

Andres Flores represents a strong mastery of traditional son jarocho, but also works with fusion projects to blend the son jarocho style in new and exciting ways. He was part of the Piano Xarocho project that blends son jarocho with the regional music from the plains of Venezuela and Colombia. His most recent project is Sistema Bomb which son jarocho with electronic music. The project aims to conserve the jarocho traditional music by partnering musicians from bay area bands with talented traditional son jarocho musicians. Sistema Bomb producers aim to conserve the jarocho tradition by partnering musicians from various bay area bands with talented traditional son jarocho musicians to create an upbeat electronic dance sound paired with traditional jarocho rythyms.

La Rama- Sistema Bomb ft. Andres Flores

You can catch Andrés Flores here at La Peña this Sunday playing both his traditional sones and modern fusions y zapatear con nosotros!

 

David Perea: “Mystic Places Around the World” @ La Peña

With his new exhibit, “Mystic Places around the World” David Perea invites us to join him on his travels through Bali, Cambodia, Thailand and Peru. He calls this exhibit a philosophical approach to photography with the goal to honor these cultures and highlight their shared wisdom. All the places that Perea photographs have in common a deep connection to spirituality rooted in their culture but also a loss of spiritual knowledge over time due to factors such as globalization and genocide. He sat down to discuss this exhibit in length with La Peña and we are very excited to display his work in our lounge. Watch our interview below and join us for the official opening on November 10th at 3pm.

Check out our website for more information on the David’s art exhibit opening

La Peña’s November Calendar Check It Out

La Pena November Calendar

Successful speed-networking Artivista HUB event @ La Peña

Wednesday was a busy day here at La Peña. All the interns were in house bustling around to get ready for the 2nd event of the emerging Artivista HUB program.

La Peña HUB is an ongoing series of events aimed at supporting our community of artists and activists through networking and professional development opportunities. La Peña has historically been a vital progressive gathering place for the incubation of ideas, social movements and artistic development. With our Artivista HUB program we want to invite local artists, activists and community members to join us for various events and opportunities this program will provide.

La Peña’s HUB in action

Wednesday’s event was a deemed a success by all participants. The event drew a diverse and talented group of artists and activists dedicated to social justice and interested in meeting like minds. The event was set up so that the participants had 3 minutes with 9 different people and were given guideline questions to discuss such as “Why is activism important to your work?”. The conversation flowed and the 3 minutes flew by leaving many participants eager to discuss more after the event was finished. We hope that everyone made lasting connections and look forward to more engaging and productive HUB events here at La Peña! Become a member today!

Laura Rebolloso @ La Peña

Laura Rebolloso will be at La Peña on Thursday, October 18, 2012. Laura combines poetry, music and zapateo from son jarocho in a heartfelt performance.

La Peña Artivista Hub – Speed Networking

 

 

La Peña Artivista HUB Speed Networking  is a networking opportunity fashioned after the speed dating model to promote exchange among our artist and activist network.  To foster the relationships that grow from Artivista  HUB, we will offer follow up support and provide resources information for new collaborations to be presented at La Peña Cultural Center. We feel passionate about the collaborative potential of our arts and activists network. We hope that you will feed this momentum and join us on October 24th. If you are interested in participating in this, please contact: Arielle Julia Brown at arielle@lapena.org.

Support Love Balm Project

Love Balm for my SpiritChild: Testimonies of Healing justice through Mothers’ Memory- is a workshop series that celebrates revolutionary motherhood and commemorative justice. Show your support to this Indiegogo project

Find out more about this project in their tumblr page and in this article from Color Lines

La Peña HUB

Be a member of our Artivista HUB! La Peña HUB is an ongoing series of events aimed at supporting our community of artists and activists through networking and professional development opportunities.   Artists and activists will exchange valuable skills and vital knowledge of accessing resources. Members will also assess the essential needs for the intersection of art, culture and social justice in the Bay Area with opportunities to create collaborative projects, productions and coalition to promote art and action.

To take full advantage of these opportunities, become a La Peña Artivista HUB member now!

$25 ARTivista/ARTista

• FREE access to a 1-year Artivista HUB events

$49 Cultural Worker

• FREE access to Artivista HUB events
• Your name on our lists of partners online

$99 ARTender

• FREE access to Artivista HUB events
• Your name on our lists of partners online
• Two hours of FREE rehearsal space at La Peña

$249 SustentARTE Arts & Culture Catalyst

• FREE access to Artivista HUB events
• Your name on our lists of partners online
• Two hours of FREE rehearsal space at La Peña
• Discounted Tickets for events and performances

$499 Compeñera/Compañero

• FREE access to Artivista HUB events
• Your name on our lists of partners online
• Two hours of FREE rehearsal space at La Peña
• Discounted Tickets for events and performances
• FREE entry to our Annual Artists & Activists Award Dinner Ceremony

Anita Tijoux @ La Peña Nov 21.

Listen to her interview in NPR . Anita Tijoux talks about growing up and becoming a hip-hop artist.

Advance tickets on sale

One of the most respected MCs in any language, Ana Tijoux is set to explode with her brand new record La Bala (the bullet), the follow up to her Grammy-nominated album, 1977. Born in France—where her parents were exiled during the military dictatorship in their native Chile—Tijoux became a household name in Chile with her first band, Makiza, as well as voicing the main character in the popular animated series Los Pulentos. After going solo, she quickly gained fame throughout Latin America with a string of hits including the smash “Eres Para Mi” with Julieta Venegas. But the world really began to take notice when she dropped 1977, an album full of classic beats and her signature flow that harkened back to the 90s and the golden age of intellectual hiphop.

35th Children’s Music Series Begins Oct 6 @ La Peña

La Peña Children’s Music Series  (aka Amiguitos de La Peña). In 1977 La Peña volunteer parents decided to offer Saturday morning programs that expose children to live & diverse performances as an alternative to the commercialized children’s TV shows.  Experience and participate in our lively & educational programs.

Here is the October line up:

Colibrí: OCT 6, 10:30am.

Marc Sapir: OCT 13, 10:30am.

Jaime and Eric: OCT 20, 10:30am.

Garry Lapow OCT 27, 10:30am.